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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0150.014 2012-2014 Testimony Before the Finance Committee of the COUNTY CLERK Y OF County of Hawaii County Council COUNT DwAI�s _ Time N'9:oo rini By Supporting the Date-177773 "'—'— Department of Research and Development April 11,2013 Finance Chair Poindexter and Council Members: Thank you for this opportunity to speak about some of the valuable results stemming from the work of the Department of Research and Development. My name is Dr. James Kennedy. My wife and I moved to Hawai'i Island more than 15 years ago. By formal education, I am astrophysicist, and I spent some 22 years as a senior observatory manager,most recently with the Gemini Observatory here in Hilo, and before that at the National Solar Observatory in Tucson. Prior to that I taught at the University of Florida, and spent several years as the Chair/Coordinator of the Engineering Technology Programs at Santa Fe College in Gainesville Florida. Still earlier, I spent about 20 years in the mainland electronics industry. I have been and continue to be active in the local community. I am a current member, and past President, of the Hawai'i Island Chamber of Commerce. I serve as a Vice Chair on the County of Hawai'i Workforce Investment Board, and as Board member of the Hawai'i Island United Way. I serve as a unit head in the Papa'ikon, Pepe'ekeo, Honomu Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and I am involved in other Civil Defense activities. I am a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Hilo. I also served as one of the original members of the UH Hilo Mauna Kea Management Board. Speaking as a private citizen, I would like to point out the positive impact that the Department of Research and Development is making on various efforts to open important doors for our young people to qualify for, and get, good-paying high-tech jobs,here at home on the Island. Despite the fact that computers, the Internet, smart phones, and other high-tech activities have had a strong impact on our everyday lives, relatively few local young people fmd themselves qualified to take technical jobs in these fields, unless they leave the Island. After high school, a key obstacle to acquiring these qualifications has been the lack of a consistent, on-island, educational track providing college and/or university training in these areas. Of course, some young people have the opportunity to leave the Island after high school to pursue college-level programs in these fields elsewhere (often not to return). But, when 25% of our children live in families existing below the Federal poverty standard, for a great many, this is not an option, without the availability of good, local post-secondary programs. As a direct result, we have a very small properly trained, local workforce pool to take advantage of these employment opportunities when they do occur. In those cases when there are such jobs, they often have to be filled from overseas, due to the lack of qualified local candidates. Comm. No. I SD. 1 Ref.To: — Ref. Date 1 1 2013 The Mauna Kea observatories are a good example. They have many jobs in these and related areas, such as information technology, electronics, mechanical systems, optics, and the software. However, the observatories found that only about 18% of their technology and administrative staffs were people born on Hawai'i Island — and these are jobs that only require a two-year or four-year degree in a relevant field. Moreover, as they make new hires, a survey shows that about 40%must be"imported"from overseas, for lack of qualified local candidates. Nevertheless, with the cost of bringing families from places like the Mainland, and the cost of the much higher turnover they experience in this group, the observatories would much prefer to hire qualified local people, if they could just find them. It is important to note that the same basic technical skills needed by the observatories are also sought after in high-tech agriculture, alternative energy, and a variety of other current local sustainability priorities. Indeed, while no doubt there are a number of clean high-tech businesses that might like to enjoy our local life style, or home grown businesses perhaps in support of sustainability ventures, they too are discouraged by the economic impact of not having a good local high-tech workforce pool. While this discussion is not really about the observatories, they are a local example of what it takes to do high-tech activities here on the Island. At the same time, they do have job needs to fill over time. A 2010 survey, conducted by the Workforce Investment Board, in collaboration with the observatories, showed that there would be some 330 technology job openings through about 2023. The problem now, and if nothing changes, the problem in 2023, will be that a large fraction of these job