Fall 2024 Newsletter

CAEL’s 50th annual conference is just one week away

CAEL’s annual conference is just a handful of days away, and it will be a special occasion on several accounts. For one, it’s CAEL’s 50th annual conference, marking CAEL's half a century of service as a nonprofit organization. It will also be our largest conference ever. As an additional treat, it happens to fall on Halloween in New Orleans. If that’s not enough, CAEL will be unveiling a brand-new credit for prior learning resource during the conference that goes live nationwide during the event. The new initiative will have major implications for recruiting adult learners and workers as well as shortening their paths to completion and post-credential success in the workforce.

If that’s still not enough, CAEL is announcing a second national initiative during the conference, this one dedicated to supporting military-connected learners. It will be revealed during a special military breakout session on Oct 31.

While our conference hotel space is sold out, numerous nearby alternatives remain. And of course, there are no space limits for virtual attendees. However you attend, you’ll have a choice of six learning tracks, 300+ speakers, and 125+ sessions. Don’t miss out – register today!

CAEL creates groundbreaking apprenticeship-to-degree pathway

CAEL, the Machinists Institute, and Renton Technical College (RTC) have partnered to create a seamless connection between hands-on and classroom learning. In September, they announced a registered apprenticeship pathway that encompasses trade-specific training as well as general education curricula, allowing apprentices to concurrently complete their registered machinist apprenticeship and an associate of applied science in multi-occupational trades. The pathway is the result of work that CAEL and the Machinists Institute began in 2022 to develop a competency-based model to create a more seamless and efficient connection between Washington State Apprenticeship and Training Council-approved training and degree completion.

Build Better Careers expands in South Florida

In July, CAEL announced an expansion of the ambitious Build Better Careers initiative in South Florida, where it will help residents without a college degree access high-growth jobs in the banking and financial services sector. With funding from the Truist Foundation’s Where it Starts Initiative, the Build Better Careers program aims to connect job seekers to higher-wage jobs and long-term career opportunities in the sector and recruit financial services organizations to hire more adult learners. Using a peer-to-peer capacity-building model, CAEL is mobilizing and training a coalition of workforce training providers, community-based organizations, and institutions of higher education with an initial set of local partners that includes OIC of South Florida and CareerSource South Florida. 

Launched in 2022, Build Better Careers is made possible by a generous $15.7 million grant from the Truist Foundation and will help more than 6,000 adult learners connect with rewarding education-employment pathways over its six-year operational period. The six-year, multi-city initiative is designed to create upward mobility for individuals from underserved communities by building career paths in professions and industries historically unavailable to them, such as financial services. In addition to South Florida, Build Better Careers is currently active in Charlotte and Memphis. Be on the lookout for the launch of a fourth site later this month!

CAEL holds adult summit in support of HBCU adult learner initiative  

Four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) benefitted from peer learning and other collaboration at an Adult Learner Summit that CAEL held in July. Co-sponsored by Lumina Foundation and the Center for Innovation in Postsecondary Education (CIPE), the event capitalized on the capacity-building work CAEL has been conducting with the HBCUs in 2024. The summit occurred at Winston-Salem State University, bringing together Elizabeth City State University, Johnson C. Smith University, Shaw University, and Winston-Salem State University, all Lumina HBCU Adult Learner Initiative (ALI) grantees. You can read more about the summit in CAEL’s blog.

Technology innovations support rural HBCC teaching and learning 

Coahoma Community College (CCC), a rural-serving Historically Black Community College in Clarksdale, Mississippi, showcased CTE program technology innovations during a recent cross-grantee peer learning exchange with CAEL and Arkansas State University Mid-South, all partners in the Advancing Delta Talent initiative  (ADT).  With funding from AccelerateMS, students participating in the commercial truck driving program at CCC can apply the knowledge gained about safe driving skills under a variety of weather and road conditions using a truck driving simulator before they start to practice them in a real truck. Additionally, through the ADT initiative, CCC has been able to add staff to support the high demand of students seeking to obtain a CDL and enter the commercial driving profession. 

CCC has also developed an augmented reality and virtual reality lab for CTE students in response to the use of these tools by industry partners. Faculty worked with the technology vendor to design the virtual curricula, with courses in industrial maintenance/ mechatronics, electrical technology, welding, HVAC, auto repair, and carpentry. Once again, students learn technical skills that they can practice virtually before doing so in real life. Through these innovation labs, Coahoma Community College is engaging more rural students and using the technology to teach them the skills they need to become more competitive.

The Advancing Delta Talent project coordinator at Arkansas State University Mid-South, Jack Magolio, learns how to operate the commercial truck driving simulator from Coahoma Community College instructor Solomon Gray

Schools showcase power of Credit Predictor tools

More institutions are using CAEL’s Credit Predictor Standard and Credit Predictor Pro tools to cover critical steps of the CPL process, from outreach and lead generation to assessment and awarding credits. The Credit Predictor Standard tool is free to all CAEL institutional members. Credit Predictor Pro, which launched in 2022, integrates with Credit Predictor Standard and offer even more features to students and institutional staff. Examples of how several schools are using the tools to improve their CPL programs and even enhance recruiting are detailed in a recent CAEL blog post. You can also read about Credit Predictor Pro in a case study with Wilmington University.

Independent evaluation confirms impact of CAEL's Latino and Adult Student Success Academy