(a) The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship, with the advice and consent of the Alabama Apprenticeship Council, shall develop a nationally recognized state apprenticeship completion credential, as described in 29 C.F.R. §29.5, for completing a registered or industry-recognized apprenticeship program registered with the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship.
(b) The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship may certify industry-recognized apprenticeships, registered with the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship, as eligible training providers for the purpose of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, P.L. 113-128, and may deliver services to registered apprenticeship participants with qualifying training accounts under Title I of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, P.L. 113-128, through the eligible training provider list of each regional workforce development board.
(c) The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship, with the advice and consent of the Alabama Apprenticeship Council and pursuant to the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act, may adopt rules as necessary to effectuate the intent of this division, and those rules shall conform to the published apprenticeship guidelines in 29 C.F.R., Subtitle A, Parts 29 and 30.
(d) The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship, with the advice and consent of the Alabama Apprenticeship Council, may approve apprenticeship programs that are mandated by state or federal law as a result of the apprenticeship sponsor receiving funds or resources from the state, or funds or resources from the federal government, which require the creation of an apprenticeship program in accordance with a federal grant administered by the state, including contracts, grants, loans, tax abatements or exemptions, land transfers, land disposition and development agreements, tax increment financing, or any combination thereof.
(e) The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship shall establish competency based apprenticeship frameworks based on the regional and statewide compendia of valuable credentials created by the Alabama Workforce Council Committee on Credentialing and Career Pathways. The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship shall establish competency based apprenticeship frameworks for each occupation listed on a regional and statewide list of in-demand career pathways.
(f) The Alabama Committee on Credentialing and Career Pathways shall be charged with analyzing primary and secondary labor market data and data from the Alabama Terminal on Linking and Analyzing Statistics on Career Pathways to determine, annually, among the 16 career clusters and 79 associated career pathways, which career pathways are in demand at the regional and state level.
(g) The Alabama Committee on Credentialing and Career Pathways, by majority vote of a present quorum, shall provide recommendations for appointment to the Governor, who shall appoint a technical advisory committee for each of the 16 career and technical education career clusters.
(h) Each technical advisory committee shall conform to all of the following parameters:
(1) Each shall be composed of seven members who shall possess experience in education, workforce, or economic development in the industry segment for which the technical advisory committee is formed.
(2) Each shall maintain a majority of workforce and economic development representatives.
(3) No later than June 30, 2020, each of the 16 technical advisory committees shall create an industry competency model and competency-based career lattice for, based on the United States Department of Labor's Career Pathways Toolkit and Competency Model Clearinghouse, each O*NET occupation code within that technical advisory committee's career clusters and respective career pathways with three or more stars on a regional or statewide in-demand career pathways list. The Alabama Committee on Credentialing and Career Pathways, annually, shall create statewide and regional compendia of valuable credentials, derived from the statewide and regional lists of in-demand career pathways.
(i) The Alabama Workforce Council Committee on Credentialing and Career Pathways shall be composed of all of the following:
(1) The co-chairs of the committee shall be the Chancellor of the Alabama Community College System and the State Superintendent of Education.
(2) The membership of the committee shall be composed of all of the following ex officio members and appointees, or their designees:
a. The Governor.
b. The Chair of the Alabama Workforce Council.
c. The Chair of the Alabama Workforce Development Board.
d. The State Superintendent of Education.
e. The Chancellor of the Alabama Community College System.
f. The Secretary of the Alabama Department of Labor.
g. The Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce, Division of Workforce Development.
h. The Executive Director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.
i. The President of the Alabama Council of College and University Faculty Presidents.
j. Seven members appointed by the Governor, from each of the seven workforce regions, each of whom shall be a member of a regional workforce council or a local workforce development board.
Last modified: May 3, 2021