Method and roadmap

The aim is a picture that holds up to scrutiny. Each occupation page is built the same way, from public sources, so any reader can follow a claim back to where it came from.

• Real work, not job titles. Each occupation is described by the actual tasks people do in it, drawn from the U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database, rather than a title or a general impression.
• Matched to what EWU teaches. Those tasks are compared against the published learning outcomes of EWU courses, so the alignment is specific to the curriculum a student would take.
• Confirmed by faculty. A mapping counts as a finding only after the program's own faculty review and confirm it. Until that review, the page says so plainly and treats the mapping as preliminary.
• Grounded in current demand. Projected openings and wages come from Washington Employment Security Department data. Live job postings come from CareerOneStop, a U.S. Department of Labor service.
• Traceable and reproducible. Every number links to its public source, and the method is written down so an independent reviewer can rebuild the result.

This is a developing initiative, released in the open as it grows rather than held back until it is complete. A first set of occupations across health care, business, education, and technology is live as a working proof of concept, each with its sources and method visible. Findings are published as they are validated: a page is marked preliminary until the faculty who teach its courses have reviewed it. The honest distinction between what is confirmed and what is still preliminary is part of the design, not a caveat to it.

• Faculty validation of the first programs Next

  Faculty in a first group of programs review the mappings for the courses they teach and confirm or correct each one. Their judgment also sets the line between well prepared, developing, and an opportunity to add, so those readings reflect expert review rather than an automated estimate.

• Broader coverage

  The set grows to include the occupations that account for most of the region's hiring and the programs that enroll most students, so a department, an employer, or a family can find the field they care about.

• A shared definition of the skills worth building

  Across occupations, the specific, teachable skills the region needs are gathered into one clear set, each tied to a recognized national skills framework and written so a department can build it into a course. As the labor market shifts, including the changes artificial intelligence is driving, this set is updated from current job postings and named authoritative sources.

• Measures of success and a regular review

  Clear measures, and a standing review in which programs see the evidence, confirm it, and record the curriculum changes it leads to, so the alignment is steered by data over time rather than checked once.