The Missouri Career Centers and the WIB’s Dislocated Worker Program stand ready to assist individuals in need with tuition assistance and other services. View or download the PDF flyer for more information. The MARET Center may be reached by phone at 417-455-5666. To contact the Missouri Career Center in Joplin, call 417-629-3000, or in Monett, 417-235-7877.

The Challenge web site provides direct access to job boards and other tools that allow users to apply for open positions across industries at companies and organizations around the country.   What’s more, everyone who logs on to the site will have an opportunity to cast votes for the tools they find most useful, and post comments.   This feedback will help the workforce system identify valuable tools to make available through the One Stop system, and will help future job seekers quickly find online tools that meet their needs.

DOL has been reaching out to businesses and organizations around the country and asking them to enter their online tools in the challenge.   The response has been impressive, with nationally known companies, regional and niche tools, and new and emerging sites joining the challenge.   Now is the time for workforce professionals and job seekers to provide feedback on these online career resources, and of course, to use the sites to find jobs and help explore career opportunities.

• Tools for America’s Job Seekers Challenge Website Link
• Informational Flyer (PDF)

• Download the January workshop calendar and event descriptions (PDF)

INFORMATION REGARDING THE WORKER ASSISTANCE ACT 2009

ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION (EUC)

IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO CLAIMANTS

Federal legislation has been passed that allows for additional Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits to be paid to certain claimants for weeks beginning on or after November 8, 2009.  The Division of Employment Security’s (DES) records indicate you may be eligible for the additional EUC.  This notice is to inform you what must be done in order for the DES to determine your eligibility.  This notice does NOT mean you will get the additional EUC.  These benefits are potentially available for those workers who are not yet back to work full-time.

To file for these additional EUC, complete the FRONT AND BACK of the enclosed application and mail or fax BOTH SIDES to:  Division of Employment Security, Claims Programs Unit, P. O. Box 3915, Jefferson City, MO 65102-3915, FAX: 573-751-9730.  DO NOT FAX THE APPLICATION TO ANY OTHER NUMBER.  You also can submit a request for the additional EUC through the DES Web site.  The initial filing of the additional EUC can only be done through the completion of the enclosed application or through the DES Web site. Visit www.mo.claim.mo.gov, click on “File Unemployment Claim”.  If you submit this request on-line, you will receive a confirmation page to print and keep for your records.  Submit the application only once using the mail, fax or Internet.  DO NOT CALL A REGIONAL CLAIMS CENTER (RCC) TO APPLY FOR THE ADDITIONAL EUC.

If the benefit year has ended on your regular unemployment insurance (UI) claim, the application will be processed to determine your eligibility to file a new regular UI claim.  If you are not eligible for regular UI benefits on a new Missouri claim or on an interstate basis and have exhausted benefits under both of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) claims and the Missouri Extended Benefits (EB) claim, the application then will be processed to determine your eligibility for the additional EUC.  You will be contacted if additional information is needed.

If you currently are filing weekly certifications (claims), continue to file each week.  Use the automated telephone system (Option 2, then 1) or Web site at www.moclaim.mo.gov, View Unemployment Claims status, to see if benefits have been paid.  Once your application is processed, you will receive a notice of eligibility in the mail.  Allow at least two (2) weeks after submitting the application for it to be processed.  Applications cannot be processed until guidelines are received from the federal government, so there may be a delay from the time you submit the application and when you receive the notice of eligibility.

If you have not been filing weekly certifications (claims), you should begin doing so when you receive the notice of the additional EUC eligibility in the mail.  The effective date of your claim for additional EUC may cover several past weeks, so when filing your first weekly certification (claim), be certain to claim all prior weeks presented if you want to receive benefits for those weeks.

Under the additional EUC payments, regular work search requirements apply.  You will not be required to mail in your work search log every five weeks.  Union workers that get work through hiring halls will only be required to make one weekly contact with their hiring halls.

If you currently are receiving weekly benefit payments under the Trade Readjustment Assistance (TRA) program, you must establish and claim all benefits available under this additional EUC extension before you can again begin receiving weekly benefits under the TRA program.  Subsistence payments will continue to be processed using the TRA-22 form.

Beginning today, Missouri is one of the first six states participating in Microsoft Elevate America, which the company initially launched in February 2009. Through this program, Missouri will receive 24,750 receive vouchers for e-learning and certification program to be distributed across the state – at no cost to customers. These vouchers will entitle Missourians to access specialized e-learning programs for various Microsoft programs and platforms, such as Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access Windows Server, Microsoft Exchange Server, and more.

“I’m proud that the state of Missouri is teaming up with Microsoft to provide cutting-edge, in-demand training that will help our citizens compete in the 21st-century economy,” Gov. Nixon said. “The world has gone digital, and it’s vital that Missourians have the knowledge and skills to land and keep the jobs of tomorrow. For folks seeking a new job, or looking to brush up their skills, Elevate America will be a tremendous resource.”

“This program is designed to equip people with the critical technology skills they’ll need to be employable in our changing economy,” said Tony Wilson, Microsoft Regional Vice President for Government Relations. “We believe this type of public-private initiative with Missouri will play an important role in helping to rebuild the nation’s economy.”

Missouri Career Centers will administer the program statewide, and vouchers are available starting today online.  To obtain a voucher, Missourians should visit the state’s Web portal specific to Elevate America. To obtain a voucher, Missourians need only complete a short application, and learning can begin almost immediately. Missourians must claim their vouchers by Jan. 31, 2010.

A toll-free phone number for any Career Center in Missouri is available,  1-888-728-JOBS, for additional information on Elevate America.  Locally, the Joplin Career Center may be reached at 417-629-3000 and the Monett Career Center number is 417-235-7877.

• Download a one-page flyer for Missouri about Microsoft Elevate America (PDF)

Each Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 to 1:00 p.m., the Pineville center offers customers a resource center with computers and internet access to MissouriCareerSource.com and direct links to thousands of jobs statewide and information on job fairs and career planning.  SNAP volunteers are on hand with re-employment assistance to help re-enter the workforce and resume-writing assistance to help make good first impressions.  For job seekers that need more skills, the Pineville center includes basic computer training, referrals on GED and ESL classes, as well as information on available training courses available locally and through the region.

The Grand Opening ceremony for the Pineville SNAP will offer refreshments, tours, and information about the program.  The event is set for 10:00 a.m., Thursday, November 5th at the Pineville United Methodist Church, 104 N. Main Street.  For more information, contact Marilyn Carnel-Williams at the Pineville UMC by calling 417-223-4455 or emailing marilyn@olemac.net.  Sherri Rhuems at the WIB may be reached at 417-206-1717 or sherri@workforcezone.net.

A meta-analysis released by the U.S. Department of Education finds that undergraduate and graduate students who took all or part of their instruction online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through face-to-face instruction. Students who took courses blending elements of online learning with face-to-face instruction fared best of all.

The report attributes much of the success of online learning to the fact that students in online courses often spent more time on task than students in face-to-face courses. Although the studies in the meta-analysis do not demonstrate that online learning is superior to face-to-face learning overall, the report’s authors argue that online learning is much more conducive to the expansion of learning time than is face-to-face instruction.

• Download a complete version of the 2009 study (PDF)

Maximize your potential through any of these dynamic workshops available at the Missouri Career Center. There is no charge to participate. The October schedule is now available online with workshop descriptions and a downloadable schedule.

• Website article with metro comparisons across Missouri
• Audio version of news report (mp3 file courtesy of KZRG)