openings will still be filled by nonlocal people. Since 2009, the Workforce Investment Board has been working with various community groups to bring interested parties together to work out this problem. These groups have included K-12, Hawai'i Community College, and UH Hilo educators, as well as 'Imiloa staff, a number of local informal education groups, and the observatories with their public outreach programs, such as Journey Through The Universe. Starting in 2010, the Department of Research and Development has made a sequence of modest grants to the Hawai'i Island Economic Development Board (HIEDB) and the Hawai'i Island Workforce and Economic Development Ohana (HIWEDO), which have been matched by the Thirty Meter Telescope,Gemini, Subaru, and other community entities to facilitate these efforts. While this is an ongoing effort, considerable progress has been made through the professionalism and goodwill of these many community players. Visible outcomes to date include: The completion of an inventory of observatory internship programs available to local community college and university students. The establishment of a publicly accessible website listing local astronomy jobs and internships (www.maunakeaastronomyjobs.org). Hawai'i Community College has substantially enhanced its two-year Electronics Technology program and it has a fine Information Technology program. 2 UH Hilo is well into the establishment of a four-year Engineering degree program which will highlight alternative energy,high-tech agriculture, and instrumentation systems. The initiation of a public awareness program for the Hawai'i Community College technology programs, focused on prospective students, teachers,parents, and importantly potential employers. The development of a soon-to-be-published directory of locally available informal education programs. The delivery of a week-long observatory job-shadowing pilot program for local high school juniors and seniors, in collaboration with'Imiloa,Gemini, Subaru, and TMT. Continuing collaborations with the observatory outreach programs. In summary,while the job is not yet done,much tangible progress has been, and is being, made. In my opinion, the steps being taken by Hawai'i Community College and UH Hilo, at the hands of Chancellors Yamani and Straney, represent a major sea change that can long-lasting benefits for the community. As I said earlier, this is effort is not just about the observatories, but rather it is directed at technology opportunities for our local young people to provide home-grown support for local technology-based enterprises of all kinds. It is clear that the community needs, and will need, these services as we move further into the 2ls'century. The newest efforts include developing a comprehensive catalog of existing technology-based businesses in the community that can become the eventual employers of more of our local graduates. The progress that has been made so far would not have been possible without the Department of Research and Development's support. I do believe that we will see even more significant positive community impacts over the next few years. Respectfully submitted, 04, esRKei edy, I 3 NN, Alt ti 0 " ' . _ 1 1 Hawaii Island Astronomy Workforce Opportunities • 2010-2023 • Hawaii County Workforce Investment Board and Mauna Kea Observatories' • 'Hawai'i Island Astronomy Workforce Survey M • August 11, 2010 8 i S\ • s j 1 e. , , ___ _ ..,_,....„ .,., . , fi, . , ..„. ,, \ '� '"" 'fit �! ,* ,,,1,- *Iv...,A','' , " et) ---"' . . k • � , e- I .. .G 1 t .I "";:- I 4 ili ' "`". L'• -41r "- ' - .- .,. - , ,la.„ „ !Tiii.100 kit:- ip....ri, , „ c. gi' i AIL,,v + ■ 1 1 1 i i An electronic copy of this report can be found at: http://www.hawaii-county.com/ohcd/2010AstronomyWorkforceReport.pdf Cover image credits: Mauna Kea summit image by Richard Wainscoat, Institute for Astronomy,University of Hawai'i. .. Remaining images by the Gemini Observatory. W� -s PO r. Table of Contents Executive Summary iii Introduction 1 The Survey 2 Categories and Subcategories 2 Long-Term Models 3 Jobs vs. Job Openings 3 2015 is the Key Date 4 Survey Results Overview 4 Technology Analysis 5 Job Openings and Requirements 5 Administration Analysis 6 Job Openings and Requirements 6 Summary and Conclusions 7 Technology 8 Administration 8 Sensitivity to Different Models 8 After 2023 8 A Longer Range View 8 An Example Program Outline 9 Overlapping Skills 9 Length of the Pipeline 9 Formal Education 9 Experience and Access 10 Appendix - The Survey Instrument 11 Aok rr Executive Summary Technical and administrative staff comprise a sizeable majority of an astronomy observatory's workforce. A 2007 University of Hawaii survey showed that only 18% of the astronomy observatories' technical and administrative staff based on the island of Hawai'i were born on the island. Including those born on Hawai'i Island, only 27% were born in the State. Another 