Share this
Record Crowds, National CPL Provider Network Highlight CAEL 50th Annual Conference
by CAEL on Nov 07, 2024
CAEL President Earl Buford greeted record crowds during his opening remarks at CAEL’s 50th annual conference, held in New Orleans last week. More than 1,000 people attended the conference, where they heard Buford officially announce CAEL’s Credit for Prior Learning Provider Network.
Contrasting CPL’s proven ability to advance student and institutional success with its underutilization, Buford said the network will help raise awareness about CPL, providing learners with a “free, one-stop connection to postsecondary institutions where their prior learning experiences can be recognized.”
The network, available at cael.org, went live during the conference. It features a listing of U.S. education and training providers that offer credit for prior learning (CPL).
CAEL also is sharing the network with high schools, local and regional workforce boards, economic development boards, chambers of commerce, and military-affiliated institutions nationwide. The CPL Provider Network is viewable free of charge.
Listing on the CPL Provider Network is free for all CAEL institutional members. Non-members can be listed in the CPL Provider Network for $1,000 annually.
To complement the network’s focus on postsecondary education and training providers, CAEL will be amping up efforts to establish CPL as an employment and workforce development strategy, Buford also announced. “It's past time to embrace CPL's capacity to serve as a conduit, a conduit that connects two equally important and continual interchanging identities, adult learners and workers."
“By fitting these two halves together, we think we can be a lot more proactive about the importance of CPL,” he said. As businesses and colleges alike face recruiting challenges, CPL will be key to solving workforce needs, Buford stressed. He argued that CPL can boost the relevancy and effectiveness of college and corporate training and open new avenues to college completion while reducing the cost of education and their benefit programs.
In addition to unveiling the CPL Provider Network, Buford announced that the Washington, D.C. area would become the fourth of five regions to join CAEL’s Where It Starts: Build Better Careers Initiative. Funded by the Truist Foundation, “Where It Starts” is a six-year project to engage industry leaders, workforce development, and postsecondary education institutions to improve equitable access to rewarding career pathways in the financial services sector. CAEL will announce the fifth region early next year, Buford said.
Buford offered a final exclusive to the audience when he announced CAEL’s newest community of practice would be dedicated to military-connected learners. The community of practice builds on a long legacy of supporting veterans and their families. Free to CAEL members, it will bring together training providers, postsecondary institutions, employers, workforce organizations, chambers of commerce, and community-based organizations to share best practices, network, and collaborate on ways to better support veteran learners, workers, and their families.
Members interested in joining should complete this interest form. The community will begin meeting in early 2025 and already has a dedicated virtual community on the CAEL Member Hub.
The conference totaled more than 300 speakers, who addressed more than 125 sessions. Pressing themes like AI and other factors requiring closer alignment of education and workforce development dominated the events, from workshops to a packed final keynote, Serving the Rising Tide of Nontraditional, Working and Military Students. Held immediately before Friday’s closing rally, the event featured Mark Milliron, president and CEO of National University; Todd McKean, Director of environment and supply chain innovation at Apple; Kate Smith, president of Rio Salado College, and Christopher Graham, executive vice president of workforce and community education at National University.
Attendees of CAEL’s 50th annual conference can view recordings of Buford’s remarks and other keynotes and sessions at the virtual attendee hub for the next 90 days.
CAEL is grateful to all the sponsors that made its 50th annual conference possible, especially gold anniversary sponsors Walmart and AARP.
Share this
- Adult Learner Success (111)
- CAEL Members (74)
- Success Stories (73)
- Workforce Development (60)
- Credit for Prior Learning (55)
- Best Practices (48)
- Career Pathways Support (32)
- Impact (31)
- Strategic Partnerships (29)
- Work-based Learning (29)
- Trends in Higher Education (25)
- Upskilling and Reskilling (21)
- DEI (19)
- Q&A (19)
- Curation (18)
- Retention and Completion (18)
- Talent Management (17)
- Adult Learner 360 (15)
- Policy (13)
- Short-term Credentials (11)
- Competency Based Education (CBE) (10)
- Adult Learner Academy (9)
- Military-connected Learners (9)
- Student support (9)
- Enrollment (8)
- Transfer Students (8)
- Research (7)
- Student Stories (7)
- Experiential Learning (6)
- Featured (6)
- HSIs (6)
- In the news (6)
- NACTEL (6)
- Online Learning (6)
- Case Studies (5)
- Community colleges (5)
- EPCE (5)
- Education Benefits (5)
- Guest blog (5)
- Apprenticeships (4)
- Wraparound Support (4)
- COVID-19 (3)
- Future of work (3)
- Structural Approaches to Learning (3)
- Accelerated Program (2)
- Credit Predictor Pro (2)
- HBCUs (2)
- Tuition (2)
- Skills-based hiring (1)
- Student parents (1)
- November 2024 (4)
- October 2024 (8)
- September 2024 (7)
- August 2024 (10)
- July 2024 (9)
- June 2024 (8)
- May 2024 (11)
- April 2024 (5)
- March 2024 (7)
- February 2024 (5)
- January 2024 (7)
- December 2023 (9)
- November 2023 (7)
- October 2023 (3)
- September 2023 (4)
- August 2023 (3)
- July 2023 (5)
- June 2023 (8)
- May 2023 (9)
- April 2023 (5)
- March 2023 (6)
- February 2023 (5)
- January 2023 (3)
- December 2022 (4)
- November 2022 (7)
- October 2022 (7)
- September 2022 (6)
- August 2022 (6)
- July 2022 (4)
- June 2022 (6)
- May 2022 (4)
- April 2022 (4)
- March 2022 (3)
- February 2022 (5)
- January 2022 (5)
- December 2021 (4)
- November 2021 (2)
- October 2021 (8)
- September 2021 (4)
- August 2021 (4)
- July 2021 (2)
- June 2021 (6)
- May 2021 (5)
- April 2021 (9)
- March 2021 (8)
- February 2021 (5)
- January 2021 (4)
- December 2020 (4)
- November 2020 (3)
- October 2020 (6)
- September 2020 (2)
- August 2020 (1)
- July 2020 (4)
- May 2020 (2)
- April 2020 (1)
- March 2020 (2)
- February 2020 (3)
- January 2020 (3)
- December 2019 (2)
- July 2019 (1)
- May 2019 (1)
- February 2019 (1)
- January 2019 (1)
- October 2018 (4)
- September 2018 (1)
- August 2018 (1)
- July 2018 (1)
- May 2018 (1)
- April 2018 (2)
- March 2018 (1)
- February 2018 (2)
- September 2017 (1)
- August 2017 (2)
- July 2017 (5)
- June 2017 (4)
- May 2017 (3)
- March 2017 (1)
- February 2017 (4)
- December 2016 (3)
- November 2016 (1)
- October 2016 (3)
- August 2016 (8)
- July 2016 (2)
- June 2016 (2)
- May 2016 (5)
- April 2016 (2)
- March 2016 (6)
- February 2016 (9)
- January 2016 (4)
- January 2015 (2)