Highlights of the Lifelong Learning Accounts San Francisco Demonstration

Helping Workers Save Successfully for Education and Training

CAEL

Despite our need for a more highly-educated workforce, there is little financial support for worker education and training. The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) developed a unique co-investment vehicle to finance worker education and training: the Lifelong Learning Account (LiLA). LiLAs are employer-matched, portable, employee-owned accounts that fund training and education for the employee. Our most recent initiative in San Francisco in 2008-2011 targeted mature workers, minority workers, and lower-income workers.

Webinar Recording

Linking Learning to Work

CAEL

Despite high unemployment, many employers are finding it difficult to find the talent they need. Why? Because the skills of our workforce are not keeping pace with the demands of work in our knowledge economy. A study by Georgetown University estimates that by 2018, 63% of jobs in the U.S. will require at least some college. However, only 42% of adults aged 25-34 have attained a postsecondary degree.

In this webinar, you’ll learn about the factors contributing to this trend, and hear suggestions about steps you can take to attract and develop your workforce in this sluggish economy.
 

CAEL's 2012 Research Briefs on PLA

Employer Views on the Value of PLA

CAEL

This CAEL research brief, produced in partnership with Prometric, presents highlights from conversations
with 19 U.S. employers representing a range of industries on the topic of PLA. The conversations address
the value of PLA to both workers and corporations, as well as employers’ views on PLA as an allowable
expense within their tuition assistance programs.

CAEL's Tapping Mature Talent Series

Just Add Seasoning: A Business Case for Tapping Mature Talent

CAEL

Mature workers can and should be tapped by employers to fill entry level jobs, meet the needs of middle- or high-skill work, or serve as experienced mentors to the new generation of workers.

Mentors 4 STEM Program Explores New Roles for Mature Adults in Public School Classrooms

CAEL

CAEL sought to match the supply of motivated baby boomers with the urgent need to improve science and math education in public schools by creating a volunteer math and science mentoring program.

STEM Education: Utility Gets Out of the Box and Online to Develop Workforce

CAEL

The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), received funding from the Xcel Energy Foundation and a Metro Denver WIRED grant to create a program model to reach into local high schools and attract and prepare students to enter careers in the energy industry.

Webinar Recording:

Smarter Workforce, Better Bottom Line

CAEL

Insight into your employees’ abilities can help you fill “mission critical” positions and retain better employees. Save substantial dollars on tuition reimbursement by introducing opportunities to earn college credit through assessment. By encouraging employees to apply for college credit for training and on-the-job learning, you can avoid paying twice for the same learning.

This webinar provides an introduction to LearningCounts.org, a new online service hosted by CAEL (The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning). Using LearningCounts.org, your employees can learn how to document their learning and have it assessed to earn college credit. Those credits can then transfer to any number of colleges, including public, private and for-profit online and traditional colleges - and many community colleges – broadening their options.

Mark P. Campbell, Ed.D., Vice President of LearningCounts.org and Pamela Tate, President and CEO of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning discuss the value of prior learning assessment and how to engage in your employees’ education.

Maturity in the Workplace: Stories of Workers Aged 55+ on Their Journeys to New Work and Careers

CAEL

This publication profiles the stories of some of the mature workers who have participated in the Tapping Mature Talent initiative. Some have needed to upgrade their skills, some have pursued brand new careers in high-growth industries, some have worked hard to recover after layoffs and other hardships, and some have found themselves thriving as they pursue postsecondary degrees.

Tuition Assistance Value Study - Executive Summary

EdLink, Capella University and the ROI Institute

Capella University, EdLink and the ROI Institute partnered to deliver the first macro level
study on the organizational value of tuition assistance.

CAEL identifies industries and jobs appropriate for mature workers

Career Pathways and Career Counseling for the 50+ workforce

Written and compiled by: Sarah Miller, Joel Simon and Gabe Schneider

With generous support from the MetLife Foundation, the Council for Adult and Experiential
Learning (CAEL) has worked with seven regions across to country to raise the capacity of
community colleges to address some of the challenges facing mature workers, those age 50 years
and older. CAEL worked with each region to identify priority industries, examine the job and
career opportunities in those industries, and highlight the opportunities that are most appropriate
for mature workers. Employers representing each regionally prioritized industry were identified
and consulted to focus the research on the realities of the local area. Additionally, group training
sessions were conducted in each region to provide career advisors and workforce development
professionals with region-specific information and resources for more effectively working with
mature workers.

Webinar Recording:

Grow Talent with Career Maps

CAEL

When you uncover career paths within your organization, your current and potential employees see the route to where they want to go. When the path is clear, they are more likely to get there—and less likely to leave.

This webinar explored:
- Why you should have a career map
- Where to start
- The benefits and results in terms of retention and workforce planning
- Online career mapping examples.

CAEL report on building a workforce that supports sustainable manufacturing.

Workforce Skills and Sustainable Manufacturing: Lessons from Connecticut Employers

by Joel Simon

The Sustainable or Green Manufacturing movement is characterized by firms whose production and
distribution process deliberately optimize the use of energy, materials, water and waste.This report is designed to clarify how workforce developers and their partners in industry and education can utilize sustainability concepts to create a workforce that is more competitive, to support a manufacturing sector that is healthier and more profitable.

Strategies to Produce New Nurses for a Changing Profession

Rebecca Klein-Collins

This policy brief provides data on the projected nursing shortage, discusses the larger issues facing nursing education today, and describes pockets of innovation in nursing education that provide models for the kind of innovation policy-makers should embrace in order to meet the growing demand for a highly-educated nursing workforce.

WorkforceChicago Webinar Recording:

How Learning Helped Pave the Way to Industry Leadership

CAEL

Northshore University Healthsystem, a WorkforceChicago award winner, shares best practices in learning and employee development.