Workcred has received a three-year grant from the ECMC Foundation, as part of a partnership with the League for Innovation in the Community College (the League) and the National Student Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse), to offer community colleges an affordable, scalable approach to align degrees with industry needs. The partnership—and its focus on Certification+Degree (C+D) Pathways—will support the development of alternative pathways within the workforce through embedding industry-recognized certifications into community college coursework.
Workcred and its partners will support five community colleges to develop and implement C+D Pathways in IT, logistics, and/or health science programs in at least three different states, and establish a process for economical replication. In addition, the project team will develop a data-informed approach to guide C+D Pathway implementation and improvement. Ultimately, the collaboration will provide learners with opportunities to master occupationally-relevant skills that lead to living wage jobs while they are on a pathway to an associate’s degree.
HR Technology News: Keyfactor Appoints Gail Joyce as Chief People Officer
To accomplish the project objectives, Workcred, the League, and the Clearinghouse will also partner with a higher education accreditation body, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), to consider how C+D Pathways completion and attainment will be determined within the context of the accreditation process.
|
More on C+D Pathways |
|
Did You Know? |
|
C+D Pathways, which involve embedding industry credentials into degree programs, is a common practice at community colleges, as these pathways are aligned with both student goals and industry needs. Furthermore, they better position students in their field and help to build a pipeline of prepared workers for employers. |
|
To that end, as C+D Pathways continue to be developed, Workcred strives to place more emphasis on effective pathway development and implementation, as well as the use of metrics to guide continuous improvement and ensure the pathways are increasing learner retention and degree completion, and leading to living wage employment. |
|
Learn more about how C+D Pathways have the potential to benefit all learners as a broadly applicable, scalable approach to aligning degrees in any academic discipline with industry-relevant competencies, as explained in Workcred’s editorial, Increasing Value Through Certification and Degree Pathways, published in The evolllution. |
|
See also Certification-Degree Pathways: Aligning Undergraduate Curriculum to Industry Credentials and Professions. |
The project also supports ECMC’s Career Readiness aim to develop scalable approaches to increase learner retention and degree completion across a diverse learner population. ECMC is a national foundation working to improve postsecondary outcomes for students from underserved backgrounds.
“We are thrilled to start this important and much-needed work thanks to this grant and collaboration, which supports our long-term goals in examining workforce issues impacting communities that experience inequities,” said Workcred executive director Roy Swift. “Workcred anticipates that the activities and tools developed through this project will lead to multiple sustainable C+D Pathways, inform new and existing C+D Pathways, and promote scaling of these pathways nationally.”
HR Technology News: Physicians Report Prior Authorization Hurts Workforce Productivity
Rufus Glasper, president and CEO of the League, said, “We are committed to strengthening the credentials and the pathways which our students and communities seek to live a better life. This project identifies and expands on solutions for students and their families that are sustainable, scalable, and transformative.”
“This framework will build upon previous work by Workcred and the National Student Clearinghouse to link higher education institution enrollment data, industry credential data, and wage data,” said Rick Torres, president and CEO, National Student Clearinghouse. “The results of this grant will show how institutions can observe their learners from enrollment all the way into their careers, and better understand the value of industry credentials and degrees in that journey. This is an important step in helping institutions tell the most holistic story possible of their outcomes of their work.”
Barbara Gellman-Danley, HLC president, reinforced the value of this work. “HLC is very excited to be part of this initiative. The credential marketplace is growing exponentially, and clear pathways to the associate degree – and quality assurance of those pathways – are critical to both the students and the workforce.”
HR Technology News: Rampiva Announces Baseline – The Industry’s First Free Analytics Nuix Acceleration Product
[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]