Northwest joins job prep consortium
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Gov. Jay Nixon, left, Northwest Missouri State University President John Jasinski and Donna Deeds, regional executive director of the Northland Center for Advanced Professional Studies, are shown at Cerner Corp. headquarters in North Kansas City during an event marking the official designation of the Northland CAPS Innovation Campus.
NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gov. Jay Nixon and representatives of the Northland Center for Advanced Professional Studies — CAPS — an education partnership that includes Northwest Missouri State University, gathered Tuesday at the Cerner Corp. headquarters in North Kansas City to announce the creation of a program designed to prepare students for high-demand careers.
The official designation of the Northland CAPS Innovation Campus, including the award of a $450,000 grant to Northwest help fund the initiative, unveiled a plan to give young people the opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school in addition to serving as interns at Kansas City-area businesses.
Last September Nixon announced that USA Funds, a national nonprofit, had selected Missouri as the recipient of a $1 million grant to expand the Missouri Innovation Campus initiative. It is through this grant that the funding for Northwest was made possible.
Other campuses receiving Innovation Campus grants include Missouri State University ($185,000) and the University of Central Missouri ($350,000).
The Northland CAPS Innovation Campus is a partnership between Metropolitan Community College; Northwest; Cerner Corp.; other Kansas City area businesses; and the Kearney, Liberty, North Kansas City, Park Hill, Platte County and Smithville school districts.
The program allows high school students from participating districts to earn dual college credit through MCC. Students also have the opportunity to acquire three hours of dual college credit from Northwest by successfully completing internships with one of approximately 90 Innovation Campus businesses and corporations.
This year, more than 300 students are enrolled in the Northland CAPS Innovation Campus initiative, according to a release issued by Nixon’s office.
“The Innovative Education Partnership designation signifies a deep and committed collaboration between our business partners, Northland CAPS partners, Metropolitan Community College and Northwest,” said Northwest President John Jasinski in a prepared statement.
“Northwest is proud and humbled to work with our partners as we continue to develop a seamless pipeline to complete a Northwest degree connected to industry needs.”
Nixon praised the Innovation Campus initiative as a “a national model for providing our future workforce with more skills in less time and at a lower cost.”
“The Northland CAPS Innovation Campus is already putting hundreds of students on a fast-track to success in future careers,” Nixon said, “and this official designation will ensure that hundreds more will have this opportunity in the years ahead.”
