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Meeting the Challenges of Recruiting the Adult Learner PACRAO 2009 Session: G6 Janet Danley Walla Walla Community Colleg

Meeting the Challenges of Recruiting the Adult Learner PACRAO 2009 Session: G6 Janet Danley Walla Walla Community College November 3, 2009. Walla Walla Community College Clarkston Campus. OUR MISSION:

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Meeting the Challenges of Recruiting the Adult Learner PACRAO 2009 Session: G6 Janet Danley Walla Walla Community Colleg

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  1. Meeting the Challenges of Recruiting the Adult Learner PACRAO 2009 Session: G6 Janet Danley Walla Walla Community College November 3, 2009

  2. Walla Walla Community CollegeClarkston Campus OUR MISSION: Walla Walla Community College inspires students to discover their potential and to achieve their goals by providing diverse and challenging learning opportunities

  3. Walla Walla Community CollegeClarkston Campus An Unstated Mission: Walla Walla Community College strives to transform the lives of our students through excellent educational opportunities, to facilitate the economic development of our communities, our district, and our region through partnerships and by providing training opportunities to the workforce

  4. Walla Walla Community CollegeClarkston Campus OUR GOALS: • Encourage and support transformative learning that results in sustainable work that offer living salaries and wages • Prepare students for the 21st-century work force, which is changing daily • Serve as a leading partner in strengthening the economic vitality of communities

  5. Why Do We Want or Need Adult Learners? • Only 39% of the U.S. adult population hold a two- or 4-year degree (SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) • There are 6.8 million adult learners or 70% of the enrollment involved in some form of post-secondary education (SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics) • In a knowledge-based economy, critical-thinking and research-oriented skills are needed by individuals to be successful, productive employees

  6. Why Do They Want or Need Us? • Increasing numbers of adults displaced by downsizing and changing workforce needs. People employed in low-end, low-pay jobs are most vulnerable to economic downturns • To be able find living-wage employment in a changing workplace environment

  7. Why Do They Want or Need Us? • Over 54 million people currently in the workforce have attended college but have not earned any academic credential

  8. All workers: 9.8% • Adult men: 10.3% • Adult women: 7.8% • Teenagers: 25.9% (SOURCE US Department of Labor Statistics, September 2009): Unemployment Rate September 2009

  9. STRATEGIES • Partnerships with local, regional, and state agencies • Partnerships with military and reserve units, particularly educational officers • Contact through employers, employment services, job coaches, the state’s unemployment benefits administrator • Identify students who left school before completing educational goal

  10. STRATEGIES • Marketing using media and messages designed to reach adults • Creative scheduling strategies for courses, programs, and services that match adult students’ lives • Financial aid, grants, scholarships, payment plans – easy to get financial assistance a must • Easily accessed childcare, preferably on-campus

  11. STRATEGIES • Do your admission policies make sense for adult learners • Do your transfer policies make sense for adult learners who may have attended several colleges • Do your attendance policies make sense for adult learners • Does your school offer experiential credit

  12. STRATEGIES • Once admitted are you prepared to serve the adult learner: • Are basic skills classes available • Are ESL classes available • Is face-to-face or on-line tutoring easily accessible • Is career counseling readily available • Are computers available for student use

  13. Partnerships • Get acquainted with business leaders in the community • Be a visible player in economic development efforts • Partner with local social agencies such as YMCA, YWCA, Community Action, etc • Civic organizations concerned with community

  14. Partnerships • Regional agencies and organizations • Economic development associations, manufacturer’s associations, etc • County organizations

  15. Partnerships • State agencies and organizations • State employment and job coaching services • Health and Human Services Divisions • VA Health Centers

  16. Contacts through employers, employment services, job coaches, etc. • College nights, information sessions, financial aid fairs at work places • Course delivery at work sites (contract or for-credit courses), short courses and workshops • Job readiness and work orientation training at those big box stores

  17. Marketing to Adults • Selecting media that will be noticed by adults – conduct focus groups to determine how best to get your message out • Messaging to adults (hint, the types of messages that mean something to teens and even young adults may not mean much to an adult learner) • WHEN you market is almost as important as the message for most adults – when do they “hear” the message the best?

  18. OPENING THE DOORS • Hold events and activities that attract adults to campus • Sponsor family events and activities on or off the campus • Offer facilities on campus to outside groups that serve adults (if possible and feasible) • Make the campus an open and inviting place

  19. Creative Scheduling • Early morning, late afternoon, weekends, even the middle of the night present opportunities for scheduling when adults can attend • Alternate locations – malls, libraries, worksites • Distance, hybrids, pod-casts, etc make it easier for adult students to participate • Services and programs must be available by phone, during alternate days, times, and method of delivery

  20. Easy to Get Financial Assistance • Can students get assistance easily? • Are institutional funds available for adult learners? • Are there scholarship or grant programs available to adult students? Are there scholarships and grants for only adult learners? • Are there payment plans available? • Are there book loan or book grant programs available?

  21. Benefits • Access: The message is that college is indeed for EVERYONE, not just the young • Life long learning: We practice what we preach, it is never too late to learn; your ability to support yourself and your family may depend on it • Economic development: The community benefits with a better educated and prepared workforce – allows the economic developers to bring in new employers

  22. References • Focus, Lumina Foundation, Fall 2009. • National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), 2009. • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 2009. • Walla Walla Community College Mission and Goals Statement. About WWCC. www.wwcc.edu. 2009.

  23. Contact Info Janet Danley, EdD Director, Clarkston Campus Walla Walla Community College janet.danley@wwcc.edu (509) 758-1703

  24. Now It’s Your Turn • Break into groups of 3 or 4 – try to team up with people from other schools • List your school’s efforts and initiatives to recruit adult learners • Select one person to report out • All of the results will be posted to the PACRAO website under session G6 by mid-week (www.pacrao.org)

  25. What you had to share… • Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston, ID • Give prospective students all of the information needed to select programs • Added link “What Can I Do With This Major” to each major description • Created “Escrow” credit account for programs that allow more transfer credit than is typically permitted • Intensive English instruction for those whose primary language is not English • International students who score a 6 or higher on TOEFL can earn a BA without an additional foreign language

  26. What you had to share… • Montana State University • Career exploration includes a segment to answer the question, “What can I do with this major • Combines international study/travel with intensive language instruction • Career Pathways – U of Alaska, Anchorage • Curriculum that supports a career(s). Vetted through the workplace and high schools. Shared throughout the state • Senior citizens take courses for free

  27. What you had to share… • Douglas College, New Westminster, BC • Offer English language embedded in content courses • Senior Adults offered easy access to formal education classes • Camosun College, Victoria, BC • Offer self-paced classes in math & English • Use verbal placement assessments

  28. What you had to share… • California Lutheran University • Believe in role modeling – employees encouraged to take classes on a regular basis • Adult education program designed for working adults AND their families • Weekends • Shorter, intensive delivery • City University, Seattle, WA • Language assisted classes – tutorial along with content. Offered through the Schools of Management and of Education

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