Q&A With CAEL: Nicole Zampino

Perspectives on 50 Years of Impact

As CAEL marks its semicentennial, a big part of the celebrations is around its 5,000-strong membership. It is the daily work of this thriving community of practice that has made so much of the past five decades possible. To highlight some of the diverse individuals who create our collective success, CAEL invited CAEL Ambassadors to answer questions about the past, present, and future of CAEL’s mission and its impact on education-employment pathways.

What is your name, title, and organization?

Nicole Zampino, coordinator of transfer and degree acceleration, the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC).

In its 50-year history, what would you say is CAEL's biggest accomplishment?

CAEL has really spread out recently to encompass all of the adult learner ecosystem: workplace, institution, online engagement, community, politics to show how interconnected everyone is, and how we all have to work together to build our community up.

During that history, what would you consider to be the biggest shift in higher education?

The shift in the concept of education as a whole in this nation to better align to the European concept of education. Gone are the days of memorizing facts and spitting them out from textbooks, as one slowly proceeded in sequential credentials. Education now is in real time, often provided by trainings. It is parallel to real life, often found in open sources and online programing, and in the end is creating education to career pathways that move sideways and circle back-- lifelong learning. 

What would you consider to be the biggest shift in workforce development?

To make a living wage in this era, employers expect that a worker's knowledge and skill level is assessed, and their credentials proven. I'm not saying someone must have a college degree, but they need to have something to document that they already have or that they have the ability to learn the job skill set needed.  . 

As CAEL begins its next half century, where do you see the greatest opportunity?

As the world shrinks and more employers are hiring non-local employees, as more employees work from a virtual office, and interact daily with colleagues from around the world, I think the largest opportunities for growth lay within the international communities, local ethnic heritage communities, and international companies growing by honoring a worker's global background be it linguistically or interculturally.  Of course, technological advances likewise will keep us on our toes as we advance into the 2030s! Gone will be the days of speaking one language, be it Spanish, Urdu, or an I.T.  programming language - we have to start requiring more linguistical and technological knowledge within our school systems from early on. 

What else would you like to share about your experience with CAEL? Do you have a favorite memory or highlight from your member experience?

Last year, the CAEL conference was in my college's backyard in Baltimore. I was able to bring triple the colleagues to the conference that we usually do, even some team members came that may have never attended CAEL if it was an out-of-state conference. Our college has been working diligently for the past nine years to build up our stackable credentials and accelerated credentials for our adult learners. All of these individuals were able to feel the larger national supportive community of professionals surround them. We were able to share all of our hard work, get accolades and verifications that we are on the correct path, and it fueled our momentum to work even harder when we came home. It was very memorable to watch my team enjoy, feel proud, and be reinspired. I will cherish those photos forever! 

Nicole Zampino is the coordinator of the Transfer and Degree Acceleration Office at the Community College of Baltimore County. She is the chair of the articulation, transfer and prior learning (ATPL) team for the college and is heading the restructure of the statewide Maryland Community College Credit for Prior Learning (MDCCPLA) Affinity Group relaunching in Fall 2024. She has an M.Ed. in reading with a special interest in adolescent, adult, and ESOL learning differences and online curriculum building from Towson University, a  B.A. in English literature focusing on colonial Victorian literature identities of otherness from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), an A.A. in teacher education, secondary education from Howard Community College (HCC) in Columbia, Maryland, and has also attended Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio to study literature and world religion, with a particular interest in the philosophies of Joseph Campbell. She has a broad range of guidance and advisement experience in 2-to-4 year, 2-to-2-year, and workforce-to-college articulations, current and innovative transfer trends, prior learning assessment options and processes, resume building and career planning, and converting military occupations and trainings into college credits.  Her higher education special areas of interest include the relationship building between and within organizations and open transparent access of information for all.