nccet catalyst october 2014

1The National Organization for Leaders in Workforce, Community and Economic Development

CATALYSTVol 42 Issue 2

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION & TRAINING

INSIDEConnecting Learning To Jobs Through Digital Badges

Career Development & Education in the Digital Age

Working Relationships With Employers

2014 NATIONAL LEADERSHIP AWARDJane E. SchulmanVice President, Division ofAdult and Continuing Education (ACE)LaGuardia Community College

PAGE 20


President’s Page 3

Working Relationships With Employers 5

Self Advocacy: Teaching Students To Take Ownership Of Their Education 6

Connecting Learning To Jobs Through Digital Badges 9

Career Development And Education In The Digital Age 12

Technology Education Essential For Future STEM Workforce 15

Strategy’s Important Work: MarketCues National SmartPlan360˚ 17

Share Your Knowledge 21

National Leadership Award 22

Exemplary Program Awards 23

About NCCET 24

The CATALYST is published by the National Council for Continuing Education and Training (NCCET). The CATALYST is reviewed and indexed in the Current Index To Journals In Education (CIJE) and in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). The CATALYST is also available in microfilm and microfiche from University Microfilms International. Since July 2009 the journal is available in an electronic format only. The library subscription price for the CATALYST is $120.00 per year. Subscription requests should be sent to the NCCET Executive Office at [email protected] or PO Box 2916, Columbus, OH 43216-2916. Manuscripts are to be submitted as a Word document to [email protected] with “Catalyst Submission” in the subject line. Manuscripts accepted for publication are subject to editing. Please refer to the “Call for Manuscripts” elsewhere in this issue for further details.

NCCET Membership is open to all individuals involved in or committed to the fields of community services, continuing education and/or workforce training in higher education. Annual dues for Individual Membership are $90.00, and include the services and benefits of NCCET, voting and office-holding rights and privileges, and NCCET publications. Institutional Membership, which provides membership for unlimited numbers of persons within a single college or university, is $399.00.

WWW.NCCET.ORG / [email protected] / (888) 771-0179

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2014 NCCET Annual Conference

http://WWW.NCCET.ORG

mailto:NCCET%40NCCET.ORG?subject=


For the nearly 200 of us who attended the NCCET fall conference in Denver, the comments and feedback from members were consistent and glowing with special commendations to the board and executive office staff for a well-run conference and stellar learning event. My hat is off to each of you for your contributions, your

time, and commitment to this particular professional development event. It is my hope that you returned to your respective homes and communities armed with new ideas to try in order to serve your customers better. To our many partners who delighted our members with their products and perspective, we thank you for your support and willingness to spend time with us. We need expert partners to assist us in the critical work of continuing and workforce education, contract and corporate training, and community services.

Never a board to sit and relax, Linda Head, our President-Elect sent each board member a request for information about the conference…what was great, the things that needed changing, and ideas for future keynote speakers. As we plan the upcoming Portland conference, this feedback is critical and I’m sure that many of your comments are reflected in the board responses. Here are the general themes:

THINGS THAT WERE GREAT ● The town hall meeting was well received,

stimulating, engaged members, and was a great addition.

● The congeniality and vibe were great throughout the conference; the comradery and relaxed, easy going feel to the group—great to work with.

● Each of the keynote speakers were excellent and complimented each other very well.

● The conference content areas with recurring themes were great—future trends, best practices in CE and contract training, leadership and communication.

● Love the willingness of members and board to moderate sessions, serve as ambassadors, and volunteer to assist with anything the staff needs.

● Breakout sessions were well attended, with a variety of topics and speakers.

THINGS THAT NEED CHANGING

● Provide more pre-notice of the conference strands and more topic information; better describe the “tracks” in the conference early on the website.

● Provide more time to transition between concurrent and general sessions.

● Provide more community education sessions. ● Provide a template justification letter that NCCET

members can use to describe the importance of attending the NCCET conference to a supervisor.

● Target workforce boards to actually attend the conference as a way to get some of the college’s workforce partners involved.

