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NCWE: National Council for Workforce Education. An affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC )
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NCWE: National Council for Workforce Education • An affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) • A national forum for administrators, faculty, business, labor, military, and government in workforce education, to affect and direct the future role of two-year and other post-secondary institutions in workforce education and economic development • The link between policy and workforce education and economic development by providing support, research, and critical information to members on current and future trends and policies. http://www.ncwe.org/?page=workforce_economic
Employer Engagement Strategies Nan Poppe, Ed.D. Louisiana Accelerating Opportunity Coach National Council for Workforce Education Darlene G. Miller, Ed.D. Executive Director National Council for Workforce Education Girard Melancon, Ph.D. Executive Director for Adult, Community and Continuing Education Baton Rouge Community College
Agenda www.ncwe.org • Framing the Issue • Why is Employer Engagement Hard • Effective Strategies • Success Stories at Baton Rouge Community College • Questions
Framing the Issue
Employer/EducatorDisconnect • A newly released Gallup poll (sponsored by the Lumina Foundation) revealed that 14% of Americans and only 11% of business leaders – strongly agree that post secondary graduates have the skills and competencies to succeed in the workplace • Concomitantly, a survey conducted by Inside Higher Ed in conjunction with Gallup found 96% of Chief Academic Officers believe they are successfully preparing students for the workforce
Employer/EducatorDisconnect • College for America commissioned a study that is soon to be released finds the difficulty in finding well qualified applicants is a key challenge for 85% of HR and director-level respondents and it is across all sectors!! The stark reality is that there is a disconnect between what employers want and need to fill the skills gap and how educators view their education/training programs and the competencies of their graduates!
Collaboration between employers and educators • Educators need to actively work with industry leaders to understand the skills gap and to truly understand the competencies and skills that employers want and need to achieve growth and prosperity • Only strong engagement and collaboration will lead to strong curricula that meets both accreditation requirements and business needs.
Competing Demands! • Technology and the daily influx of emails, tweets, etc have made our lives very, very busy • Employers are concerned about the bottom line making it hard to be away from their daily operations • Industries must shift and change to remain competitive in a global economy • Federal funding has decreased significantly for job training initiatives: the federal job training programs budget has been cut over $3.3T in the past 10 years CHANGE AND DEMAND ARE CONSTANT
Balancing Act • Employers are our Customers • they don’t always know what they need • and then they change their minds! LIKE A BEING ON A ROLLER COASTER
Balancing Act • It takes time and energy to get employers to identify their needs, then verify, then re-verify, and in a very short time frame down the road, re-examine and start all over again! • Constant verification with the real-time labor market data which is time-consuming, labor intensive yet absolutely necessary
Results from Riding on the Roller Coaster • Solve an anecdote and never uncover the root problem • Create entry level cohort training without employer verification that there is a shortage at the entry level
Results from Riding on the Roller Coaster • If we offer the programs through credit, because of our academic structure (curriculum committee) and accreditation there is oftentimes a time lapse between strategy and training delivery which results in obsolete skills • Employers demand training but then don’t hire
Employer EngagementStrategies • College Employer Engagement Strategy that is part of the College’s Strategic Plan • Who is responsible • What type of resources do they need to achieve success • What are the goals and expected outcomes • How will you measure success • Plan must include feedback loops to all member of the college, particularly technical faculty • Ongoing and continuous – “the cows need to be milked daily”
Employer EngagementStrategies • Employ Labor Market Data Tools • Burning Glass • EMSI • Local WIB Data • LMI data must be used to drive programmatic decision making!
Employer EngagementStrategies • Collaboration and Partnerships with WIBS and Economic Development Agencies • Sector Strategy • Economic Development Strategy • Career Pathways • Include all partners in a gap analysis to understand needs versus supply pipeline CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION IS KEY!
Employer EngagementStrategies Strengthening Faculty and Employer Connections • Employer involvement in curriculum and program design • Bring employers into the classroom (panels, demonstrations, etc) • Faculty summer internships with employers (can be supported with Perkins Funds!) • Employer involvement in facilities design and equipment purchases
Employer EngagementStrategies Deep and Long-Term Engagement • Corporate Philanthropy • It is estimated that community colleges receive less than 2% of corporate contributions to higher education • Work with employers to influence public policy • Get employers to a wide array of college events • Work with employers to strengthen college to career connections with K-12 • Partner to address identified skilled workforce shortages or sector strategies
Success Strategies At BRCC
BRCC SuccessStrategies • Power rests in relationships and self-interest moves people • Timing and engaging the right partner is everything • Don’t overcommit yet don’t be risk adverse
BRCC SuccessStrategies • Employers can be your best cheerleaders • Engage employers with projects and celebrate wins • Employers are a great source for information, instructors and students
Discussion executivedirector@ncwe.org npoppe@live.com melancong@mybrcc.edu www.ncwe.org