Member Matters January 2023

Career Pathway Partnerships
Tiffin University is using CAEL's Credit Predictor Pro technology solution to help students through the CPL process. Credit Predictor Pro streamlines the documentation of prior learning and features a real-time, personalized dashboard to help students track their potential credit (Tiffin University).

Forsyth Technical Community College's Learn and Earn Apprenticeship Program, or LEAP, launched in 2019 to help adult learners pair on-the-job-training with progress toward a degree. In addition to its adult-learner orientation, LEAP is further distinguished from many other programs by being college sponsored, unburdening its more than 30 employer partners of administrative and operating tasks (EducationNC).

Ball State University collaborates with employers throughout Indiana to "help develop talent pipelines through campus engagement, promote economic regions to students, and equip current employees through education and training." A recent study indicates a 94 percent placement rate at the university, with 78 percent of employed graduates working in the state (Ball State University).

Purdue Global and Ivy Tech Community College convened more than 100 leaders representing workforce and economic developers to promote partnerships that can improve adult learner access to career-furthering credentials (Purdue University).

Ohio University has joined Amazon's Career Choice program, at the center of the company's $1.2 billion investment in upskilling, as an education partner (Ohio University).

When area manufacturers approached Kaskaskia College about ways to help students keep their options open along education pathways, the college responded with an unbundled certificate program that offers 'customized career and technical education certificates or degrees which allows students and employers to work together to customize training" (WJBD).

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is offering an HR apprenticeship program that trains students on Workday, an HR platform. During the program, they are paid employees of a Workday advisory partner and upon completion can pursue opportunities with the company's clients (Higher Ed Dive).

Pima Community College has signed an MOU with the developer of a 90-acre sport-and-entertainment-focused lifestyle center to create "work-based learning opportunities in several key programs" (Biz Tucson).

DeVry University and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) have partnered to increase access to and accelerate the completion of credentials that "[prepare] students with the skills and resources to help them succeed in today's digital economy." The UNCF DeVry Gateway scholarship was awarded to 42 students, who can complete the undergraduate and graduate certificate programs in eight to eighteen months. Students receive financial assistance between $5,000 and $10,000 as well as mentorship and other support (DeVry University).

The Texas State University System is partnering with Google to make available Google Career Certificates within "undergraduate degree programs and co-curricular experiences with options to receive university credit" (Dallas Innovates).

Hands-on Learning
When it comes to espousing the effectiveness of experiential learning, the University of Nebraska is leading by example. To encourage more employers to participate in internship programs, its RFP process will include scoring bonuses for responses that feature paid internships for University of Nebraska students in their proposals (KFOR).

Lincoln University has opened a simulation laboratory that will allow nursing students to hone competencies in lifelike circumstances before applying them in hospital settings. The new simulation center is located at the university's Fort Leonard Wood satellite campus, which offers flexible scheduling to accommodate soldiers, veterans, and other adult learners (HBCU Advocate).

Tackling Talent Gaps
The High Demand for Durable Skills report, authored by Lightcast in tandem with the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and America Succeed, highlights the relevance of "durable skills," a phrase the report favors over the traditional "soft skills" moniker. Of 1.6 million job postings in Indiana, the report concludes that at least one durable skill is required in 75% of them, with more than half demanding two or more. Durable skills include: "character, collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, fortitude, growth mindset, leadership, metacognition (awareness of one's learning and thought process) and mindfulness" (Indiana Chamber of Commerce).

With an EMT class traditionally needing at least eight students to be tenable, Northeast Iowa Community College wanted to help smaller communities, where there EMS staffing may be as little as three personnel, minimize the travel required to address critical local staffing needs. Its "hy-flex" EMT program does so by maximizing online training components (KWWL).

Waubonsee Community College will erect a career education building to "teach more students skills seen as desperately needed in the workplace" (Chicago Tribune).

The University of Wyoming's online M.S. nursing program graduated a record number of students in December, with the achievement viewed as particularly propitious in the wake of the pandemic and persistent health care labor shortages. With "two curricular pathways woven into the main course of study," the program is an "excellent option of part-time study for working nurses" (University of Wyoming).

Creative Credentials
A new certificate program at Evergreen State College is catering to adult learners who are focused on career advancement but not necessarily degree completion. The 15 "standalone" certificates "help connect college [curricula] to careers and workforce demands" and remove obstacles to career progression (BusinessNews).

