Several
colleges in the Hudson Valley will soon offer specialized courses centered
around the budding cannabis industry.
Rockland
Community College is focused on growing the cannabis industry's future
workforce.
"It’s
not every day you get an opportunity to shape an industry from scratch,"
said Kevin Stump, the college’s vice president of Economic
Mobility and Workforce Innovation.
Stump
will help come up with "pathway" courses on cannabis, which he expects
to start in the fall of 2023 at RCC. They will be specialized credits that can
stack toward one of their other college degrees.
The
Suffern-based institution is one of six Hudson Valley area community colleges
responsible for having a unique marijuana-focused pathway, thanks to
state money and a grant from the national nonprofit Education
Design Lab.
Stump
explains RCC will possibly offer a course centered around the culinary arts and
hospitality because of their Nyack location – or business courses since they're
also home to the Small Business Development Center.
He
says Hudson Valley community colleges have been meeting at least once a week to
work on their future courses.