The SCANS competencies were not new skills back in the 1992 when the Secretary's Commission addressed the needs of employees, nor are the skills old today. With each passing day, worksites are demanding a higher level of academic and technical skills, and are demanding more than the assembly lines of the past ever dreamed. Actually, today's worksites require employees to "think" and to communicate those thoughts. SCANS addresses academic, technical and interpersonal skills - the very skills that are required in the world of work today and will be required in the world of work tomorrow, thus the relevancy of SCANS.

The Northwest Mississippi Community College SCANS Committee members have found the SCANS skills to be a motivator for faculty and staff. Student preparation at NWCC has become a team effort!

SCANS (Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills)

Workplace Competencies - Effective workers can productively use:

Resources - They know how to allocate time, money, materials, space, and staff.

Interpersonal Skills - They can work on teams, teach others, serve customers, lead, negotiate, and work well with people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

Information - They can acquire and evaluate data, organize and maintain files, interpret and communicate, and use computers to process information.

Systems - They understand social, organizational, and technological systems; they can monitor and correct performance; and they can design or improve systems.

Technology - they can select equipment and tools, apply technology to specific tasks, and maintain and troubleshoot equipment.

Foundation Skills - competent workers in the high performance workplace need: