Center for the Innovative Workforce

Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce: Diversity, Inclusion, Resilience, Innovation

MISSION 

The Marymount University Center for the Innovative workforce serves as a multi-disciplinary research hub to inform workforce education, planning, and policy and to advance solutions to transform, build, and sustain a high-quality, resilient, and diverse workforce to meet the changing needs of society.

The Roles of the Center will be to:

  • Engage in meaningful research that informs society of the requirements for tomorrow’s workforce
    1. Develop models and frameworks to enhance understanding of changing needs and implementation strategies to address workforce needs.
    2. Advance the science of workforce assessment methods and analysis, including assessing workforce, supply/demand measurements, and workforce over- and unemployment.
    3. Apply workforce analysis methods, models, and frameworks to determine the effectiveness of implementation strategies.
    4. Investigate optimal teaching and learning strategies that support student readiness and success in the workforce.
    5. Promulgate the knowledge learned in peer-reviewed publications and presentations.
    6. Stimulate professional and societal communication of complex information regarding workplace issues.
    7. Actively pursue external funding to support center research activities.
  • Foster student learning experiences that promote a diverse, resilient, and well-educated workforce in areas that have been identified as societal needs.
    1. Encourage more students in K-12 into STEM and other needed workforce areas.
    2. Support learners (new and returning students and individuals returning to the workforce) to complete degree and training programs that address current and future workforce needs.
    3. Develop novel certificate and training programs to fulfill identified workforce needs.
    4. Advocate for inclusivity and diversity in the workplace. (gender, ethnicity, neurodiversity, etc.)
    5. Promote financial security and paths out of poverty by reskilling women and men for tomorrow’s workforce.
    6. Advance cultural awareness in the workplace (diversity, equity, and inclusion).
    7. Develop learner knowledge, skills, and attitudes supporting leadership, resilience, and advocacy to prepare them for making significant contributions to the current and future workforce.
    8. Actively pursue external funding to support center educational activities.
  • Partner with regional, state, and national government and non-government organizations, businesses, and institutions to address workforce needs.
    1. Engage the national, regional, and local community, governmental and non-governmental organizations to sponsor and partner with center activities.
    2. Facilitate communication, research, and training activities with local businesses and institutes to identify and address workforce needs.
    3. Establish business relationships to support center goals while maintaining the mission and values of the university.

MU is well-positioned for the roles identified above. MU has:

  • A strong relationship with national, regional, and local workforce development groups and employers in our region.
  • A vigorous experiential learning component to our curriculum ensures workplace readiness that ties in with many of the objectives of this Center.
  • An expanding external funding track record that focuses, in part, on workforce research.
  • A diverse student population who are representative of the workforce of tomorrow.
  • A prime DC Metro location, replete with opportunities to engage with workforce policymakers and other professionals to address many of the concerns facing our workforce of tomorrow
  • Academic resources and personnel that are equipped to address workforce issues from unique multidisciplinary and interprofessional perspectives to enhance the impact of the Center.
  • A faculty with a high interest in pursuing research projects focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) with a particular focus on best practices in career preparation and inclusivity.