On March 17, 2008, the West Alabama – East Mississippi (WAEM) Alliance announced the creation of national skills based M3 Credentials, a cornerstone strategy of the WAEM Initiative sponsored by Governors Bob Riley and Haley Barbour. Today the Alliance announces a re-design of these innovative credentials to better meet skill and training needs in the region. These changes will provide better pathways to advanced manufacturing jobs for participants beginning at any level.
Coupled with the Amatrol Anytime Anywhere e-Learning System, the M3 Credentials provide the means to build a highly skilled, credentialed workforce for the WAEM Region. “M3” in the M3 Credential name stands for “modern multi-skill manufacturing.” The M3 Credential was developed by the workforce directors and career tech leaders at the eight WAEM Alliance colleges with input from local employers after a summit hosted by Governors Riley and Barbour chose advanced manufacturing as the WAEM region’s top priority.
For the past year, professionals at the eight community and junior colleges in the WAEM Region have worked with their industrial customer-bases and students to integrate the M3 Credentials and e-Learning System into training and instructional systems. These efforts yielded the following findings:
On June 16, 2009, workforce directors from all eight colleges met to review the current M3 Credential. Guided by their own experiences and feedback from progressive employers and economic development advisors, the group unanimously agreed that the M3 Credentials needed modification in order to give participants more realistic pathways for earning advanced manufacturing credentials and in qualifying trainees for employment. After hours of analysis and discussion, conclusions were reached to divide the M3 Production Level Credential into two parts, a more basic entry-level and a more advanced entry-level.
These credentials will now be called the M3 Production Level I and the M3 Production Level II Credentials. The Production Level I Credential will respond to general entry-level employment requirements of advanced manufacturers while providing a realistic time track to participants who also need GED instruction and CRC training. The Production Level II Credential will prepare participants for higher level advanced manufacturing credentials, including the customizable Advanced Production Level M3 Credential as well as Manufacturing Skills Standards Council (MSSC) and other industry-standard credentials.
For more information, contact one of the eight participating colleges: Alabama Southern Community College, Bevill State Community College, East Central Community College, East Mississippi Community College, Jones County Junior College, Meridian Community College, Shelton State Community College, and Wallace Community College – Selma.
The WAEM Initiative and the M3 Credential result from a Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs serves as the fiscal agent; The Montgomery Institute as the program manager.
For more information, go to www.waem.us or call The Montgomery Institute at 601-483-2661.
Updated June 30, 2009