IDEAS FOR FUTURE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

● Engage a state legislator to focus on how we can make an impact to change funding policy for CE, etc.; a policy or legislative general session would be of interest.

● Ask an Oregon community college president to welcome or present at the 2015 conference in Portland.

● Engage national level subject experts (local WIB, for example) to speak about partnerships with community colleges; target TAAACT , experimental CE Pell, and DOL grant recipients to share projects and results for sessions.

As you continue your professional growth and development away from the conference, you’ll find a wealth of information in this issue of The Catalyst.

Continued on page 4

President’s PageBy Paul Koehnke, EdD., Central Piedmont Community College


From digital badges, to career development in a digital age, and making the most of your relationships with employers, this issue is packed with timely and relevant information so that we can be our best. I hope you enjoy it.

Warm regards,

Paul KoehnkePresident, NCCET

Continued from page 3


2014 NCCET Annual Conference2014 NCCET Annual Conference



When President Obama gave the 2014 State of the Union Address, he spoke of “connecting companies to community colleges” and “funding proven programs that connect more ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.”

It was quite fitting that I happened to be attending the Workforce Development Institute with colleagues from around the country when the SOTU address was made. Every time the President referenced community colleges, we cheered. We cheered because community colleges are the best resource for business and industry, and workforce development teams understand the extreme value added when corporations and colleges work together. Many of our advisory boards are made up of business and industry professionals who offer feedback to the curriculum development processes for workforce programs. Furthermore, more often than not, funding opportunities and grants are based on established collaborations between those offering training and those who have positions to fill once training is complete - The perfect union of higher education and employers.

With high unemployment and structural changes to industry, workforce development continues to be a growing concern for policy makers and educators throughout the United States. I firmly agree with the President that an optimal solution to develop human capital and narrow the skills gaps to meet industry needs for the 21st century is to connect companies with community colleges. Business and industry frequently partner with us to provide customized offerings to meet their evolving needs. By supporting workers as they earn college credit, pass qualifying tests, and complete certification and degree programs in less time than the typical structure of higher education, employers are able to promote lifelong learning among their employees to adjust and adapt skill sets.

In spite of the numerous successful partnerships and established relationships with employers that we could point to, we continue to hear about a skills gap. The paradox is that for as much as we have high unemployment and so many open positions, positions remain unfilled. While I’m not advocating for employers to simply fill open positions with random unemployed people, I am suggesting that they review current open positions to determine if an unemployed candidate possesses transferable skills that could be applied to the open position.

If there is an unemployed accountant who used specific software in their last position and there is a job posting for an accountant using different software, I would hope the employer might consider this candidate for the open position. Flexibility is in the best interest of the economy, the employer, and the unemployed, especially after the position has gone unfilled for ninety days.

The scenario mentioned above is why ongoing dialogue is required to constantly cultivate relationships with employers in your region.

While there may be a formal job description, your solid relationships with employers allows you to have honest conversations where they trust you’re providing them with quality pre-screened candidates and solutions that will work in the best interest of all parties involved.

With a diverse pool of unemployed in America, there is no reason for employers to boast of unfilled job openings, when there are credentialed, educated individuals who possess strong work ethics in search of employment.

Working Relationships With Employersby Lisa M. Bly, Assistant Dean, Corporate, Community, and Continuing Education, Moraine Valley Community College

Continued on page 8


As Transition Coaches for Johnson County Adult Education in Johnson County, KS, our role is to help adult ESL and adult education students who earn their GEDs transition successfully into post secondary education. We know that our adult education instructors will give them the tools to successfully pass the GED; our goal is to give students the tools to become self-advocates in regards to their education and future.

Because of the nature of the student population we work with, many of our students are first generation college students and don’t have the support network to help them navigate the college process.

Many students don’t even have anyone to listen to or help them with their goals for their future. That is where our role becomes crucial.

