(INDIANAPOLIS) – The Indiana Office of Technology (IOT) has accomplished a big milestone by becoming the first state agency to be certified to offer a State Earn and Learn (SEAL) program.
IOT is partnering with Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana to give working-age adults the opportunity to earn certain information technology credentials while participating in paid on-the-job training.
The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) is helping to skill-up the state’s workforce by offering SEAL certificates to employers and high schools through its Office of Work-Based Learning & Apprenticeship (OWBLA).
“We have multiple schools and companies currently utilizing SEALS to advance Indiana’s workforce,” said Darrel Zeck, executive director of DWD’s Office of Work-Based Learning & Apprenticeship (OWBLA). “The Indiana Office of Technology is a big addition to the SEAL certification initiative and its mission to help provide Indiana employers with a skilled workforce.”
SEALs are structured, scalable programs ranging from just eight weeks to two years in length and include industry certifications tailored for any sector. They are designed to meet the skills that employers demand, are geared toward both adult and youth populations, and satisfy Indiana’s new graduation pathway requirements.
Participants in the 12- to 26-month IOT program don’t need to be Ivy Tech students, but those who are can take the training they receive and apply it toward an associate’s degree. IOT will start small, in terms of how many they accept into the program, and build to eight to 10 students per session. IOT is targeting one session per year.
Once accepted into the program, they will become a paid IOT employee. For IOT, it will drive the State to identify and hire the next generation of technology professionals, and enable the State to take advantage of industry trends, said Joseph Cudby, the State of Indiana’s Chief Technology Officer.
“It’s about building a pipeline for Hoosiers to fill the skill gaps of the next decade,” Cudby said. “We at IOT are providing opportunities for hard-working individuals to build valuable skills, contribute to the common good of fellow Hoosiers, and set themselves up to continue working for state government or taking their in-demand skills to the private sector.”
Participants will be trained in Hybrid System Support, as Citizen Developers or Citizen Data Scientists.
The SEAL certification is among a variety of tools that the OWBLA has in its toolbox to help skill-up the state’s workforce.
DWD projects Indiana employers will need to fill 1 million additional jobs in the next 10 years, half of which will not require a four-year college degree, but some type of certification or credential beyond a high school diploma.
The OWBLA program is part of Gov. Holcomb’s NextLevel Jobs initiative.