33% were residents of the State when hired, but not born there. Despite significant costs, a full 40% of the observatories' technical and administrative staff have had to be recruited and relocated from overseas locations, primarily because the pool of qualified applicants on Hawai'i Island was insufficient to fill the observatories' needs. It would be very beneficial to both the local island community, and the observatories, if there were an adequate local pool of qualified candidates to fill these positions as they become available. Based on the requirements of the current observatories and creation of new positions planned for the Thirty Meter Telescope, together with ordinary job turnover, projections show that some 482 observatory jobs will come open in technology and administration from 2010 through 2023. That averages more than 34 jobs a year over the 14-year period. A collaboration is proposed between the Hawai'i County Workforce Investment Board, the observatories, and the educational and training resources that already exist within the local island community to take steps to provide an adequately trained labor pool. This collaboration would address the larger issues of K-12 STEM education, and develop programs for grade-levels 13-16 that support the technology and administration knowledge and skills needed by the observatories. This effort would include gaining hands-on experience through a coupling of current and future internship and practicum opportunities provided by the observatories. The same skills they need would also be suitable for a wide range of other high-technology enterprises that might enhance the local economy and provide even more jobs for future generations on the island. As a first step, the Workforce Investment Board and the Mauna Kea observatories have been working together to identify opportunities within the current and future workforce. A new survey has been completed that identifies the technical and administrative disciplines needed by the observatories, the entrance-level educational requirements for these positions, and the expectations for both workforce growth, and the number of future job openings. Over 330 job openings in technology and nearly 150 openings in administration are expected through 2023. Most of these jobs require either a two-year Associate's degree or a four-year Bachelor's degree. The delivery of the required educational and training programs should be well within the capabilities of the local community. The Workforce Investment Board and the observatories are seeking other partners in developing plans and resources to move forward in this direction. The longer-term goal is to use this mechanism to ensure that Hawai'i Island can succeed in a future with a more diversified economy that also includes other forms of high technology and other advanced eco-friendly enterprises. iii Hawaii Island Astronomy Workforce Opportunities Introduction The confluence of dry air above the tropical inversion layer, a very high site, gradual slopes, steady winds, fair weather, dark skies, and access to modern communications and transportation capabilities has led to the summit region of Mauna Kea being widely regarded as one of, if not the, world's best site for visible light, infrared, and submillimeter-wave astronomy. As a result, the US and many other nations have made capital investments of$1-billion or more on Mauna Kea, and future investments of comparable magnitude are anticipated. d Contrary to what many may believe, the staff of a typical observatory is not overrun with working scientists. In fact, more than 80% of the jobs are 'Technology 57% in some discipline other than research. These "other" fields Administration 23% are dominated by technology Science 18% and administration(Fig. 1). is Maintenance 2% A 2007 survey conducted by the University of Hawai'i In- stitute for Astronomy showed Fi that the Mauna Kea observato- gure 1: Technology and administration make up a significant majority of a typical observatory's workforce. These disciplines ries had a total staff of 610 offer the greatest opportunities for the employment of local staff. people based on the Island of Yet today, for the lack of qualified candidates, many of these Hawai'i. It also showed that only 27% of the technical and administrative staff employed by the observatories were born and R raised in Hawaii, while another 33%were living in the State when hired, though not born there. A total of 40% of the technology and administration staff were recruited and relocated from overseas locations. This amounts to 136 jobs in 2010 and 164 jobs in 2023. At the same time, the observatories have discovered that, in the first three years, the turnover rate for newly relocated staff is about twice that for locally hired staff, leading to significant added costs as the observatories continue to recruit and relocate in order to refill these