We first meet with our students in a large group when they attend GED orientation. We begin to introduce the possibilities that exist after they earn their Kansas High School diploma. As Transition Coaches, we see our program as a trajectory that will launch into post-secondary education (PSE). Our particular program is a collaborative partnership between the Johnson County Library system and Johnson County Community College (JCCC). Each year, our program serves over 2000 students in our ESL and ABE/GED programs. Although our main emphasis is to transition students to Johnson County Community College, we are not limited if students are looking into other programs or institutions.

As students progress through our GED program, we begin to meet with them one-on-one. We find that listening to our students builds relationships where

students feel safe to share their dreams and goals. As we meet with them, we often help them see a vision of where they want to go next and we are able to help them move on to the next step by giving them an action plan and tools to put their goals into action.

Many times, we need to start with building self-efficacy before we can focus on self-advocacy. Self-efficacy refers to a person’s belief in his or her ability to succeed at a task. If you have a strong sense of self-efficacy, you believe in yourself and your abilities. You’ve probably had social or academic success, which made you hunger for more. You’re more likely to try challenging and new things – you’re interested in learning more, doing more, achieving more. You see obstacles as problems to be solved, not something to stop you from achieving your goal.

If you have a weak sense of self-efficacy, you tend to focus on your past disappointments and failures rather than your successes. You don’t believe in yourself or your abilities, and you are less likely to try something new. You don’t have a lot of confidence, and if you see an obstacle in your path you’re likely to give up. People who lack self-efficacy tend to throw in the towel early rather than trying to persevere. This is often a common occurrence for our students.

We need to start with building self-efficacy before we can focus on or expect self-advocacy. For our students, enrolling in college initially seems like an overwhelming and impossible task. We break down the process of enrolling into a post-secondary program into small, achievable tasks that we outline on a checklist. As students work through this checklist with our guidance, they begin to have a feeling of accomplishment in reaching their goal.

We believe that the development of self-efficacy to self-advocacy is a continuum—the more our students take ownership of their own education, the more they have this feeling of success: I DID IT!

Continued on page 7

Linda Kozacek

Chris Specht

Self Advocacy: Teaching Students To Take Ownership Of Their Educationby Linda Kozacek & Chris Specht, Transition Coaches for Johnson County Community College


Through our model, we try to build a scaffold of support for the student once they are taking classes on campus. As a team, we have built intentional connections and developed a list of resources for our students to utilize. We believe that a critical element to retention and academic success is to have key relationships on campus with individuals who take a personal interest in the individual student’s success. For example, we encourage students to reach out and make connections to key people and organizations on campus – Financial Aid, Counseling, Student Involvement, and International and Immigrant Student Services (IISS).

Our relationship with the IISS office is especially important as many of our students come from diverse backgrounds, and many of them have immigration questions that are beyond our scope to answer. Students need a safe place to get answers to sensitive questions requiring expertise we might not have. We have worked hard to develop key contacts within this office so we can give students the name of a specific person who can speak with them about their immigration issues without fear creeping in. It is not just a referral but a key contact, and that makes the students feel safe to reach out and ask questions for themselves. As they begin to self-advocate, their confidence grows and students are able to repeat positive learning experiences.

Many of our students either don’t qualify for Federal Financial Aid or have extenuating circumstances that might make the application process difficult. To help our students better understand their circumstances in regard to financial aid, we host two small group workshops at our center each semester facilitated by a financial aid representative from our college. Students can come to our workshops with a myriad of questions and unique circumstances that they can ask the FA specialist. Most often, they leave the workshop with an accurately completed FAFSA; however, if they aren’t able to complete the application, they now have a personal advocate for them on campus that will help them problem solve this situation. We’re a source of information for students.

With the help of our financial aid office, we have been able to teach students where to search for

and find scholarships, even students who may be undocumented. We also assist students who aren’t able to qualify for FAFSA or traditional scholarships. In cases like this, we have scholarship funds available to help students get started at JCCC. Our scholarships aren’t based on FAFSA, but are meant to bridge an immediate gap when we sense that without immediate assistance, the delay will derail the student’s commitment to continued study. We believe a student will have greater success if he or she transfers into PSE soon after completing their GED rather than taking a year or more off. Our scholarship fund has been maintained through a variety of creative fundraising ideas that we have implemented and is primarily supported through our instructors and staff who believe in our students and want to see them continue to succeed. We also have learned that in most cases, it is not beneficial to scholarship all of a student’s tuition. We have seen greater retention, commitment and success if a student has some “buy-in” and must be responsible for at least half of the tuition.

