On-Ramps to Opportunity: TAMUK's Short-Term Credentials Lead to Long-Term Success

You don't need to look further than Jeffrey West for an example of Texas A&M University-Kingsville's focus on rewarding career pathways for learners and workers of South Texas and the employers that depend on them. But if you do, you'll find plenty of others. West is the inaugural chief workforce development officer for the university, but he credits its president, Dr. Robert H. Vela Jr., a three-time TAMUK alumnus, for a university-wide commitment to career-furthering credentials.

“He has a passion for this area,” said West, stressing that the university takes a holistic view of serving its region. That means complementing its strong legacy of traditional degree programs with nontraditional pathways for students.

“Here in the Coastal Bend, there are a lot of students who are not on a traditional four-year, six-year degree plan,” said West. “That's not an option for them, whether it be for financial reasons, whether it be for time to completion reasons, or whether it be just the non-college-going culture that pervades a lot of our rural areas in the state.”

Last summer, TAMUK established the Workforce Development Department to better serve them. While the university offered some workforce development programs before then, the new department brings these offerings under one roof, where West can focus his expertise on aligning and scaling their impact. Prior to joining TAMUK last year, West, a certified workforce development professional, was the executive director for Education to Employment Partners, a nonprofit education and workforce development organization serving the Coastal Bend area.

West makes it clear that the Workforce Development Department is an extension of-not a diversion from-the university's focus on outcomes. “Dr. Vela felt that short-term credentials that are stackable, portable, transferable, and applicable to degree programs are another way to reach people we can serve as an institution,” said West. “It's our passion to work on pathways that connect nontraditional credentials to a bachelor's degree program. That's something that many universities are not doing. “

That best-of-both worlds strategy led TAMUK to connect with CAEL on the development of a credit for prior learning framework, said West. “The overarching theme of everything we're doing in workforce development is to provide opportunities for folks to enter into postsecondary education from a nontraditional route. A credit for prior learning framework is the foundation of all that. So the relationship with CAEL has been tremendous in supporting developing that framework as an institution.”

TAMUK's Department of Workforce Development already had a strong CPL foundation, thanks to the Javelina Skilled Trades Academy, a program within the department. The JSTA offers skilled-trades certifications for high-demand occupations in construction, energy, broadband, and manufacturing. As a National Center for Construction Education and Research-certified training program, the JSTA delivers not only industry-recognized certifications but an onramp to a degree. Because its certificates are crosswalked to college credit, they can be stacked toward bachelor's degrees in applied engineering and occupational health and safety, said West.

West acknowledges that many JSTA graduates may not need a college degree today. What is important is that the JSTA creates a pathway to one-at no additional cost to them. By opening up that opportunity, the program shuts the door on a pervasive stigma. “For a long time, the choice was you either go to college or you go to trade school,” said West. “We are breaking that down and saying you can do both.”

Thanks to a mix of grants and private donations, JSTA students pay only a registration fee. West says that strengthens their commitment to completing their programs, which run between 150-180 instructional hours, or 12-15 weeks. The fees also contribute to revenue that keeps the academy running. Workforce Pell will likely be a funding source in the future.

Overall, the Workforce Development Department offers more than 2,000 credentials, ranging in length from 30 days to a full year. JSTA and the department's other high-demand certification programs consistently achieve strong job placement outcomes, reflecting the department’s focus on career readiness and employer partnerships.

West sees great potential to develop additional CPL crosswalks for many of them. Internal discussions are underway with college deans and other key university stakeholders to ensure all CPL programs maintain academic rigor.

The university's partnership with CAEL, made possible by funding from Trellis, has helped the university establish the CPL guidance that will shape that process, said West. “CAEL has been working with us to develop an internal policy and a framework, not only the process mapping of where the gaps are in our processes for learners but also for our support departments and establishing how admissions, registrar, advising all fit in.

"CAEL's process map with us was very helpful, very comprehensive, and has helped us to develop the actual policy that we will now turn into an operating policy once we develop a matrix with classes and courses.”

The university's emphasis on prior learning is just one way it is focusing on success outside of the classroom. The university has embedded career readiness resources into freshman orientations, classes, and other traditional programming. “As a university, we're hyper-focused on helping our students focus on their future,” said West.

With TAMUK's growing array of credentials, students have more pathways than ever to get there.