positions, and have to deal with the loss of continuity and productivity that inevitably occurs in such situations. As a result, the observatories have long recognized that it is in their interests to hire qualified local staff whenever possible. The larger Hawaii Island community would benefit greatly from having a larger fraction of these positions filled by local people, socially, economically, and culturally. The challenge facing both the local community and the observatories is that there are relatively few qualified local people available to apply for these positions. I 1 1 The Hawai'i County Workforce Investment Board (WIB) and the Mauna Kea observatories are collaborating in an effort to first understand the realities of the workforce composition and then to engage with local community resources to find solutions that will be of long-term benefit to both the people of Hawai'i Island and the local astronomy community. This effort began with a new staffing survey focused on understanding the current and future size of the collective observatories' technical and administrative staff and the required educational qualifications for these positions. The intention is to use this information as a starting point for a program to empower more local people with the educational and the experiential background to successfully participate in the astronomy workforce'. The Survey In October 2009, the Directors of the Mauna Kea observatories joined with the WIB by having their human resources staff assist in this survey to establish the number of current and future technical and administrative staff positions, and their entry-level educational requirements. Categories and Subcategories The positions were broken down by discipline, first into two large categories, and then each of those was further broken down into five narrower subcategories: Engineering and Technolo gy ( T ethnology ), • Mechanical • Electronic-Electrical • Optical • Software • Information technology Administration and Support("Administration"), • Accounting-Bookkeeping • Contracting-Purchasing • Financial Services • Human Resources • General Support In each subcategory, the observatories identified the number of positions according to their minimum educational requirements, in terms of a: • High school diploma or GED, • Associate's degree, • Bachelor's degree, or an • Advance (post-graduate) degree. ' It should be noted that Hawai'i already has high-quality,in-place,dedicated programs for those students interested in becoming research astronomers. UH Hilo offers a BS degree program in Astronomy, while UH Manoa offers graduate programs through the PhD and post-doctoral fellowships. There are just many more jobs available in technology and administration. 2 I I Long-Term Models I The observatories provided snap- Combined Technology and Administrative — — C shots of staff numbers for early 2010 Hawaii Island Astronomy Staff Three Growth Models and provided estimates for 2014. Soo __ No Closures TMT I These data, and known or antici- pated future changes, including the 450 - —050+1 More TMT addition of new facilities, like the I proposed Thirty Meter Telescope I °°° � (TMT), and the closure of older fa- 350 cilities, such as the Caltech Submil- 1 Ilimeter Observatory (CSO), were me used to produce estimates of the 250 - --- --_.- -_- staffing and job availability picture I for 2010 through 2023. 200 T , -- , , 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Year Three different models were con- Figure 2: Three long-term staffing models for the technology and Istructed (Fig. 2). All three models administrative fields were constructed, including the possible included the TMT development. addition of facilities and the possible removal of old facilities. IThe baseline reference model includes only the current observatories and the TMT. The second model adds the planned decommissioning of the CSO (the One-Closure model); while the third Ishows the possible impact of the closing of a second, generic, telescope. The One-Closure model is used here as the most likely circumstance. While a second closure is possible, it would not be uncommon for such an event to end up as a change of ownership. (It Iturns out that the number of jobs available to be filled is not terribly sensitive to which of the three models is chosen, so long as the model includes the TMT.) IAll the models show a small decrease in positions between 2010 and 2014. This is a result of a modest near-term staff reduction, no doubt resulting from the current global economic situation. I The One-Closure model shows a somewhat stronger dip into 2015, reflecting the phasing out of the several staff supporting the CSO facility. I The strong increase from 2015 through 2023 is primarily due to the ramp up of the TMT staff, as the Mauna Kea and Hilo base facilities are developed and made operational. I Jobs vs. Job Openings Available jobs depend on two main factors: the creation of new jobs, and the turnover in existing jobs, all as functions of time. Job openings were modeled by first computing the change in the I job counts from one year to the next (job creation), using the long-term staffing models. Then, using observatories' real-world turnover experience, computing the fraction of modeled existing jobs that would turn over each year. The sum of new jobs and turnover jobs provides the I modeled number of job openings from year to year. As shown in Figure 3, turnover alone accounts for more than 20 job openings a year, while the TMT staff ramp up will push the total up significantly from 2015 through 2023. 