A side benefit of this skill dictionary that could impact programs at all colleges in MCCD is the ability to leverage the top ten skills employers want to develop new course offerings. Colleges can easily generate reports to track the most needed skills by employers, the gaps between the skills students have and the ones employers need, etc. This is one of the first fully interactive, database-driven applications MCCD has delivered over the web using an outsourcing model to contain costs. The old job placement system was character based and it was difficult to share information among the colleges. This system is fully web-enable, runs on both Mac and Windows platforms using a browser and it has allowed all colleges in Maricopa to share and cooperate as a unit in managing this system.
All colleges share the responsibility of administering the system.
The system is centralized in it operations but distributed in its administration. All administrators are responsible for posting submitted jobs regardless of who the employer is. This has created a spirit of cooperation and ownership among all colleges. A discussion board was also created for administrators to share their expertise and raise questions on using the system. The system is in use at all 10 colleges around the District.