College Is Tailoring Education to Business

Community colleges have long been places where workers can go to freshen their skills or acquire new ones. But Irvine Valley College says it is going a step further and is responding to the needs of businesses by working closely with employers to help fill their training requirements.

The college’s services to businesses include internships and work-study programs, on-site employee educational “checkups,” analyses of business training needs, and customized on-site educational programs.

Terry Thorpe, the management professor spearheading the business partnership effort, said the college “would like to play a major role in providing training and education to meet the specific needs of business, rather than how we traditionally offer education on our campus.” He sees the school becoming a “secondary human resources department” that can fill companies’ training needs.

The college already has developed a customized program for Motorola in the Irvine Spectrum that includes training in computer software, management skills, manufacturing processes, math and other subjects.