The 2022 MTC Job Corps OACTS or Outreach and Admissions Career Transition Services conference was a substantial meeting of Job Corps staff years in the making. 

“Right now, this is a perfect opportunity to bring all our OA/CTS leadership together to focus on our top priorities,” said Steve Fuller, vice president, western region.

Jessica Bayer, operations director, OA/CTS, eastern region, outlined the impact of this in-person conference.

“We host calls every other week with them, but I’ve never met half of them in person. We hosted a virtual celebration conference two years ago, which was the first time we celebrated this team. Bringing them (here) in person two years later is a surreal experience.”

The conference’s goal is MTC’s top Job Corps priority: to increase student enrollment.

MTC President Scott Marquardt said in four decades. This is the first time MTC’s top Job Corps priority has shifted to increasing enrollment.

“I’ve worked in the Job Corps program for almost 40 years, and I’ve always said the most important thing is performance or student outcomes. I’m not saying that right now because we can’t have student outcomes without students, and we are down significantly, and priority one in Job Corps is getting students back on center. The efforts being made now are significant, we’re starting to make an increase, and we’ve got to keep that up.”

No matter your job title, sharing the opportunities available through Job Corps will make a difference.

“Anybody can be a (Job Corps) recruiter,” Jessica explained. “OBS and recruiting is not just the admission counselor’s role and responsibility; if you work at Job Corps, you love the program, and you can talk to anybody about why it’s a suitable program for them.”

A collaborative effort to grow student enrollment starts with a focus on students.

“We must also take a step back and realize that each number is a student,” Steve said. “Every person that comes into the program has an opportunity to change their lives. So, while we want to increase our numbers, we also want to focus on changing that one individual’s life; making sure they have access to the program that we offer all the things from trade academics, high school diploma, and everything that we have to offer, realizing that every student to enter the program can make a difference and change their lives for the rest of their life.”

Finally, we all want to help change lives. Here is Jessica’s inspiring reminder to increase your efforts to help young people discover and enroll in Job Corps.

“OBS is the number one priority in all of Job Corps. Right now, we are in an OBS crisis, and we need this staff and all of their efforts to get ourselves where we need to go.”