Government Policy and Manufacturing Education

Robert W. Simoneau; Karen Wosczyna-Birch; Diane Dostie; Lisa C. Hix; David J. Tuttle

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Government Policy, Manufacturing Education, and Certification
Tagged Division: Manufacturing
Page Count: 12
Page Numbers: 25.676.1 - 25.676.12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--21433
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/21433
Download Count: 360

Diane Dostie has served as Dean of Corporate and Community Services at Central Maine Community College since 1999. In that position, she leads a staff that provides training programs for business, government, non-profit, and other organizations throughout the central Maine region, as well as non-credit classes and certification programs to individuals in those communities. She is the Principal Investigator for the Virtual Ideation Platform, a National Science Foundation grant. The goal of this project is to create an environment in which both design and precision machining students work in concurrent or "virtual" product design and development. Prior to serving as Dean, Dostie was Tech Prep Director at the College for seven years, responsible for improving access to technical education through partnerships with applied technology centers and high schools. In both positions, she has developed and maintained an extensive training and education network. Before joining the staff of the college, she was a classroom teacher for 10 years. Dostie received a bachelor's of science in industrial arts education in 1980 and a master's of science in educational leadership in 1997. In 1999, she received the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce Education-Business Partnership Award. Her service on national and local Boards of Directors has made her a valuable partner in technical education and training throughout Maine and the Northeast.

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Lisa C. Hix Keene State College

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Assistant Professor, sustainable product design and innovation

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David J. Tuttle Platt Technical High School

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Abstract

Government Policy and Manufacturing EducationIt is becoming increasingly apparent as United States policymakers try to improve the economythat manufacturing must play a central role. However, over the last few decades there has beenlittle effort to sustain existing manufacturing education at all levels. Fueled by economic policiesthat emphasized a service based economy over a manufacturing based economy supported notonly the notion that these policies were inevitable, but acceptable. Exacerbating this policy is therelentless negative perception fostered by mainstream media creating misleading perceptions ofmanufacturing as a career. Consequently manufacturing education programs have been at thecenter of this policy shift with the resulting negative consequences. The result is thatmanufacturing educators struggle to keep their programs attractive as viable educational andcareer pathway. Regardless, existing federal, state and local policies are largely tactical ratherthan strategic, if policies exist at all. This paper will explore the history of manufacturingeducational policies, their impact and explore recommendations that would shift key policies tobe systemic in an effort to stabilize remaining manufacturing education programs.

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Simoneau, R. W., & Wosczyna-Birch, K., & Dostie, D., & Hix, L. C., & Tuttle, D. J. (2012, June), Government Policy and Manufacturing Education Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21433