1 3 2015 is the Key Date Even with a concerted effort, it is Total Technology and Adminstrative Job Openings Based on New lobs and Turnover expected that an organized commu- _Total Annual Job Openings 55 —"""'°"° nity effort to facilitate an enlarged —TUrnwer Jobs local pool of qualified candidates for the astronomy workforce will •° take some time to realize. Many of E 35 the students that would be able to o _ go directly from school to the ° Z° workforce and take advantage of 15 --- the sharp job-opening upturn be- 10 ginning in 2015 are currently in middle school. The good news is ', -52!'' 2.11 2.12 20 sv 4 2.1 2.1. 2.17 201= 2.1. 2.2. 2.2 2.22 2 v 3 that Figure 3 shows that there is Year time available to develop a coordi- Figure 3: The green line shows the turnover of current positions and the red line shows new job creation (primarily Hated program to take advantage of due to TMT). The black line shows the sum of the two. this opportunity. Now is the optimal time to address this issue for the maximum community impact. Survey Results Overview The survey data were used to search for a suitable set of highly leveraged opportunities for investment actions. It was anticipated that some discipline subcategories and some educational levels would naturally lead to greater practical benefits to greater numbers of people. The assumption was that these areas would be the most likely avenues to begin making the fastest and most beneficial progress. While perhaps not a surprise, one im- Technology and Administrative ---- --- Hawai'i Island Astronomy Staff mediate finding was that the total One-Closure Model 300 —Engineering&Technology Technology job pool is about twice as —Administration&Support large as the Administration pool (see ' Fig. 4). This gap appears to be grow- ing as time goes on. It is important to recognize that, while 150 an important means to the end, the object of this study is not really about 100 __ estimating the size of these workforce segments, but rather estimating the so — number of available jobs that will 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 201 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Year result over time. That is to say, it is Figure 4: There are significantly more Technology positions about the number of job openings, not on Hawai'i Island than there are Administrative positions. just the gross number of jobs. 4 Like the total number of jobs, Figure 5 shows that a major fraction of the Technology and Administration Job Openings future job openings will be in the Based on New Jobs and Turnover Technology fields. What is more Total Job Openings _Technical important is that the number of 35 —Administration upcoming job possibilities is growing 30 Y at a higher percentage rate than the total number of jobs, especially in the 2015-2023 period, during which a o total of 355 job openings are predicted 15 - over all categories considered. 10-- - — 5 Aside from the observatories' innate 0 _- reliance on many sophisticated tech- 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 nologies, there are at least two other Year likely causes for the Technology-Ad- Figure 5: There are well over twice as many job openings ministration difference. The first is the expected in the Technology categories than in Administration. fact that many of the observatories are parts of larger organizations with remote administrative headquarters, for example at an overseas university or research institute. The second factor is that a number of the observatories also L outsource some fraction of their administrative functions, such as human resources, benefits, and payroll to other entities, such as the Research Corporation of the University of Hawai'i. ITechnology Analysis Table 1 shows a total of 247 Technol- Technology Job Openings 1 Based on New lobs and Turnover I ogy job openings during the 2015- 12 —Macho 2023 period that result from the —Electrical-Electronic —optical 10 —software ----- ------ combination of newly created posi- _into Tech tions and staff turnover. B _- • - _� As before, the five fields considered o 6 / here are: ' 4 , A...