Intersect With Earl December 2023

by Earl Buford on Dec 12, 2023

CAEL research, based on more than 40 years of practice in experiential learning, shows that credit for prior learning can be a recruiting asset. As CAEL’s Dr. Gloria Mwase explains in a recent article about the study, scarcities of time and money, not academic ability, typically hold students back, especially adult learners. Quality microcredentials and CPL each have promising potential to improve access to rewarding education pathways.

Adult learners encompass many identities. Worker and parent are the two that probably come to mind most often. But there is another segment of adult learners, often overlooked despite the major ramifications they have for equitable economic mobility and workforce development: justice-involved individuals. We know that even as employment reduces recidivism, a criminal record reduces employment prospects. More educators and employers are trying to break this vicious cycle. The first cohort of incarcerated students to receive Northwestern University bachelor’s degrees did so last month through the Northwestern Prison Education Program. In California, a new transfer agreement is opening access to the California State University system to graduates of Mount Tamalpais College, the country’s only accredited, independent liberal arts college that sites its main campus on prison grounds.

We all talk a lot about the growing focus on skills-based hiring and credentialing. At the same time, study after study confirms that degree completion continues to correlate with success in the labor market. A new report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce links higher job growth with higher levels of required education. As always, the takeaway here is that flexible education and training pathways are vital. Lifelong learning must encompass short-term credentials that offer real-time work relevance and the opportunity to progress into longer-term degree programs that sustain rewarding career trajectories.

Last month, CAEL staffers Kristen Himmerick and Angie Lucas lent their invaluable perspective to the Center for Energy Workforce Development’s annual Workforce Development Summit. Drawing on CAEL’s long experience with the Energy Providers Coalition for Education (EPCE), they addressed the need for energy companies to partner with colleges and other training providers for upskilling and reskilling, among other workforce issues.

Grant opportunity: Starting in January 2024, the Institute for Education Sciences will begin funding an Early Career Program to support early career faculty employed by institutions of higher education who are developing education research careers. Awards provide selected facility support to conduct research under the guidance of an experienced mentor or mentors in an effort to develop a pipeline of talented education researchers who bring fresh ideas, approaches, and perspectives to addressing the issues and challenges faced by the nation's diverse students and schools. Applications are due January 11, 2024, and additional details can be found here.

CAEL member mention: Congratulations to GateWay Community College, where a new CPL program is creating opportunities for journeymen to convert occupational experience from 10 construction trades into college credit. The program comes as the industry braces for the task of recruiting hundreds of thousands of workers to keep pace with projected demand in 2024.

Interested in learning more about CAEL memberships? Please visit us, and always feel free to contact us with questions or comments on any topic at cael@cael.org.