DAU Midwest Region signs learning organization agreements: Lawrence Technological University and Department of Energy

Defense AT&L, July-August, 2006 by Carl D. Hayden

On March 9, 2006, DAU signed a strategic partnership agreement with Lawrence Technical University in a ceremony held on the campus of LTU, Southfield, Mich. Travis Stewart, dean, DAU Midwest Region, and Dr. Lewis N. Walker, president, Lawrence Technological University, signed for their respective organizations.

The partnership was created and designed for the purpose of increasing the quantity and quality of educational opportunities that will allow the acquisition, technology, and logistics workforce of the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to fulfill their training and education requirements. Under the terms of the agreement, LTU and DAU will form an alliance whereby LTU will offer both certificate and graduate-level coursework to qualified applicants at the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command-Life Cycle Management Command (TACOM-LCMC) in Detroit, Mich.

Lawrence Technological University, founded in 1932 as Lawrence Institute of Technology, is a private institution with a coeducational student body numbering approximately 5,000. One of LTU's benefits is a discount on tuition rate for students admitted to LTU under this strategic partnership agreement.

The strategic partnership agreement will provide a graduate-level certificate program that awards academic credit for qualified students and meets both the education and training requirements for Levels I, II, and III in contracting, logistics and technology, information technology, property management, manufacturing production, quality assurance, systems engineering, and program management. Some additional opportunities between the educational partners include graduate-level certificate programs in the following areas: project management, non-profit management. Six Sigma and Lean manufacturing, and leading organizational change. LTU is also prepared to offer the TACOM-LCMC community graduate-level coursework for other careers and to conduct a complimentary needs assessment to determine graduate-level coursework for job families and career paths at TACOM.

LTU will also provide on-site and online graduate-level courses to qualified degree-seeking applicants to meet their education requirements for careers in program and project management, information technology, manufacturing production, and quality assurance. LTU will provide on-site and online degree programs to qualified applicants: master of science in information systems; master of business administration (MBA); master of science in operations management; master of science in engineering management; and dual degree in engineering management and MBA. LTU will provide for the transfer of appropriate graduate-level DAU coursework that is American Council on Education (ACE)-evaluated. Especially noteworthy is that LTU may consider other DAU coursework taken by applicants as suitable for transfer credit.

Department of Energy

On March 28, 2006, DAU signed a Learning Organization Agreement with the Department of Energy, Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) in Cincinnati, Ohio. Stewart signed on behalf of DAU, and Jack Craig (SES), director, DoE Consolidated Business Center, on behalf of the DoE.

The CBC has consolidated the field functions of DoE's environmental management closure sites and other sites in the areas of human resources, financial management, contracting/procurement, information management, logistics, safety, and legal services. The supported sites include the Ohio Field Office (Columbus, Ashtabula, West Valley, Fernald, and Miamisburg), Rocky Flats, Carlsbad, the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, and the Western Sites Project Office. The Department of Energy has numerous satellite offices throughout the DAU Midwest Region.

The CBC is staffed with a cadre of skilled employees who possess expertise in site closure requirements. The EMCBC provides the DoE's Office of Environmental Management and its project sites with a full range of business support services (as listed above) and provides customer sites with technical assistance. This DAU/EMCBC Learning Organization Agreement will enable approximately 14,000 federal employees in Cincinnati and in Kentucky and Indiana to learn more about DAU's vision, mission, and learning assets. A DAU Acquisition Insight Day is scheduled for the area later this year.

Hayden is associate dean of academics, DAU Midwest Region.