Best Practice Tools
The Advance Michigan Center for Apprenticeship Innovation (AMCAI) partners closely with its Michigan Works! Association partners, including SEMCA, to provide instruction in understanding apprenticeships, developing programs, resources, and assisting employers that are unable to come to AMCAI staff for assistance.
RapidSkills Generator
RapidSkills Generator is a new, open-source tool that streamlines the process of developing a competency-based (CB) apprenticeship. RapidSkills Generator provides a more intuitive entry point for employer and workforce development professionals seeking to develop CB apprenticeship programs, among other uses in CB training and education.
RapidSkills Generator will allow individuals building apprenticeship programs to draw from a wide variety of sample skills outlines to customize CB work process outlines for apprenticeship programs. Provided skills outlines delineate suggested skills required to be competent in apprenticeable occupations and allows users to pick those skills most relevant for their customized program. RapidSkills Generator will provide newly developed skills outlines for a variety of manufacturing occupations; existing, open-source skills outlines developed by national experts; and outlines submitted by users and partners.
ROI Calculator
WIN’s ROI Calculator provides the return on investment (ROI) of an apprentice for certain occupations. ROI is determined by considering a wage progression over the life of the program, the wages of an experienced technician, billing and hourly workloads for an experienced technician, the hourly cost of training the apprentice, and productivity changes from pairing an apprentice with an experienced technician. Wage data are median wages for apprentices who completed their programs in the State of Michigan between 2008 and 2015.
Registered Apprentice in a Day (RAPiD)
The Registered Apprentice in a Day program was designed to allow employers to develop and register their apprenticeship program in a single day. Developed by AMCAI staff, this program has since been operated by community college partners and the State of Michigan. RAPiD is an interactive workshop that gives participants an opportunity to talk through the steps required to develop and launch a Department of Labor registered apprenticeship program. Participating employers that come to a RAPiD event prepared with the required documents are able to complete their program and have it signed by the Department of Labor at the event.
Registered Apprenticeship Process Guide
The AMCAI Registered Apprentice Process Guide is meant to provide individuals working in workforce development with a full understanding of Registered Apprenticeships, including how to create them, how they are launched and managed, and how to find additional information and resources about apprenticeship. It also outlines the benefits of apprenticeship for the employer and the apprentice.
The Process Guide is available as a free download.
Apprenti
Though not funded through the Department of Labor, WIN’s Apprenti program works alongside the AMCAI staff in developing registered apprenticeship programs in Michigan. Apprenti is a nationally recognized IT apprenticeship program developed by the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) whose goal is to augment the existing talent supply in the region. It helps provide a reliable pipeline for underrepresented groups to gain training, certification, and placement within the tech industry.