While a new program to track University graduates might seem like something from the NSA, guess again.
Operation Recall is, instead, a $20,000 Louisiana Board of Regents initiative that aims to bring graduates back to work in
Louisiana.
The Board partnered with the state’s universities and Workforce Cabinet Agencies to target degree holders according to their major and location. After receiving 360,830 graduate records, USADATA, a data company that provides information for mailing lists and marketing, compiled the information for the Board.
Lisa Smith-Vosper, associate commissioner for Workforce Education and Training, presented the data-driven program to the Board and said Louisiana’s greatest crisis is not having enough workers for high demand fields.
In the Board presentation, Vosper cited the Baton Rouge Business Report article that said 600,000 people have left to work elsewhere between 1980 and 2010
Jim Purcell, commissioner of higher education, said the program will give the state the economic boost it needs.
“It shows that we are being part of the solution of the state and addressing a great problem of the state,” Purcell said.
USADATA provided the Board with information on graduates from all majors and a total of 286,721 records for research,
recruiting and mapping.
The group found that 85 percent of graduates stayed in state and most of them are located near metropolitan areas.
The majority of those who relocated now live in Texas,
Mississippi, California, Florida and Georgia.
Because most graduates have not left the state, the program will recruit graduates by major and match them with specific jobs, Purcell said.
Additionally, the program can track the densities of where certain majors are living, household incomes and lifestyles of the graduates, helping the Board understand why graduates are leaving.
Vosper said the data will be returned to all the universities and colleges that participated, so they can possibly attract students to returning to school.
The Operation Recall committee is planning job fairs in key cities in Texas, and information will be mailed to graduates based on majors and specific job needs in state and out of state, Vosper said. Texas is the number one out-of-state location for graduates.
Katara Williams, assistant commissioner for public affairs, said the Board hopes the money spent on the project will be returned as graduates return to the state.
“This amount is minimal, looking at the possibility at the rate of return,” Williams said. “That is going to be a huge boost to our state,” Williams said.
“It shows that we are being part of the solution of the state and addressing a great problem of the state.”