After students leave our program and are enrolled in various PSE programs, we continue to maintain contact with them periodically throughout the year. We might send out reminders of campus dates and activities, but more often than not, we send a “just checking in” email to see how students are doing and let them know that someone is still personally interested in their progress. We want to hear about student success, but we also want to hear about a problem before it’s too late. If students tell us they are struggling in a class or with financial aid, we try to help them problem solve and encourage them to seek out the appropriate resources on campus that can best help them. We are clear to tell students that we cannot change a failing grade the week before the semester ends, but we encourage them to seek out the appropriate resources that can help solve the problem if caught in time.

We also encourage students to share their successes with us so that we can continue to celebrate and encourage them in their progress. In many cases, we have gone on to nominate students for awards and scholarships on campus that they did not think would be open to them as GED graduates.

Continued on page 8



For example, in the past two years, 6 out of 16 recipients for the JCCC Outstanding Student Award were graduates of our program and nominated by us for their stellar academic achievements while overcoming personal obstacles.

Three years ago, Johnson County Community College brought in Dr. Shane Lopez, professor at the University of Kansas and a senior researcher and a Gallup senior scientist and research director of the Clifton Strength’s Institute, to speak at our all-staff in-service. Dr. Lopez, who researches and has written on hope, had a profound effect on us as we know too well that hope is something many of our students lack. Through our work, we have seen that when students have hope and can see a future vision, combined with self-advocacy tools, there’s no telling what they can achieve. When students first come to our office, we try not to look at just where they are, but where they want to go. When they become self-advocates, the possibilities are limitless!

Self Advocacy Continued from page 7

While I understand the 21st century workforce is highly competitive and employers are looking for lifelong learners with the ability to be resilient, think critically, solve problems, communicate effectively, manage technology, and adapt to the changing needs of the workplace, I’m not convinced that we’re working collaboratively to find solutions where our labor force is concerned. Since employers understand negotiations and the need for flexibility, I’m curious to see what they will negotiate and how flexible they’re willing to be as we all work towards recovering our economy.

Theodore Roosevelt said it best, “It is not often that a man can make opportunities for himself. But he can put himself in such shape that when or if the opportunities come he is ready.” It’s time for America to get back to work. Who is responsible for providing the opportunities?

Working Relationships With Employers Continued from page 5




Continuing education is a term that covers a broad spectrum of post-secondary learning experiences and programs. For learners, the continuing education experience almost always involves a goal, whether to find a new job or discover a new career, to keep a job, or to get a better job. Whatever the goal, representing continuing

education achievements as digital badges can help learners to tell their story more effectively, to demonstrate their qualifications, and to help achieve their career goals.

A badge is merely a digital representation of a learning outcome; it could represent a certification, a professional credential, a competency, or even a soft skill. In this article, the terms “badge,” “digital credential,” and “open badge” are used interchangeably. All of these terms refer to the same format, “Open Badges,” which is the web data specification created by a Mozilla-led community to represent and verify learning achievements in a standardized way. Every open badge is defined with the same metadata fields, each of which is embedded directly into the badge image. Open badge metadata includes:

● The name of the achievement. ● A description of what the achievement involves. ● Background information about the issuer and

their authority to confer the badge. ● The criteria defined by the issuer and used as the

measuring bar to determine who qualifies for the badge.

● The evidence that the learner provides to demonstrate that s/he qualifies for the badge.

● Links to any external standards to which the achievement is aligned.

● The date the badge was issued, as well as any date that it may expire.

● Keyword tags (related skills, occupations, etc.), to improve search and discovery of the achievement.

