Member Matters November 2024

A Monthly Lookback at Some of the Good Work in the CAEL Membership Community

Accelerating Adult Learning
Rock Valley College is opening an adult learner-dedicated campus next year that will offer several programs as well as a community engagement space (Yahoo News).

National University held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its enhanced Los Angeles Campus, which "expands NU's ability to reach, engage, and support a diverse population of learners, specifically nontraditional, working, and military students" (National University).

Texas State University is adding 18 online degree programs for the spring 2025 semester "... to expand access to nontraditional students by giving them the ability to earn a degree online while balancing other life commitments" (TXST).

Student parents attending the University of Akron have more support thanks to a new child care assistance program the university is offering with the Akron Area YMCA (UA).

Short-Term Credentials for Long-Term Success
Clark University has added several microcredentials via its School of Professional Studies. The online, asynchronous credentials typically take six weeks to complete and can be stacked into certificates (Clark University).

Ivy Tech Community College hosted the "first of many" fiber optic workshops with Amazon Web Services. The workshops provide two days of training in support of Amazon's $11 billion data center. The data center is the focus of the largest capital investment in Indiana history and will create at least 1,000 jobs (Ivy Tech).

With support from Ontario's Microcredentials Challenge Fund, Fleming College is adding five industry-tailored microcredentials (Fleming College).

West Virginia Northern Community College, with the assistance of several industry leaders, has added a compressor mechanic program, which qualifies students for high-demand occupations while opening up opportunities to complete additional certifications (WVNCC).

Rewarding Links Between Learning and Work 
Rogue Community College's longstanding collaboration with La Clinica continues to create hands-on learning opportunities for students aspiring to become dental professionals, addressing labor shortages in the workforce and supporting curriculum development at the college (RCC).

CPL as transfer credit is a prominent feature in an agreement between Governors State University and the Illinois State Police, whose troopers can now apply cadet training toward a bachelor of arts in criminal justice. A separate agreement offers CPL toward master's degrees in criminal justice, public administration, and counseling/psychology (GovState).

The Center for Automotive and Mobility Studies has opened at Northwood University, where it will play host to a range of industry-aligned credentialing programs as well as industry summits (Northwood University).

The University of Akron and Akron Children's Hospital are collaborating to offer a no-cost associate degree in nursing pathway to students (Akron Children's).

Fayetteville Technical Community College, Fayetteville State University, and the Fayetteville Public Works Commission are creating the Fayetteville-Cumberland Regional Building Training and Assessment Center. The center will offer specialized training to qualify workers needed to help commercial and institutional buildings reduce energy expenses and greenhouse gas emissions (Greater Fayetteville Business Journal).

The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation^® is partnering with Mississippi State University and Penn State Behrend in the America's Cutting Edge (ACE) program, a joint initiative of the Departments of Defense and Energy formed to "reestablish American leadership in the machining industry through transformative thinking, technology innovation, and workforce development" (IACMI).

Elizabethtown College is partnering with the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and RKL, a major CPA and advisory firm, to offer tuition discounts to employees, their spouses, and their dependents (Elizabethtown College).

Awards and Other Achievements
The senior associate director in the University of Nebraska Omaha's division of continuing studies was honored with the 2024 Outstanding Distance Learning Adult Educator Award by the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (University of Nebraska Omaha).

Outreach to adult learners is among the success factors behind the University of the District of Columbia's surge in enrollment (UDC).

Several CAEL members are newly or recertified Seal of Excelencia honorees. The Seal is a "national certification for institutions that strive to go beyond enrollment and more intentionally serve Latino students" (Excelencia in Education).

A recent report has found that Benedict College generates a regional economic impact of $78.7 million (Columbia Regional Business Report).

Fleming College celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Kawartha Trades and Technology Centre, which generates an annual economic impact of $32.2 for its region (Fleming College).

The University of Michigan–Flint has, for the 10th straight year, received Gold-level veteran-friendly status from the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency (UM-Flint).

In its Five-Year Graduate Follow-Up Report, the Wisconsin Technical College System highlighted several positive key performance indicators, including that 98% of graduates are employed and 72% say their technical college education was "important to achieving higher-level positions within their organizations" (WTCS).

Moravian University has been named an Apple Distinguished School for the 2024-2027 term, "[highlighting] Moravian's ongoing commitment to academic innovation, student engagement, and the seamless integration of technology in education" (Moravian University).