Member Matters May 2023

Education-Employment Pathways and Proactive Partnerships
Acting as the "glue between our college and employers," apprenticeships are supporting employer partnerships in several ways at Harper College (Community College Daily).

The mechatronics program at Virginia Western Community College is poising students for success along several choices of mechanical and electrical engineering career pathways (WDBJ).

The Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Associate Advancement Program is helping employees earn a degree or certificate from the University of Memphis at little or no cost to them, and according to their own scheduling needs (Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare).

Health care workers attending Miami University in Ohio are also enjoying education benefits via an employer partnership. They are joined by workers in laboratory science, child care, transportation, manufacturing, and office administration, all participants in the university's Work+ program (Miami University).

Muhlenberg College has implemented a partnership program with five of its region's largest employers to offer education benefits to workers and their families (Muhlenberg College).

A partnership between Millersville University and Lampire biological labs is bringing experiential learning to students and industrial programming opportunities to faculty (WHTM).

Syracuse University has entered a 21-member coalition of universities that will support the U.S. semiconductor industry by cultivating "a diverse and robust STEM talent pipeline" (Syracuse University).

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has added Fayetteville State University to the partnerships it maintains with Minority Serving Institutions. The partnerships seek "to increase awareness and access to USAID programs and initiatives and identify opportunities for students and faculty to engage in U.S. foreign assistance and USAID's work" (U.S. Department of the Interior).

Heartland Community College hosted about 70 employers at its Business Solutions Showcase, a seminar offering industry expertise on navigating workplace challenges (WEEK).

Excellence Online
The University of Maine's College of Education and Human Development shared findings from interviews with "six academically high-achieving working moms" who attended online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research, also informed by faculty interviews, pointed to the importance of quality course design, including "encouraging social presence" (University of Maine).

National University is using virtual reality technology to create an entire virtual campus that will include "a lifelike simulation of a campus student center and academic building, virtual recreational spaces, and an event space portal for virtual speaker and lecture series" (Campus Technology).

Awards and Other Recognition
Thanks to a decision to split the honor among Amarillo College and Imperial Valley College, CAEL members were represented not once but twice in the 2023 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence (Community College Daily).

Shannon Corkery, director of human development and family studies (HDFS) world campus programs and associate teaching professor of HDFS at Penn State, has received the 2023 Shirley Hendrick Award. The honor, bestowed by the Penn State Commission for Adult Learners, recognizes service to adult learners. Among the plaudits offered, nominators noted Corkery's dedication to advance CPL (Penn State).

In another celebration of adult learning excellence at Penn State, Penn State Hazleton's Phi Sigma chapter of the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society inducted nine adult learners. The society, which established its presence at Hazleton in 2003, "acknowledges the special achievements of adult learners who excel academically while navigating the competing interests of home and work" (Penn State).

In Their Own Words
The president of Florida International University contributed his thoughts on how the talent development needs of tomorrow can be met, noting the importance of "regularly taking the pulse of industry" (Florida International University).

In arguing that investments in college are investments in community, the president of Minnesota State College Southeast hailed the prevalence of adult learners with career-oriented aspirations at the college (Cannon Falls Beacon).

The co-founder and chief development officer at InsideTrack, one of CAEL's fellow Strada Collaborative members, and the president of Fayetteville Technical Community College offered five re-enrollment strategies community colleges can embrace to effectively serve adult learners (Community College Daily).

A senior vice president at Western Governors University outlined how any institution can benefit from competency-based education (edCircuit).

Accelerating Adult Learning
College of The Albemarle and Davidson-Davie Community College have added new marketing and communications resources to their efforts to connect with adult learners, including outreach to some-college-no-credential populations. The work is part of the statewide Better Skills. Better Jobs. campaign (College of The Albemarle, Davidson-Davie Community College).

Economic Impact
A report from Lightcast concluded that Bowling Green State University delivered an economic impact of $3.1 billion in fiscal year 2021-22 (Sentinel-Tribune).

Entergy's 2022 Integrated Report announced an annual economic impact of $6.4 billion for 2022 (Daily Energy Insider).

Enrollment Trends
Amid a focus on connecting adult learners to their desired career pathways, Athens State University has added eight degree programs and seen an overall increase in enrollment (Inside Higher Ed).

Blue Ridge Community College is crediting new partnerships with four-year institutions for a recent 10% increase in enrollment (WHSV).

The Art of Articulation
UW-Platteville and Nicolet College have implemented a "home-based" transfer agreement allowing associate of science completers to continue to an engineering bachelor's degrees via an online-heavy, flexibly scheduled pathway (Antigo Daily Journal).

An agreement between Northwestern State University and the Louisiana Community and Technical College System covers students from all of the system's colleges to seamlessly stack qualifying associate degrees into bachelor's degrees in business or allied health (Bossier Press-Tribune).

Saint Augustine's University and Wake Tech Community College are enhancing their transfer partnership to allow qualifying associate degree completers to transfer as many as 64 credits to the university and receive a $2,000 annual scholarship (The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education).

The Colorado Community College System is partnering with Texas Southern University under the Bridge to Bachelor's Program to guarantee qualifying students admission to TSU following their receipt of an associate degree (The HBCU Advocate).

Houston Community College and Logan University are collaborating to help students complete bachelor's and master's degrees. They have introduced 2+2 and 2+4 agreements that offer seamless transfer to a bachelor of science in human biology and a bachelor of science in life science program, respectively, with the ability to complete an associate, bachelor's, and master's degree in six years (Natural Practitioner).

College of Coastal Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia have formed an agreement to better serve transfer students who complete an associate of applied science program at any of Georgia's technical colleges and who want to continue with a bachelor's degree in workforce management and leadership at College of Coastal Georgia (The Brunswick News).