� _ � . E Mechanical, Electronic-electrical, I 2 �� , i Optical, 0 - __ T_ 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Software, and Year I Information technology. Figure 6: The projected annual job openings in the Technology area show strength in all of the subfields except perhaps IT. r Job Openings and Requirements While there is a clear plan for the number, skills, and educational requirements for new staff over I i 2015-2023, the plan does not detail which exact year each position will be filled. So the average yearly job openings are a stronger indicator. 0. ill 5 I Figure 6 shows that the mechanical and electronic-electrical areas are dominant. Software and I optics are in the second tier, and information technology is in the third tier. These all strongly show the signature of the TMT staff ramp up. TABLE 1 I Focusing on the two-year and four-year college Technology: Job Openings and levels only, Table 1 indicates that the mechanical Educational Requirements I 2015 Annual and electronic-electrical fields will each provide Technology an average of six to seven jobs a year, with the 2023 Mean educational requirements about evenly split Total 247 27.4 1 between the Associate and Bachelor levels. Mechanical 70 7.8 HS Diploma/GED 11 1.2 The optical field is predicted to provide about AA/AS 31 3.5 3 three jobs a year with the majority at the Bache- BA/BS 27 3.0 lor's level, though there are opportunities at the Advanced 1 0.2 Associate's level as well. Electronic-Electrical 64 7.1 3 HS Diploma/GED 1 0.1 AA/AS 25 2.7 Surprisingly few openings show up in the infor- BLABS 31 3.5 mation technology area. Most are at the Bache- Advanced 7 0.8 lor's level, with some at the Associate's level. Optical 37 4.1 3 Evolving Federal information-security mandates HS Diploma/GED may well lead to rather larger numbers by 2015. AA/AS 10 1.1 BA/BS 19 2.1 Administration Analysis Advanced 8 0.9 Table 2 shows a total of 108 Administration job Software 54 6.0 openings during the 2015-2024 period, resulting HS Diploma/GED from the combination of new positions and AA/AS 2 0.2 turnover. As noted, this is considerably smaller BA/BS 47 5.2 I Advanced 5 0.6 than the Technology area. Information Tech 22 2.5 The five fields considered here are: Hs Diploma/GED AA/ I AS 6 0.6 Accounting-Bookkeeping BA/BS 17 1.8 Contracting-Purchasing Advanced 0 0.0 3 . Financial Services Human Resources General Support Job Openings and Requirements Figure 7 shows that the general support area stands head and shoulders above all the other areas. By contrast, each of the remaining areas average about one job per year. A closer view of the General Support category, as shown in Table 2, suggests that it is a very mixed bag. On the one hand, nearly half of the group requires only a high-school diploma or GED, while nearly another half is fairly evenly divided Associate's and Bachelor's levels — I suggesting that these two groups may well be very different populations. This is further confused by the fact that another four positions in this category require post-graduate degrees. I 6 I This situation appears to be a technical shortcoming of the survey process itself, Administrative Job Openings Based on New Jobs and Tannover and not the human resources collabora- —Accoutning Bookkeeping tors. It's likely that the survey instruc- 8 =F a'a Sevi —Human Resources tions were unclear, or that the range of GeneralSu ort offered survey categories was insufficient 6 to allow a more usefully detailed classifi- 25 – cation of at least some of these positions. °4 ION 3 It seems reasonable to assume that the 2 high-school and GED group probably ���.��,j�.•..r�all lis include clerks, secretaries, facility staff, 9 — and other essential support staff. Beyond 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2016 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Year that it is difficult to say. Figure 7: The Administration category is overwhelmingly dominated by the General Support catecorv. With the exception of the General Support TABLE 2 group, the remaining areas don't seem to contain any surprises and they each account for Administration: Job Openings and Educational Requirements [1. a little over one job opening per year. 2015 Administration Annual 2023 Mean Summary and Conclusions Li The WIB and the Mauna Kea observatories Total 108 12.0 would like to join with various educational Accounting-Bookkeeping 12 1.3 providers in the public and private sectors as HS Diploma/GED 0.0 AA/AS 2 0.2 I well as other public and private organizations to BA/BS _ 10 1.1 develop a plan of action to take advantage of Advanced 0.0 coming events to enhance the participation of Contracting-Purchasing 12 1.3 on local Hawaii Island people in the workforces HS Diploma/GED 4 0.4 • of the Mauna Kea observatories. AA/AS I E BA/BS 3 0.3 6 0.6 There will be numerous opportunities for job Advanced 0.0 openings, not only now, but especially in the Financial Services 11 1.2 2015-2023 period, for properly qualified local HS Diploma/GED 2 0.2 I 1 