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FAQ’s
1. What is “lifelong learning”? And CAEL
stands for The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning.
What does that mean?
Lifelong learning is education/learning in which a person
engages throughout his or her life and that takes place at
all levels – formal, non-formal, and informal. It is
the process of acquiring knowledge or skills throughout life
via schools and formal educational programs, distance/online
programs, training, work and general life experiences. Typically
the term applies to adults of all ages and backgrounds.
We use the term “Experiential Learning” in the
name of our organization to capture the meaning/intent of
lifelong learning. Essentially it is learning in the context
of a real-life situation or learning that occurs through the
events in ones life whether that is from classroom study,
gaining new skills at work, through training, from online
programs or most certainly from a mixture of all these and
a person’s experiences in life. In many cases, it is
learning through the evaluation of ones everyday experiences.
In addition, many variations of educational programs are designed
around the principles of experiential learning. This is the
type of learning that our organization promotes through workforce
development programs, lifelong learning initiatives, and policy
and strategic alliances.
For more information on what CAEL is, see our
vision and mission statement
2. How does CAEL assist its clients?
CAEL advances lifelong learning by working directly with
and offering services to educational institutions, employers,
labor organizations, government, and communities. We assist
our broad range of clients through consulting, education and
career advising, program development, and tuition assistance
administration.
Our services for business and industry include tuition assistance
management, educational and career advising, transition services,
consulting services, and Workforce2.0 consulting. We offer
varying services for higher education based institutions and
organizations which includes our Adult Learning Focused Institutions
assessment tools, an online learning prior learning assessment
certificate program, and consulting. We also offer CAEL Membership
and publications. For more information on our services to
clients see the “Our Services”
page.
3. Who are some of CAEL’s clients?
We work with various different industries and businesses.
CAEL has clients in the electric utilities industry, telecommunications
and technology, unions, health care, with public and non-profit
organizations, manufacturing, financial/insurance/consulting,
and consumer goods and services companies. We have more than
75 clients and are happy to say that we are adding new clients
on a regular basis! Listed below are just some of the clients
we work with:
-Exelon
-International Brotherhood of Electric Workers (IBEW) Locals
-Qwest
-Communications Workers of America (CWA)
-Verizon Communications
-Abbott Laboratories
-University of Pennsylvania Healthcare Systems
-Chicago Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development
-Levi Strauss & Company
-Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
-J.P. Morgan Chase and Company
-Reuters
4. I’m an adult who wants to further my education.
How can CAEL help me?
While our mission at CAEL is to promote lifelong learning
and to remove any policy and organizational barriers to any
individual or groups’ learning, we do so through our
various clients discussed above and in partnerships with other
educational institutions, employers, labor organizations,
government, and communities rather than working directly with
individuals.
If you are an individual looking to further your education,
we do have one resource that may help you. Please consider
purchasing our printed book, Earn College Credit for What
You Know. For details on purchasing this title, click
here or check out our Publications section.
5. What is Tuition Assistance Management (TAMS)?
One service we offer at CAEL is Tuition
Assistance Management (TAMS). We help manage companies’
tuition assistance programs by blending high-technology capabilities
with a high-touch approach to customer service. We manage
these programs through the use of our technologically advance
Tuition Assistance Management Service (TAMS) and through our
trained customer service representatives, interactive voice
response and fax-on demand technology, web-enabled services
for employees, customizable databases, and direct payment
to employees on behalf of your company.
TAMS is designed to manage your company's tuition assistance
program in every phase of the process, from course selection
and grade verification to the cutting of checks to either
the school or your employees. TAMS offers such benefits as
higher program participation, reduced human resources and
accounting time and costs, improved employee adherence to
policies and guidelines, data tracking and reporting, and
application of best practices in workforce development and
learning. For more information, please click
here.
6. How does CAEL help employees who are being laid
off from their jobs?
CAEL does not directly assist individuals with these issues,
but we do offer Transitions Services through our Compassionate
Downsizing program to assist companies’ employees or
groups of employees. This program focuses on working with
a company’s existing corporate objectives and the needs
of its downsized employees to provide education, retraining,
and reemployment opportunities. Services through this program
include coordination of activities with government, non-profit,
and community resources, education and career advising and
coaching, and tuition and transition assistance management
services. For more information regarding our Transitions Services,
please click here.
7. What is Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)?
Learning is a lifelong activity (see lifelong learning above).
Many adults, who want to return to or attend college, seek
credit for this lifelong learning in order to accelerate progress
toward a degree or certificate.
Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is a method whereby learning
gained through an individual’s life is considered for
credit toward a college degree program. A rising number of
colleges and universities are conducting PLA to help these
individuals earn college credit for their demonstrated learning.
Credit is given by the institution depending on the criteria
set by this PLA-offering institution. CAEL offers PLA training
workshops to colleges and universities across the country
and online. This training provides university staff and faculty
assessors with the basic tools to assess an adult’s
prior learning and its possible qualification for college
credit.
