1 / 39

Carol Adukaitis, EdD Director, Pathways for Career Success PA State System of Higher Education

Increasing Higher Education STEM Completion through Untapped Transfer Degrees October 3, 2011 STEMtech. Carol Adukaitis, EdD Director, Pathways for Career Success PA State System of Higher Education. Agenda. 1. Degree-completion does matter 2. Barriers to non-degree completion

brier
Download Presentation

Carol Adukaitis, EdD Director, Pathways for Career Success PA State System of Higher Education

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Increasing Higher Education STEM Completion through Untapped Transfer Degrees October 3, 2011 STEMtech Carol Adukaitis, EdDDirector, Pathways for Career SuccessPA State System of Higher Education

  2. Agenda 1. Degree-completion does matter 2. Barriers to non-degree completion 3. Strategies for improving degree completion 4. Successful initiatives that increase higher education STEM degrees 5. Discussion / Questions

  3. Why College Completion Matters • January 25, 2011 President Barack Obama • State of the Union Address “ We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world….America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”

  4. Why College Completion Matters Lumina Foundation Report (Sept. 2011): “The consequences of failing to reach the middle class are increasingly severe, and access to middle class jobs is now mostly dependent on completing some form of postsecondary education… College-attainment rates are rising in almost every industrialized or post-industrial country in the world, except for the U.S.”* By the year 2025, Lumina’s goal is 60 percent of Americans to hold high-quality college degrees and credentials. Nationally, degree-attainment rate is about 38 percent.

  5. Why College Completion Matters The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018 (June 2010): “by 2018, 63 percent of all jobs will require at least some postsecondary education. Employers will need 22 million new workers with postsecondary degrees… we will fall short by three million workers without a dramatic change. This translates into a deficit of 300,000 college graduates every year between now and 2018. http://cew.georgetown.edu

  6. Why College Completion Matters Since 1973, jobs that require at least some college have exploded while opportunities for those with just a high school education have shrunk dramatically By 2018, 60% of jobs will require college education and more than half of these positions will only require a certificate or A.A. degree. Source: March CPS data, various years, Center on Education and the Workforce, Harvard Study 2011

  7. Why College Completion Matters in PA Available Jobs, But Not Enough Educated Workers • Aging workforce facing retirement • Traditional high school population drops by 3 percent from 2007 through 2020 • Baby boomers not entering STEM fields • Rapid technological advances in companies require employees with post-secondary skills http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/09/22/

  8. Why Degree Completion Matters in PA http://www.completecollege.org/docs/Pennsylvania.pdf

  9. Why Degree Completion Matters in PA Almost 16% of Community college students completed a certificate or 2-year degree within 3 years. http://www.completecollege.org/docs/Pennsylvania.pdf

  10. Why College Completion Matters in PA • For a strong PA economy, the skills gap must be closed: 60% By 2020, jobs requiring a skills certificate or college degree 43% PA adults who currently have associate degree or higher 17% skills gap www.CompleteCollegeAmerica.org; 2011, ‘Time is the Enemy’.

  11. Causes of Non-Degree Completion Group discussion What are your top challenges for reaching and retaining non-degree completers at two-year and four-year institutions?

  12. Causes of Non-Degree Completion Inadequate secondary academic preparation for STEM careers Poorly designed and/or delivered remediation courses that do not count toward degree and do not qualify for student financial aid; almost two-thirds of community college students need at least one remedial course 3. Swirling – nearly half of college seniors attending classes from multiple institutions toward degree* 4. Inconsistent or broken credit transfer policies 5. Confusing financial aid programs 6.A culture that encourages college access not completion 7. A systemtoo often out of touch with the needs of today’s student (P/T, F/T employment, commuters, have family) and the needs of society (need for STEM trained employees) http://www.completecollege.org/completion_shortfall

  13. Additional causes of PA Non-Degree Completion PA size, rural geography and unfinished community college system leave residents in rural areas great distances from low cost campuses.