people to apply for these openings. About half AA/AS 3 0.4 of these prospective jobs arise from ordinary AS 5 0.6 turnover of existing jobs. The other half will Advanced 0.0 come from the creation of new positions, Human Resources 8 0.9 IN primarily as a result of the TMT. HS Diploma/GED 0.0 AA/AS 1 0.1 BA/BS While some fraction of these resulting job Advanced 1 0.1 vacancies may well be above the entry level, General Support 65 7.3 generally there is a trickle down effect. Higher- level positions are more likely to be filled by HS Diploma/GED 31 3.5 AA/AS 17 1.9 promotion of existing (even existing staff - �7 g staff � g t BA/BS 13 1.4 IN" from another observatory). This often results in Advanced 4 0.5 6 7 i a chain of promotions to fill the subsequently vacated spots, ultimately leading to the opening of an entry-level spot. The observatories have a sound economic interest, and a keen desire to support the community, t in hiring local staff. Given the time required to create programs to target these opportunities and the time frame of the surge in job openings, this is the ideal time to act. Technology There will be many opportunities in the technical areas. In addition to nearer-term 85 jobs during 2010-2014, the model shows that there will be about 247 more such job openings from 2015 through 2023. These will be in the mechanical, electronic-electrical, software, optical and information technology areas, mostly at the Associate's and Bachelor's degree level. 1 Administration While fewer in number, there will also be a number of job opportunities in the traditional 1 administrative areas, including accounting and bookkeeping, contracting and procurement, financial services, human resources, and general support. There will be about 40 openings during 2010-2014, and about 108 from 2015 through 2023. About half of these will be at the high school or GED level. It may well be useful to further clarify the General Support category. Sensitivity to Different Models , It is reasonable to explore the best and worst cases of the models proposed here. In the 2015 through 2023 era, the No-Closure model predicts 367 job openings, the One-Closure model, which is the basis for most of the values quoted here, is 355, and finally the Two-Closure model predicts 274 openings. The range between all three cases is from 30 to 39 job openings per year. After 2023 , While this call to action and the resulting plan must address reasonably predictable events over the next thirteen years or so, it is more difficult to foresee what comes after that in the astronomy world. However, with good stewardship, Mauna Kea will remain a highly desirable location for ground-based astronomy. Though not explicitly modeled beyond 2023, if the 2024 and beyond staffing levels are held constant, the turnover factor will remain constant at more than 27 job openings a year,just in the Technology and Administration area discussed here. As a separate matter, one would hope that over time a higher percentage of local people would have also found their way into the ranks of the research astronomers in residence here,using the programs already available in Hawai'i. A Longer Range View 1 While the current effort is focused on the astronomy workforce itself, there is a broader view that may be even more important in the long run. There are many high-technology enterprises that are, or can be, very eco-friendly, and provide good paying jobs for local people who have the education and skill to support careers in those areas. Drawn by the capabilities of Mauna Kea, the observatories have been at the forefront on many of those technologies on Hawai'i Island for more than four decades. This attraction to the 8 Mountain has overcome the economic impact of having to import a substantial high-tech workforce. However, for industries that must be driven by the realities of economic success, the absence of a qualified high-tech workforce is a major impediment that outweighs the , , attractiveness of the Island's beauty and life style. The longer view is to use this opportunity to improve the educational capabilities on Hawai'i Island over the next decade, taking advantage of the common needs of the local community and observatories. This would create a longer-term pool of local high-tech enabled workers, and local tech-savvy business people, as an ongoing attractant to allow further investment in the Hawai'i Island community by other clean high-tech industries, both local and external. I An Example Program Outline It remains for a broader group to translate these TABLE 3 data and subsequent creative thinking into a Selected: Job Openings and I consensus plan of action. However, the Educational Requirements following is an example of how these data might 2015 Annual be used, considering the data excerpt in Table 32. Technology 2023 Mean Overlapping Skills Mechanical 58 6.5 AA/AS 31 3.5 It is important to recognize