By ALFREDO ALVARADO

District Council 37 and Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn have agreed to collaborate and develop courses to help union members become better prepared to compete for job promotions and advance in their careers.

With one-third of the municipal workforce expected to retire in a few years, DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido wants to make sure that union members are ready to compete for the best jobs that city government has to offer.

The new Leadership Preparedness Program, an initiative by the union and Medgar Evers College, aims to address the wave of retirements and the challenges it poses to the city, Garrido said. “Together we expect to create courses that will help develop a well-educated and capable municipal workforce,” Garrido.

Garrido wanted to make the courses available to the thousands of union members who live and work and Brooklyn. The main campus of Medgar Evers, a City University of New York college, is located in Crown Heights.

“The faculty of the Dept. of Public Administration looks forward to teaching and mentoring the newest members of the Medgar Evers family,” said Professor Wallace Ford, chairman of the Dept. of Public Administration. Ford will be working with DC 37 to recruit students for the program.

Union members interested in studying at Medgar Evers College should visit the school’s website at: www.mec.cuny.edu, for more information.