Because they are digital, badges are easy to share with social and professional networks, through email or embedded on personal websites. Badged achievements are verifiable and connected, so all of the detailed information in the metadata travels with the badge wherever it’s shared online. An increasing number of job search engines and professional networks are enabling Open Badges to be shared as a part of each candidate’s online persona, and specialized career development features are being added to badge profiles and backpacks. The Open Badge standard has been applied to many types of achievements, from low stakes motivational recognition to high stakes professional credentials, so the external value of badges also varies widely.

Built around the Open Badge standard, Pearson’s Acclaim team partners with recognized education institutions and credentialing organizations to issue branded badges that are backed by rigor, and that represent marketable skills. The Acclaim platform is focused on helping colleges deliver valuable learning badges that help employers to identify qualified candidates who possess specific, in-demand skills and competencies. In short, badges issued through Acclaim have resume potential.

Based on our work with leading educational institutions and credentialing bodies across several industries, Pearson believes badges are the future of representing learning achievements in an increasingly digital world. Although we have begun to work with many departments in various types of colleges and universities, we have discovered that continuing education programs are particularly well-suited to using badges to communicate outcomes and competencies to employers.

BADGES IN ACTION AT MADISON AREA TECHNICAL COLLEGE

Beginning in late 2012, Madison Area Technical College developed an innovative open badge strategy in response to the demands of a growing population

Continued on page 10

Connecting Learning To Jobs Through Digital Badgesby Peter Janzow, Open Badges Lead, Pearson Acclaim

http://www.badgealliance.org/why-badges/


of non-traditional students seeking job skilling in the central Wisconsin region it serves. Begun in the Continuing Education department, the badging program is aligned with the college’s overall strategic plan, including its goals to focus on successful outcomes for students, to align with community needs, and to improve recruitment and strategic outreach within the community it serves.

Key steps in Madison’s “journey to badging” included:

● The Madison team surveyed the possible uses of badges, considering the full range of applications from motivation and gaming to professional recognition and job credentials. Dean Kate Radionoff and her team decided to focus on using badges as a way to recognize and communicate valuable non-credit course outcomes related to local skill needs, so that employers can more easily identify qualified candidates who have completed their training at the college.

● In partnership with Acclaim, Madison Area Technical College carefully mapped out a plan to develop and issue market-validated badges that represent job competencies developed through its non-credit programs. Madison decided to apply badges first to some key programs that were already work-related, beginning with the Dietary Manager program. Today Madison’s badge program includes more than 120 badge templates in a wide range of programs, organized and stacked to correspond to job-ready outcomes and skills needed in the local community.

● The Madison team is also actively engaged in dialogue with local employers to identify additional skill gaps that the college’s programs could help to meet. It is working to develop new programs to meet these needs, and to represent program outcomes in the form of digital badges.

KEY LESSONS LEARNED AT MADISON

The team working on Madison’s strategy identified several key lessons for any organization planning to issue badges, including:

● Organizations must be clear about the learning goals and outcomes for their courses and programs in order to begin to plan a badge strategy.

● It is critical to clearly define and communicate badge criteria and align achievements to third party standards wherever possible to enhance credibility and market relevance.

● When determining how the technology platform for badging will be implemented, each institution should consider their own technology environment (including learning management and student information systems), as well as the various badge system management solutions, which range from open source to enterprise class and cloud-hosted. Some institutions may have the resources and IT funding to implement their own open source platform. Others, like Madison College, may require a turnkey badge platform like Acclaim, which was designed to work well within the college.

● Likewise, planning, support, implementation services and other resources will be required. The partnership between the development and implementation team at Madison and the Acclaim team has enabled the college to get to market quickly with its badging strategy.

● The Madison College team learned that it is important to establish a clear marketing & communications plan that articulates to all stakeholders the purpose and benefits of badging, in advance of the launch of the program. As a result of their advance planning, the college decided to feature the continuing education division’s badging plan as a key element in its long-term strategic plan.

● Creating an effective system of badges requires contributions from a solid instructional design team, to create a cohesive, interrelated system of badges, and to connect course learning outcomes to job competencies and skills requested by employers.