that, in an observa- BA/BS 27 3.0 Itory, there is an intrinsically high level of over- Electronic-Electrical 56 6.2 lap in the practical applications of electronic, ANAS 25 2.7 mechanical, and optical systems. BA/BS _ 31 3.5 IOptical 29 3.2 Adding across these three fields shown in Table AA/AS 10 1.1 3, there are expected to be 143 job openings at BA/BS 19 2.1 Ithe Associate's or Bachelor's levels from 2015 Software 47 5.2 through 2023 — of these 66 are at the Associate's BA/BS 47 5.2 level and 77 at the Bachelor's level. These Information Tech 23 2.4 correspond to a total of 16 job openings every AA/AS 6 0.6 year, on average; seven at the Associate's level, BA/BS - 17 1.8 and nine at the Bachelor's level. Length of the Pipeline 0 r Another important consideration to address in the design is how far back into the educational system one might effectively reach. iii ,.,.. If one assumes that the lowest education level for any of these positions is the high-school di- I ill ploma (or GED) and if one is targeting jobs in 2023, then an 18-year-old graduate is currently five years old and in kindergarten. A 22-year-old Bachelor's level graduate is now nine years old and likely entering the fourth grade in the Fall of 2010. Formal Education In view of these considerations, one approach would be to consider a program that enhances STEM education in the K-12 system for the longer term. I2 Extracted from Table 1. 9 gm ii ii 1 Then, in parallel with K-12, address the near and long term needs by providing g y p ding perhaps a single Associate's degree program that includes a sound grounding in one or more of these three fields, and then provides elective courses in each of the other two. As a final step, one could provide a Bachelor's level program built around the same concepts, and articulated to accept, as an option, the Associate's degree graduates into the third year either 3 immediately or later. This would provide an immediate upward path for the recent Associate's graduate, and also the opportunity for working Associate's-level staff, within or outside the observatories, to move up to Bachelor's level at a later time. As an additional note, Table 3 also suggests there could be value in a suitably focused Bachelor's-level software curriculum, and Associate's-level and Bachelor's-level programs in Information Technology, particularly since these two fields already have much broader industrial audiences than just the observatories. ' Experience and Access Again, this is a matter for broader discussion, but it is envisioned that the academic programs that would evolve from this effort would be linked directly to a more formal structure that would coordinate and enhance the currently existing observatory internship and practicum programs. These enhancements might well come from joint proposals to a number of Federal and State 1 agencies, not only in the astronomy area,but also in the more general workforce area as well. It is envisioned that this would be augmented by a "one-stop"web site that would allow students 1 to explore and apply for internship and summer job opportunities across all the observatories and any other partners. In the same spirit, it is envisioned that there would be a one-stop website for searching all the astronomy jobs at all the observatories at the same time. 1 Acknowledgements The Task Force deeply appreciates the efforts of Dr. Colin Aspin, of the University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy, who serves as the Mauna Kea observatories' Directors representative to the Task Force. Likewise, the Task Force acknowledges the efforts of Dr. Jim Kennedy who served as the WIB's representative to the Task Force during the survey process. The efforts of the administrative representatives of the observatories were essential and invaluable in compiling the labor force information for the survey. They are: Naomi Ahuna Keck Observatory Neil Barker Gemini Observatory ' Richard Chamberlain Caltech Submillimeter Observatory Sandra Dawson Thirty Meter Telescope Debbie Guthier Subaru Telescope Sandra Miyata University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy Michele Mulkey Joint Astronomy Centre , George Nystrom Submillimeter Array DeeDee Warren Canada France Hawai'i Telescope 10 Appendix - The Survey Instrument 11 & : -3 Csl t C 0 01 0. _ I _ _ II § )k\ •\)\ 0 2 0 . WV ID E . o \r— \r — _ k « k\ $\o 3� . ) � .. CV ■ J. 2 '92 & § 7g . , q J \ \f 2 ® g2 L. 2 )a- ; j»� / §\ E\\ _ E) _ k • ± 2 « \\w \f o 0 0 al © C E T. + _ u , . - o 0 k � ok{ � I § 0 `_ % \\) } • _ 2 ) _ I— » 2 2 \\® • © - . ee : 22e § a /ƒ# § q k \0 0a- ° 5± o 0 - $ � § £� E ° 0� 4 � > CC ) a, 7 2 a,' ® ca 4k \ \ \ 2 \�� • /o _ E \f Cl.) \\ 0 CL f _ § � � 0 — ^ ~ L. CU _ � - _ ® _ ›, u \\� � � \\ o , � eg � )2 « )\ 8 . 0 CL C•1 ,.I f To � � it\ 0- co \ - ) a �§ k \a � 3 « ] . f22 . fr— = [ {{\ t - . . 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