  14. Strategy: Identify Transfer Populations • First Generation • Non-traditional Boomers, Gen X, Millennials • Minority* • Under-represented • Female Many of the above populations enter post-secondary institutions with a high school diploma and significant work experience

  15. Strategy: Identify Transfer Populations • Racially • Ethnically • Socially • Economically • High School grad to displaced homemaker • Part time distance learner to full-time resident student • GED completer to certificate seeker to evening MBA student …..we need a student centered system The 21st century student is represented

  16. Strategy: College-Ready Preparedness • 59% of community college enrollees must first take remedial courses to bring them up to the necessary level to begin their course of study • Only 3-4 out of every 10 community college students referred to remediation actually finish the sequence. Recommendation: Offer computer-based/self-paced remedial instruction option; embed skills in and throughout coursework

  17. Strategy: Affordability through Articulation • PA is a major center for higher education in the U.S. with one of the largest systems of higher education and the 4th largest student enrollment in the nation. • PA public colleges and universities rank as the 6th most expensive state in the nation. Recommendation: Recognize articulated credits from secondary and post-secondary institutions, dual enrollment courses, credit for Prior Learning Assessments (PLA), military experience that permit students to move from course to course, toward program to program, or one educational level to the next without loss of time or resources. Source: PA Governor’s Conference on Higher Education, March 2009 www.outreach.psu.edu/programs/governors

  18. Strategy: Promote Certificate Programs The greater Allentown, Lehigh Valley PA region’s manufacturing employs about 36,000 people at an average wage of $58,432 and added 800 jobs in the last year. Many jobs now require training in high-tech fields such as electromechanical mechatronics and precision machining. Lehigh Career Technical Institute partnered with Lehigh Carbon Community College to open a Center for Advance Manufacturing Technology http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-schnecksville-lcti-manufacturing-20110928,0,6681427.story

  19. Strategy: Develop Statewide PA Transfer • In July 2006, PDE began implementation of Article XX-C of the Public School Code of 1949 which requires PA’s 14 community colleges and the 14 state-owned universities in the PA State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) to develop and implement equivalency standards for at least 30 hours of foundation courses, not including developmental or remedial courses or career, technical or applied courses, and to accept for transfer up to 30 credits of foundation courses and universities and count toward graduation. Recommendation: Promote Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Center (PA TRAC), a one-stop online portal for transfer students, administrators and advisors/faculty. https://patrac.org

  20. Strategy: Networking STEM Transfer Students PA one of 6 states to receive NGA funding in 2007 to dramatically increase P-20 students (especially females, minorities, and underrepresented) for careers in STEM PA STEM Initiative is a collaborative public/private partnership committed to improving and aligning the Commonwealth workforce, education and economic development systems to realize the PA STEM Initiative vision by 2018 www.pasteminitiative.org

  21. Strategy: Develop 2+2+2 STEM Pathways To support regional emerging industries compete globally, in 2002, PA Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED) provided funding to develop integrated and seamless educational programs across secondary, two-year and four-year post-secondary programs as a means to create a pipeline of highly-skilled technical STEM workers. www.pathwaysforcareersuccess.org

  22. Strategy: Industry Driven, Articulated Courses Articulate secondary to post-secondary 2-year and 4-year career paths in emerging technologies that includes a Guarantee/Warranty*; PSSA proficiency* 2 years high school/ career & technical centers + 2 years of community college + 2 years at baccalaureate level Develop agile, flexible and responsive training programs for incumbent and transitional workers that lead to a certificate and/or degree

  23. Strategy: Regional Industry Support The cornerstone of each regional 2+2+2 Project is an activeinvolvement of economic development agencies: • Workforce Investment Boards (WIB), • Industrial Resource Centers (IRC), • Private industries, manufacturers associations

  24. Strategy: Emerging STEM Sectors Funded • Advanced Manufacturing & Materials Plastics Technology, Electro-optics, Robotics, Mechatronics, Nanofabrication Technology, Applied Engineering Technology • Biotechnology Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, • Energy Natural Gas/ Marcellus Shale Technology • Information Technology Computer Security, Computer Forensics

  25. 2+2+2 Model= Multiple Entry/ Exit Points Career & Technology Center Job Community College Certificate of Specialization Livelihood Career Community College AAS Degree College or UniversityBS Degree Profession

  26. Strategy: Recruit Transitional/Transfer Students • Did not graduate High School • Graduated High School without skills • Graduated High School, employed, needing retraining • Graduated Career & Technical School, needing retooling /upskilling* • Attended some college, no degree • Graduated college, no skills for new economy (4 + 2)

