The skill set required to attain quality employment is not being fully addressed in the community colleges. This disconnect produces laborers with skill sets that do not meet the needs of employers. Ironically, while the need for employees with increased skills rises annually, many graduates have difficulty finding employment in their career areas. Minimizing this disconnect will supply businesses with the skilled employees they need, thereby increasing graduate placement.

This study describes a partnership between education and business at a rural midwestern community college. This partnership exists to facilitate the documentation of skills graduates will need to be employable through co-curricular definition by the education and business partners. The results of this research document the workings of the partnership and show how these partnerships can be defined using strategies like educational models or the business/education model.