Multiple stakeholders are involved in one of the country's first cannabis apprenticeship programs, launching in New Jersey. Funded by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the program marshals Rowan University, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 360, the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, Rowan College of South Jersey, the Gloucester County Workforce Development Board, and Loud Wellness, Inc. Their efforts will allow the university to "develop degrees, from pre-apprenticeship through graduate degrees, for citizens who will be poised to make an immediate impact on the cannabis retail industry" (Rowan University).

Doing Good With Grants
A $400,000 grant from Strada Education Network will allow Pima Community College to collaborate with American Medical Response, Competitive Engineering Inc. and Leonardo Electronics U.S. Inc. "to create new on-ramps to high quality education and build clear pathways to high-skilled jobs" (Biz Tucson). 

Southern Oregon University has received an Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission grant to broaden the use of CPL increase, making it available to learners campuswide (SOU). 

An Illinois Department of Transportation-funded grant is enabling Black Hawk College to offer the Highway Construction Careers Training Program, which "aims to prepare people to work in the building trades and to increase the number of minorities, women and disadvantaged persons working on IDOT projects" (Quad-City Times).

California State University, Los Angeles has received a $500,000 workforce development grant to support its state's zero-emission-vehicles effort and the consequent need for a talent pool well-versed in fuel emission technologies (FuelCellsWorks).

Heartland Community College's Workforce Equity Initiative, established in 2019, has received a $1 million grant from the Illinois Community College Board to help traditionally underserved learners access "career training that can move them quickly into the workforce" (Herald News). 

A $140,000 investment from Penn Community Bank is supporting the new Center for Advanced Technologies at Bucks County Community College. The center offers courses focusing on industrial skills and manufacturing and is designed to promote professional development among employees and job seekers alike (MONTCO Today).

The University of Central Missouri received a $2 million grant from the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, which will "[enable] the establishment of five newly developed stackable or standalone agriculture workforce certificates" that "address specific challenges and labor issues" (University of Central Missouri).

The United States Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology is providing more than $6 million in funding to the University of Louisville for the establishment of the Kentucky Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which will serve small and medium-sized manufacturers by improving access to emerging technologies and training (WEKU).

Awards and Other Recognition
The Society for Simulation in Healthcare has accredited the Interprofessional Simulation Center at Grand Valley State University, which generates more than 100,000 "learner-contact hours" yearly (Grand Valley State University).

Exelon (Nasdaq: EXC) received the Chairman's Award from Center for Energy Workforce Development, its highest honor. The award, which Exelon has now received for two years running, "recognizes a company for excellence in workforce development leadership (Exelon).

Broward College was honored with the National Council of Workforce Education's Innovative Workforce Program Award for its Broward UP initiative, an "innovative approach to increasing postsecondary access and providing workforce education in communities impacted by high unemployment and low education attainment" (Broward College).

The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs has accredited the undergraduate business programs at Elizabethtown College's School of Graduate and Professional Studies, imparting recognition at an "international level" to the programs, which are "designed to help working adults reach their educational and career goals at an affordable cost" (Elizabethtown College).

The Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation has bestowed its accreditation upon Felician University's teacher preparation programs, making the university the first in its state to be so recognized. AAQEP "promotes excellent, effective, and innovative educator preparation that is committed to evidence-based improvement in a collaborative professional environment" (Felician University).

West Chester University's Greg and Sandra Weisenstein Veterans Center has received the Bronze Patrick Henry Award from the Military Order of the World Wars in recognition of its service to veterans and its status as a "Gold Designated Military Friendly University" (WCU).

Success Stories
University of Maryland Global Campus shared the story of a married couple from Ghana that were enrolled simultaneously within the university's master of science in cybersecurity technology program, where they both completed the degree with 4.0 grade point averages while working full-time and raising 4 children (UMGC).

A mother-daughter pair combined to complete three psychology degrees at Valdosta State University, where the two graduated together (Henry Herald).

KC Scholars' most recent batch of adult learner scholarships, which have a value of up to $50,000 each, totals 125. More than 6,000 adults have received such scholarships, which are applicable to 17 regional colleges and universities, since the program's inception (WDAF).

In Service of Veterans
CSU Pueblo has launched a weekly podcast, The Veterans Voice, hosted by the Student Veterans of America CSU Pueblo chapter president (CSU Pueblo).

The Art of Articulation
A "3+1" articulation agreement is in place between the Wisconsin Technical College System and Viterbo University, allowing associate degree completers in applied science business management to transfer as many as 90 credits to the Viterbo University business leadership program, which they can complete in as little as one year 100% online (Viterbo University).

Pima Community College and the Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona have teamed up to create a more seamless transfer path between the associate of arts in fitness and wellness program at Pima to the B.A. in wellness and health promotion practice program at the University of Arizona (University of Arizona).