Member Matters November 2022

Career Pathway Partnerships
Lincoln University has been selected to a 28-strong HBCU initiative funded by Strada Education Network that will "focus on leadership development and provide students with scholarships and financial support to help with the costs of working internships. It will also help students create and build their professional networks and prepare them to start a career or begin graduate studies" (The St. Louis American).

HBCUs are also the basis of Project REACH, a career-oriented feeder program connecting secondary and postsecondary educational pathways to diversify the talent pipeline for the U.S. cybersecurity workforce. Lincoln University is among the participating institutions (HBCU News). 

Harper College and Rush University Medical Center have created the Medical Assistant Apprenticeship Program, combining academic programs with hands-on learning. Rush is providing a salary to participants while also covering all education costs. In return, students agree to remain employed at Rush for one year post completion (Daily Herald).

Health care workforce needs are also at the center of a partnership between Catholic Health and Suffolk County Community College. Students will have access to externships at the health system's facilities and to employment services. Students who agree to remain with the system for three years after completing the 7.5-month medical assisting certificate will have their tuition covered by Catholic Health (Catholic Health).

The Future-Ready Workforce Innovation Consortium at the Syracuse University College of Professional Studies is one of the benefits resulting from a $100 billion investment by Micron Technology aimed at making central New York a superconductor powerhouse. The consortium will focus on education and training that support Micron's workforce needs (Syracuse University).

A partnership between Albany State University and IBM will provide free training and certification to the university's students and faculty. There are 500,000 open positions in cybersecurity in the U.S (HBCU News).

Veteran-founded National University has joined the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, a U.S. Department of Defense program that covers more than 600 employer partners that have connected nearly 250,000 military spouses to career pathways. The DoD reports that the unemployment rate among military spouses is 24 percent (National University). 

Savannah State is partnering with the United States Coast Guard to offer tuition savings and Coast Guard recruiting resources for students and research and development benefits to faculty (WTOC).

Awards and Other Recognition
This section normally lists members who have received awards, but Kaskaskia College has flipped the script by bestowing business and industry partnership awards upon workforce collaborators. The college recognized Groupo Antolin for supporting training programs and career fairs and enrolling employees in continuing education. It also recognized Conagra for partnering with the college to improve employee training, offering scholarships, and creating an apprenticeship program. Both companies participate in advisory programs at the college (WJBD).

Northeastern State University has been recognized as one of the top U.S. colleges for adult learners (KWON).

The University of Wyoming is home to the country's top master of science in physical education teacher education program, according to EduMed.org. The program's adult learner-friendly flexibility was among the program's winning ways (University of Wyoming).

The president and CEO of Benedict College, Dr. Roslyn Clar-Artis, and I.S. Leevy Johnson, a top criminal attorney and Benedict alumnus, have been inducted into the 2022 National Black Alumni Hall of Fame. Previous luminaries so honored by the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Foundation include Martin Luther King, Jr., Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall, and Oprah Winfrey. Fun fact: among Dr. Artis' many credentials is a certificate of mastery in prior learning assessment from DePaul University (Carolina Panorama).

Mississippi State University has become the only university in the country to be awarded a Blue Star Memorial marker, which it received for its excellent support of veterans (WTVA).

Meeting Adult Learners Where They Are
Reflecting on about a decade's worth of championing online competency-based education, University of Massachusetts Global noted the advantages CBE's "all-you-can-learn" model can present to adult learners. "We've had a lot of success across higher education in 'any time' and 'anywhere' online offerings," said UMass Global's chancellor. "The final frontier is 'any pace,' and being able to do it at your own time and your own pace is a real advantage." Looking to the future, CBE holds promise for unbundling traditional programs through a hybrid approach. For a student who acquired half of a course's competencies, for example, that could mean follow up to gain the unlearned skills rather than sitting through the entire course a second time (UMass Global).

In January, Cal State Fullerton opened the Transfer, Adult-Re-entry, Parenting and Pregnant Student Center to support the many identities that intersect with adult learners. Since then, the center has completed a survey of more than 4,000 students, which is informing development of features and benefits such as advising and employment support (Orange County Register).

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside is using a $1.2 million U.S. Department of Education grant to create the Educational Opportunity Center within the university's Center for Adult and Returning Students. The EOC will be dedicated to degree completion among adult learners. Only 38 percent of those residing within the EOC's service district, a five-county area spanning southeast Wisconsin and northeast Illinois, have completed a four-year degree (Racine County Eye).

In Their Own Words
The first-ever vice president of corporate relations and professional studies at Rhode Island College discussed the college's fully online degree completion program, which is aimed at solving a critical state workforce issue: the roughly 120,000 Rhode Islanders who completed some college but no degree (Boston Globe).

The chief information officer at North Carolina Central University talked about the advantages of hybrid learning (Cisco).

Hands-on Learning 
West Virginia Northern Community College has added one of only five ambulance simulators in the state to its EMS program. The simulator faithfully replicates the operational experience of an actual ambulance, something that will help prepare students for the much-needed EMS role (WTOV).

In Service of Veterans
Casper College has opened a new Veteran Resource Center (Oil City News).

San Diego Miramar College will apply a $2.5 million state grant to the improvement of the resources it maintains for veteran and active duty military students and their dependents (San Diego Community College District).

The Art of Articulation 
Morris Brown College and the Technical College System of Georgia have forged the latter's first system wide agreement with a Georgia HBCU. It allows students to transfer to MBC with a TCSG associate degree, where they can apply all of their credits toward an  organizational management and leadership or hospitality management bachelor's degree (Diverse Issues in Higher Education).

A partnership between the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Lakeshore Technical College will enable LTC students who complete an associate of arts or science degree to transfer to UWO with guaranteed junior standing (UW Oshkosh).