Employment Retention Essentials

Employment retention is one of the critical challenges facing the workforce field today. For any organization that seeks to improve retention services, "Employment Retention Essentials" is an invaluable resource. User-friendly and filled with practical ideas, this guide offers concrete tools for keeping people working, including tips on how to involve employers, build relationships and stay in contact with participants

Application of configurational mechanics to crack propagation

Crack initiation and propagation is an essential aspect in the mechanical behavior of a large variety of materials and structures in all fields of Engineering and, in particular, the prediction of crack trajectories is one of the major challenges of existing numerical methods. Classical procedures to fix crack direction have been based on local criteria such as maximum (tensile) hope stress. However, Fracture Mechanics principles suggest that global criteria should be used instead, such as maximizing structural energy release rates. An emerging trend along this way is based on Configurational Mechanics, which describes a dual version of the mechanical problem in terms of configurational pseudo-stresses, pseudo-forces, etc. all with a physical meaning related to the change in global structural elastic energy caused by changes in the structural geometry (configuration). In the FEM context, these concepts are applied to optimize the total energy of the mesh with respect to reference coordinates using the discrete configurational forces. Configurational stresses given by Eshelby’s energy-momentum tensor may be integrated using standard expressions to give configurational nodal forces. Adequate treatment of these forces in the context of iterative FE calculations, may lead to prediction of crack trajectories in terms of global structural energy

Targeting Industries, Training Workers and Improving Opportunities: The Final Report from the Sectoral Employment Initiative Executive Summary

This executive summary provides a brief look at the key findings and challenges sectoral programs encountered while participating in the Sectoral Employment Initiative (SEI). By identifying local sectors that lack workers -- which might range from health care to manufacturing to construction -- these organizations were shown, in many cases, to help low-income workers acquire the specific skills they need to fill available positions

Targeting Industries, Training Workers and Improving Opportunities: The Final Report from the Sectoral Employment Initiative

Over the past 30 years, American workers have faced daunting challenges, including declines in real wages and dwindling upward mobility. Paths to advance within companies have deteriorated, leaving many low-skilled workers "stuck" indefinitely in low-wage jobs -- and swelling the ranks of the working poor. As opportunities for less-educated workers to access well-paying jobs grow scarce, it is clear that our nation requires new approaches to workforce development.In a departure from traditional strategies, some workforce organizations have begun to implement services and activities that focus on the needs of specific industry sectors. By identifying local sectors that lack workers -- which might range from health care to manufacturing to construction -- these organizations can help low-income workers acquire the specific skills they need to fill available positions. To explore the potential of this approach, P/PV launched the Sectoral Employment Initiative (SEI) in 1998, with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. This final report relies on data gathered during interviews with staff members at the SEI organizations and other key players in the targeted sectors, site visits, reviews of program documentation, and baseline and follow-up interviews with program participants focusing on a range of outcomes, including employment, earnings, education, housing and household income. The report presents key findings and explores some of the challenges sectoral programs encountered

Supporting Youth Employment: A Guide for Community Groups

Although public money is available for education, job training and youth programs throughout the nation, many young people in low-income communities do not acquire the skills and credentials necessary to get high paying jobs. This Guide is a resource for parents, youth workers, educators and young people who want to take action. It details three major public funding sources that can support job-related training for youth: the WIA, TANF and State Education Assistance. The Guide also offers information on how to recognize effective programs, activities and supports, highlighting successful youth initiatives. A long list of youth-oriented resources is provided

New developments in the application of configurational mechanics to crack propagation

The numerical description of discrete cracks and their propagation remains one of the main difficulties in the modeling of quasi-brittle materials such as rock or concrete. An emerging powerful approach is the use of Configurational Mechanics concepts, in such a way that crack trajectory really corresponds to a structural energy minimum and is not predetermined by the initial mesh lines. In theimplementationdeveloped, discrete cracks, represented by zero-thickness interface elements, are reoriented on thebasis of configurational or material forces, calculated in a FEM context by an integration over the elements of the Eshelby energy-momentum tensor. The strategy is illustrated with an application example for which the fracture path is known a priori, and the initial mesh layout is chosen such that the lines zig-zag significantly with respect to it. The results show that the procedure implemented works successfully, that is, mesh lines do succeed in reorienting themselves during configurational iterations, so that the developing crack progressively matches the known physical trajectory.Postprint (published version

New developments in the application of configurational mechanics to crack propagation

The numerical description of discrete cracks and their propagation remains one of the main difficulties in the modeling of quasi-brittle materials such as rock or concrete. An emerging powerful approach is the use of Configurational Mechanics concepts, in such a way that crack trajectory really corresponds to a structural energy minimum and is not predetermined by the initial mesh lines. In the implementation developed, discrete cracks, represented by zero-thickness interface elements, are reoriented on the basis of configurational or material forces, calculated in a FEM context by an integration over the elements of the Eshelby energy-momentum tensor. The strategy is illustrated with an application example for which the fracture path is known a priori, and the initial mesh layout is chosen such that the lines zig-zag significantly with respect to it. The results show that the procedure implemented works successfully, that is, mesh lines do succeed in reorienting themselves during configurational iterations, so that the developing crack progressively matches the known physical trajectory

Farm Household Well-Being: Comparing Consumption- and Income-Based Measures

Household economic well-being can be gauged by the financial resources (income/ wealth) available to the household or by the standard of living enjoyed by household members (consumption). Based on responses to USDA’s annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), a joint effort by the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, ERS has long published estimates of farm household income and wealth. This report presents, for the first time, estimates of consumption-based measures of well-being for farm households based on new questions in ARMS. The consumption measure provides a different perspective from income or wealth on farm households’ well-being relative to that of all U.S. households.household consumption, household income, household well-being measures, farm households, self-employed households, permanent income, permanent income hypothesis., Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Providence College Library+Commons Promotional Branding Material: Library+Commons Graphics

A PDF file containing Library+Commons images and grapics used at Providence College

Here to Stay: Tips and Tools to Hire, Retain and Advance Hourly-Wage Workers

Much has been written about retaining high performers and upper management. But where can businesses go for advice about keeping their lesser-skilled, hourly-wage workers? P/PV has addressed the gap with this new guide. Based on the practices of businesses that value their workers, Here to Stay offers a series of cost-effective actions, including hiring the right people, welcoming them, retaining them and developing their talents for the company's benefit. Workforce organizations can use the guide to understand business practices that keep lower-income workers on the job; to generate ideas to help employer partners who are experiencing high turnover; to provide content for newsletters, presentations or workshops for the business community; and as a resource -- and a thank you -- to businesses that hire their job seekers