Our Career Services Department is a great resource for providing information on employers that currently hire our graduates and those who don't. On occasion, this department has been instrumental in providing key contacts for phone interviews or surveys. And, since we have developed a relationship with those employers who hire our graduates, we get good participation/involvement.

In the area that I live in there are a few different training centers, many more than I thought that there was. It is refreshing to see all of the availability that is offered.

The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) administers the Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) examination. Schools have to meet NCBTMB requirements to become an assigned school. There are (54) assigned schools, in Florida. Assigned school contact information, name of business or organization, city, and details may be located online at http://.ncbtmb.org. LMT practitioners must re-certify every two years by completing 24 hours of continuing education and complete a minimum of 100 work hours in the field, effective Jan. 1, 2013. There are 31, 810 current LMTs and 47 Message Therapy Apprentices (MTA) listed on the Medical Quality Assurance (MQA) website online at (http://ww2.doh.state.fl.us), in Florida. A list of massage therapy continuing education courses (CEU) offered in the community and statewide is posted on the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) website at http://.ncbtmb.org. NCBTMB lists massage therapy CEU providers, by provider number, category of massage therapy focus, number of CEU hours, and course title. Statewide, NCBTMB lists (221) active continuing education providers and details of provider classes offered. There are (21) current CEU providers listed on the NCBTMB website that offer classes to the Tampa Bay community and surrounding area for certified message therapy school graduates. Specifically, there are (2) massage therapy CEU providers in Clearwater, (10) in St. Petersburg, (6) in Tampa, (1) in Largo, (1) Pinellas Park, and (1) Pembroke Pines. http://.ncbtmb.org. S. Burnell

We are a computer centric career school so we look for career options that fit our business model. Our school does a lot of Workforce Board funded training so it must be on the local Targeted Occupational List and we study the history of those listing to be sure they are likely to remain on the listing. We rely heavily on employer job listings posted to the most popular Online Job Sites and the local newspaper ads. We survey job listings in the Tampa Bay area within reasonable commuting distance for entry level employment as a career changer. The goals is to find 150 listings for a career within one week. We then analyze these entry level positions to determine what skills local employers want the applicants to have to be "well qualified". If we find the required volume for a career on the local Workforce Boards Targeted Occupational list that meets the required minimum pay levels we will conduct a telephonic survey of employers to find out more about desired skills and certifications that can be beneficial for new employees. Once we believe we have a viable Program candidate we determine the costs associated with implementation and any regulatory requirements. We also require a viable vendor certification for every career Program we propose for approval. We will propose the Program outline to an Advisory Committee for their validation and suggestions prior to submitting the Program Outline for approval to the state.

My institution has a specific position (mine) that is responsible for conducting all the preliminary research on new programs to assess need, identify competitors, determine programmatic accreditation/approval requirements, develop a budget, etc. I have discovered a lot of resources on my own; however, the biggest challenge remains getting accurate information on employment need/projections. BLS and state data are not always timely, and I often don't get enough of a response to phone calls or email requests/surveys to potential employers to be helpful. I would love to have more strategies to get employers involved and make it easier for them to participate in and provide valuable input into our research.

What kinds of planning tools are already used by your institution? How much of the existing planning tools will you use? What new planning tools will you bring to the project?

How prepared are you to conduct research to determine what new training programs to offer? What else do you feel you still need to know?

List all the training centers in your community. What discoveries have you made in terms of serious competition to your institution and ideas for new programs to offer?

List all the new continuing education courses offered in your community or elsewhere. What discoveries have you made and what ideas do you have for new courses to offer?

What surveys does your institution have in place? How can you use the current data? What new surveys and other research techniques do you have to put in place to gather data to make informed decisions about program development?

Who on staff has information about the companies that currently hire your graduates and companies that do not? How can you work together to gather missing company information?

Module 1 starts the process of gathering information to make effective program decisions. What information do you already have? How will you gather the additional information?

An Advisory Board or committee is very important for program decision-making. Who will you have on your board and what is their affiliation with your institution?

What are some good forms of communication to use to reach out to sites that have not offered externships previously?

It is essential to know that there will be jobs for potential graduates of any newly created programs. Should potential employers be part of an advisory board?

Once you establish an ideal marketing strategy then it is best to stay with it. The answer is false on the test but I feel you do stick with what works and keep looking for other markets but still sticking until outside forces affect the established strategy

Libraries are optional when offering vocational programs. True We offer a vocational school and we have to have a library or our school will not pass its renewal. We even have to provide in writing the material that is located there.

Student services offerings are optional for most schools. True False Feedback Student services are as important as the program offerings. With the right student services your students are more likely to stay in school, graduate, and find employment. I know the question says most schools but what about the schools that are limited on funding or staff? Its very difficult to be able to provide unlimited help to those that have graduated with out unlimited resources.

I recently was made aware of a board selection to a very large organization and the board member elect was from outside the industry, but brought a wealth of knowledge and general business experience. I believe this organization seized the opportunity to "do things differently" and introduce an external bias that may be able to challenge their thinking. What are your thoughts?

It is wise to ensure the programs you are currently offering are running as efficiently as possible. Name a few reasons why you would want to ensure this.