The Office of Professional Education & Workforce Development (PEWD) , in collaboration with the Workforce Development Advisory Committee (WDAC) , has developed a comprehensive strategy to mitigate the skills gap and prepare our regional workforce to be more adaptive to the changing needs. We think that the Workforce Development Innovation (WDI) challenge holds the key. Companies that meet the criteria will receive the WDI award recognized by the community and industry leaders.
Industry's fast rate of technology implementation has created a skills gap that requires mitigation via partnerships between academia, industry, and the community.
Why is the UTRGV Office of PEWD WDAC doing this?
There are two reasons:
- Managing a skilled workforce has become more important than ever for companies to remain competitive in the marketplace, yet, due to the changes in how we work, these skillset needs have expanded, both on the technical skills side as well as on the soft skills side.
- We understand that The Rio Grande Valley is one of the fastest-growing regions in our country, and, with an upskilled local workforce, offers huge potential to local companies and external investors alike. We want to do our part to actualize that potential.
What is the UTRGV Office of PEWD WDAC hoping to accomplish?
There are two goals:
- To create partnerships with Industry, EDOs, and Community to collaborate in an effort to mitigate this gap.
- We understand that many industry partners express concerns that the students coming out of the current higher education setting are not quite prepared for today’s workforce as they lack the industry-specific knowledge and/or the professional soft skills to be able to perform their job functions effectively. We want to learn what needs to change in the curriculum in order to meet the industry’s needs.
Skills Development Fund
The Skills Development Fund is Texas' premier upskilling program. SDF grants provide site-specific, customized training opportunities for Texas businesses and their employees to increase skill levels and wages of the Texas workforce.
Skills Development FundPEWD Skills Development Training
List of Workforce Development Training programs offered by Office of Professional Education & Workforce Development at UTRGV. These programs are designed to help job seekers with reskilling and upskilling to sustain in the workforce.
PEWD Skills Development TrainingUTRGV Community Engagement Services
View the list of resources that we currently have available for the community.
UTRGV Community Resources
