PATHWAY CONNECTION

Sussex County Community College (SCCC) developed model recruitment events, tours, programs, and an engagement plan to increase enrollment of adult learners (specifically unemployed and underemployed) into the optics technology industry. These include open houses, tours of the SCCC campus and Thorlabs facilities, as well as other outreach events to connect prospective adult learners to this high-skill and in-demand career pathway.

SCCC has also partnered with Project Self-Sufficiency’s New Jersey Youth Corps which is a program for 16 to 25-year-old students looking to earn their high school equivalency (HSE). Similar to an Integrated Education Training Program, 27 adult learners were enrolled in a unique session of Fundamentals of Optics I while simultaneously completing their HSE. Successful completers earned 3 college credits. This cohort of adult learners received instruction from November 2022 – February 2023.

In addition, 3 of the adult learners expressed significant interest in applying to Thorlabs’ internship program in Summer 2023 (after their graduation from the Project Self Sufficiency program.)