North Shore Community College (NSCC) is teaming up with a Boston organization to combine education with professional skills training.
NSCC and Year Up Greater Boston will focus on internship opportunities and wrap-around support for underserved youth ages 18 to 24 years old.
“This workforce collaboration will make a huge difference in the lives of many NSCC students and, I expect, will open doors to self-sustaining careers and life- long learning opportunities in the North Shore region and beyond,” NSCC President Dr. Patricia A. Gentile said in a statement.
Working out of NSCC’s Lynn campus, the Year Up Professional Training Corps (YU) program at NSCC launches in September with classes to begin in January 2020. Significant work to move the partnership forward is already underway and a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was recently signed during a public ceremony.
“The collaboration aims to generate positive employment and academic outcomes that will support NSCC students as they continue on their path toward credential progression and a professional career,” said Bob Dame, Year Up executive director.
The collaboration’s goal, according to a statement released by NSCC and Year Up, is to integrate NSCC’s excellence in academic instruction and student support with YU’s professional skills training, access to corporate partners for internship opportunities and wrap-around support.
Year Up’s mission is ensuring that young adults gain the skills, experiences and support that will empower them to reach their potential through careers and higher education.
“NSCC’s award-winning academic programs and welcoming, nurturing environment sets the stage for true collaboration with excellent career-focused organizations like Year Up. Adding Year Up’s impressive program and practices to NSCC’s existing offerings will elevate the impact of what we can do individually and add value for our students, business partners, community organizations and the North Shore economy,” said Gentile.
Students will earn college credits and a weekly financial stipend. Participants will also receive one semester of free technical and professional skills classes, followed by a semester-long internship at a top area business.
YU will provide “soft skills” training and extra-curricular programming that complement NSCC’s academic experience and that offer workplace preparation for NSCC students identified by YU. Year Up will also oversee a 26-week full-time professional career-track internship program for all NSCC students-YU participants who successfully complete the learning and development phase of the program.
NSCC intends to award college credit, as it deems appropriate, to NSCC students-YU participants who complete the corporate internship program.
YU will provide educational stipends for all NSCC students-YU participants in the program. These stipends are paid during both the learning and development and internship phase.
Photo attached – Sitting, from left, NSCC President Dr. Patricia A. Gentile, Year Up Executive Director Bob Dame; standing, from left, state Sen. Brendan Crighton; Sarah Link, vice president of Community Impact, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley; Laura Kurzrok, former executive director, Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation; Mary Sarris, executive director, North Shore Workforce Board; Binkley Shorts, philanthropist; Danielson Gomes, information systems analyst, American Tower (alumnus of NSCC and Year Up); Dr. Patrick Tutwiler, superintendent, Lynn Public Schools; Thomas M. McGee, mayor of Lynn; and Colin Codner, executive director, Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce.