  27. Strategy: College $avingsfor prior Learning • Minimum 15 credits articulate from secondary to post-secondary* • Requires ‘Proficient’ or ‘Advanced’ on PSSA Math & Reading to reduce post-secondary remediation coursework • Program encourages community college completion as middle ‘2’ to reduce college costs* • Career guidance integrated at each level to provide students with information about career and technical options and sequencing

  28. Strategy: Industry/ Education Partnership BOTSIQ & Robobots = Excitement! Collaboration and Support - PA Labor & Industry - NTMA & AMC2 - 35 Companies: funding & mentors - >75 Organizations & contributors

  29. Strategy: Marketing STEM Pathways Hershey Foods needed high tech industrial maintenance technicians for food packaging. Reading Area Community College and Lancaster CTC along with the Lehigh, Berks and Lancaster WIB developed the AMIST curriculum. RACC’s AAS Program articulates with PA PASSHE institutions and Purdue@Calumet. • Workforce Investment Board • Businesses • Schools • ~1,800 Participants • Students & Parents

  30. Strategy: Recruiting Underserved Groups Program offers continuous opportunities that recruit females-only, first generation, and underrepresented students to learn about STEM careers. Professional SME/ SWE serve as mentors. University students serving as near-peer mentors. Kelly Reid, DCCC AET, President, SME Student Chapter, now enrolled at Drexel 30

  31. IndustryPrograms Strategy: Industry Grows Their Workforce Companies like Sunoco, Inc, offer students ‘earn and learn’ opportunities; provide mentoring with professional organizations (SME/SWE), job shadowing, and apprenticeship programs. Companies also provide ‘educator in the workplace’ opportunities to produce STEM-capable teachers.

  32. Employer Surveys of Program Graduates Are They Really Ready to Work, The Partnership for 21st Century Skills

  33. Employer Surveys of Program Graduates Are They Really Ready to Work, The Partnership for 21st Century Skills

  34. Statewide Career Pathways Impact • Graduated over 7,000 students* • Network Involves 40Career & Technology Centers, 39high schools 7community colleges, 2two-year colleges 29four-year colleges / universities • Salaries reported: • AAS Degree of $33,500+ • BS Degree Technician of $65,000+

  35. Statewide Program Impact Statewide Collaboration = Leveraged Funds Project funds Leveraged: partial listing of supporters 2003 - 2011 $21,636,753 • US DOL Grants, AET, Biotechnology • NSF-ATE,Advanced Manufacturing, Plastics, Biomanufacturing • Community Based Job Training • Department of Defense • Carnegie Mellon University Robo Corridor • National Tool and Machining Foundation • R. K. Mellon Foundation • Heinz Foundation • Westmoreland Foundation • Whitaker Foundation • Society of Photonics Engineers • Society of Manufacturing Engineers-Education Foundation • US Congressman Paul Kanjorski & US Senator Robert Casey • US Senator Arlen Specter • Collegiate Consortium for Workforce & Economic Development • Exelon • Many others……

  36. What We Have Learned • Curriculum is industry-driven and has academic integrity. • Articulation course to course is successful • Program to program alignment is in progress (Perkins Programs of Study)* • Dual enrollment courses offer portability of credits for students choosing institutions other than those in the partnership • Assessment is on-going • 2+2+2 supports national & state CompleteCollege America goal

  37. What We Have Learned • Increase Career guidance & counseling for recruiting young adults and transfers • Improving perceptions CTE and CC • Offer more on-line courses • STEM awareness must begin K-6 with students and professional development with faculty • PASSHE undertaking a comprehensive review of transfer system-wide task force for policies, business practices and culture.

  38. Harvard Study: Pathways to Prosperity 2011 suggests… • Current educational system places to much emphasis on ‘one-size-fits-all’ 4-year degree • Multiple pathways to middle skill occupations include industry certificate or associate degree • Provide contextual & applied learning • Improve Math and Literacy skills • Expand the role of Employers • Multiple pathways to middle skill occupations include industry certificate or associate degree • Provide more aid & assistance to students to complete college • http://dailyitem.com0100_news/Harvard-Study-Students-need-more-paths-to-career-success

  39. For more information contact: Carol Adukaitis, EdD Director, Pathways for Career Success PA State System of Higher Education Dixon University Center 2986 North 2nd Street Harrisburg, PA 17110 Phone: 717-720-4019 CAdukaitis@passhe.edu • PathwaysForCareerSuccess.org

More Related