We offer a variety of publications
and workshops
that are on-site or in online formats to assist colleges and
universities with their PLA programs.
8. We are a college or university that is interested
in designing a program for and/or integrating adult learners.
What programs/materials does CAEL offer to help our institution
retain adult learners?
CAEL has instituted the Adult Learning Focused Institution
(ALFI) Initiative to assist colleges
and universities in attracting and serving adult learners
and design programs for these adult learners. We offer benchmarking
tools, publications, study tours, and consulting services
for this purpose. As a key component of the ALFI Initiative,
we have developed the ALFI Assessment
Toolkit. The ALFI Tools are based on CAEL’s Principles
of Effectiveness for Serving Adult Learners. They are a pair
of instruments, The Institutional Self-Assessment Survey (ISAS)
and The Adult Learner Inventory (ALI), which work together
to help you uncover what is important to your adult learners,
as well as pinpoint your institution’s strengths and
areas for improvement.
9. How do I become a member of CAEL?
As a member of CAEL, you’ll be part of a growing group
of individuals, organizations and institutions committed to
their own success and that of their employees, students, members
and constituents. In active partnership, CAEL members work
to create better living and learning conditions for all. We
offer membership in several forms: Institutional Membership
for colleges and universities, Organizational Membership,
and Individual Membership. Becoming a member of CAEL is an
easy process. Simply visit our Membership
page and download the “Membership Application.”
It gives all of the details you need to apply for a membership
with CAEL.
10. What are Online Learning Initiatives? What is
NACTEL? What is EPCE?
CAEL’s Online Learning Initiatives integrate many years
of previous experience in managing tuition assistance programs,
providing career and educational advising, and working with
higher education. We developed the Online Learning Initiatives
as another way to expand learning opportunities for adult
learners and the industries in which they work.
CAEL currently has two major Online Learning Programs: NACTEL
and EPCE. The National
Coalition for Telecommunications Education and Learning (NACTEL)
was brought together in 1997 with the help of CAEL. This industry
partnership was designed to develop and deliver online education
and training to meet critical employment needs in the telecommunications
industry. Members of the NACTEL coalition include Citizens
Communications, the Communications Workers of America (CWA),
the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW),
Qwest Communications, SBC, and Verizon Communications. Through
Pace University, NACTEL offers these degrees and certificates
online to its employees: The Associate of Science in Applied
Information Technology, Telecommunications degree, The Bachelor
of Science in Professional Technology Studies with a concentration
in Telecommunications degree, Introduction to Telecommunications
certificate, and Telecommunication Essentials certificate.
EPCE
is the Energy
Providers Coalition for Education. The EPCE is a partnership
of electric utility companies, organizations, and unions that
have joined together to respond to the industry's critical
need for skilled power technicians. In June 2000, CAEL met
with key representatives of this industry to discuss online
education and training needs for the industry. Online instruction
for the program is provided by Bismarck State College. The
following degrees are offered through the program: for careers
at electric power utilities, A.A.S. Degree in Electric Power
Technology, Essentials of Electric Power Technology certificate,
Program Certificate in Electric Power Technology and for careers
at nuclear power plants, A.A.S. Degree in Nuclear Power Technology
and Program Certificate in Nuclear Power Technology.
For more information, visit www.epceonline.org
and www.nactel.org.
11. What are LiLAs?
LiLAs (Lifelong Learning Accounts)
are individual asset accounts to finance lifelong learning
so that workers can upgrade their skills and knowledge to
achieve their career potential. We are working toward the
goal of having any individual worker to be able to contribute
funds to a LiLA account, which will then be matched by his/her
employer and, in some cases, third parties. These combined
contributions would be used for education and training and
related activities for these incumbent workers, and would
be portable.
LiLAs differ from traditional job training programs in that
they create systemic change in the way individuals can invest
in their own futures, while leveraging employer involvement
and investment. CAEL is working toward the goal of having
LiLAs become a standard part of workers’ compensation
packages, similar to a 401(k) or health insurance.
12. What is WorkforceChicago2.0?
CAEL’s WorkforceChicago2.0
initiative was established in the interest of strengthening
workers, companies, and the regional economy by stimulating
greater investment in employee learning and development on
the part of companies. Through this initiative, we seek to
position the Chicago area as a leading talent pool in the
country by promoting workforce learning, development policies,
and practices. Our goals for the initiative are to expand
employee learning and development through regional commitments,
recognize effective learning strategies used by Chicago area
companies, demonstrate the value of company-sponsored learning
initiatives, and strengthen relationships between industry,
education providers, and the public sector.
We give an annual WorkforceChicago2.0 exemplary practices
award to two companies in the region that are doing leading-edge
work in their employee training and education programs that
can be documented in case studies and shared with other companies.
The CEO-level Business Leadership Group, which heads the WorkforceChicago2.0
initiative, consists of members who raise the awareness of
the critical importance of workforce development for the region’s
economy. They help to influence other firms to adopt WorkforceChicago2.0’s
exemplary practices in training and development.
For more information, please visit www.workforcechicago2.org.
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