The Meat Talent Development Program aims to help students learn about meat careers, provide financial support for meat processing training programs, and help connect meat processors with potential employees.
Betsy Leonard, Education Director of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and STEM for the Wisconsin Technical College System, shares more about the program and work being done to support it within technical colleges.
The Wisconsin Technical College System is comprised of 16 technical colleges with more than 50 campuses and facilities across the state. Of the sixteen, nine are now involved with the Meat Development Program.
“Several of the nine colleges already had culinary or meat butchery programs in place and were able to use pieces of that curriculum to create a certificate program,” says Leonard. “Madison College has students taking these courses already this semester while others are looking to begin in January of 2023.”
Thanks to grant funding, faculty are being trained or hired on to be able to reach as many students as possible. The Wisconsin Technical College System is working with industry partners to help train staff and students as well. Another way they are working to reach more students is by working with high schools on dual credit courses that can apply towards the program certification.
Colleges that are working with the dual credit program are having equipment placed in the high schools and offering courses in the evening so students as well as adults can partake in the course.
“We are working diligently to provide these opportunities to students by helping the colleges purchase equipment, have the support they need, and we can hopefully get these courses out to the public sooner than later,” adds Leonard.
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