● Employers must be involved. Dean Kate Radionoff uses the Madison College badge system as a tool to bring local employers to the table. As a result, the skill gaps employers perceive are represented in the badges that the college is implementing, these badges are then directly connected to the outcomes from the college’s programs and courses, and later, the same employers can easily recognize the qualifications of job candidates who have earned badges at the college.

FIRST STEPS FOR BADGE PROGRAMS

The teams from Madison College and Acclaim collaborated to design and implement Madison’s system of badges. If your organization is interested in considering badges to represent externally valid learning achievements and job-ready skills, you can begin with a few simple steps:

1. Consider what marketable skill(s) will come as a result of earning your badge.

2. Consider what evidence demonstrating the skill(s) will be perceived as valuable to employers.

3. Consider what criteria will be used to determine if your badge should be issued, and how these criteria will be interpreted by employers who view your badge.

4. With some basic badge templates designed, consult with local employers, to verify that the skills you are badging will be recognized and valuable when learners present them. Invite employers to help you define new badges that represent in-demand skills and job qualifications that your programs can help develop in candidates.

5. Evaluate your institution’s capacity to support the technical infrastructure to deliver badges that represent your learning outcomes.

THE VALUE OF THE BADGE ECOSYSTEM: BENEFITS FOR EARNERS, ISSUERS AND THE LOCAL JOB ECONOMY

Madison College is early in its program implementation, but leaders there are already learning that a badge strategy is a great connecting point with local and regional employers and with the adult learners served by the college. This is a great example of the power of the ecosystem behind badges.

Because badges standardize the language around job skills and skill gaps, they can help to reduce inefficiencies that may exist between local learning providers and the workers and employers they serve. Badges are designed to be dynamic and digital, so they can change rapidly in response to changing needs. Because learners who earn badges see a direct connection between their education and required job skills, they achieve a higher return on their education investment. Finally, because badges are connected – from schools to employers to workers to national and regional associations, standards organizations and credentialers - they can provide a tool for ongoing dialogue between all of the stakeholders.

As the adoption rate of badges across academic institutions, employers, credentialing bodies and professional organizations increases, so too will the ability of the broader badging ecosystem to impact the global workforce.

Article Contributions From Kathleen Radionoff, Dean Of Continuing Education, Madison Area Technical College In Madison, WI.




Education professionals hear a lot about how online courses are changing what students learn and how they learn it. What are the most recent changes to online learning, and how will those changes affect learners as they pursue their educations and search for challenging, rewarding jobs?

ONLINE LEARNING LETS LEARNERS FOCUS ON WHAT THEY NEED, WHEN THEY NEED IT.“Technology is the great disruptor in education,” says Ron J. Stefanski, who is Chief Business Development Officer at ed2go. “And that’s because it allows learners to get what they need, when they need it. If learners want to just get in and get out and be done, they can do that.”

Stefanski’s company, which is part of Cengage Learning, provides more than 500 online courses and programs, either through ed2go.com or in partnership with colleges, universities, and other institutions.

“Many of our students are military personnel,” Stefanski explains. “Many of them have master’s degrees. They don’t need to go back to school full-time. So we give them the pieces they need so they can make the transition from military to civilian work.”

Other online learners have different wants and needs: to get a high-school diploma or equivalency degree, to learn skills that will help them stay competitive at work or land a new job, or to explore a new career.

“At ed2go, we believe that education is the great game-changer. And that applies whether you’re talking about women’s empowerment, economic development, or moving people to a point where they can attain life-sustaining, family-supporting employment,” Stefanski says.

ONLINE LEARNING IS ENCOURAGING EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS TO REINVENT EDUCATION.The world has changed so much, but until recently, education hasn’t.

“It’s only in the last few years that we’ve looked at the way curriculum is designed, developed, and delivered,” says Carrie Doyle, who is ed2go’s General Manager. “In the last three years we’ve seen major changes that affect the way educators develop curricula.”

These changes include MOOCs (massive open online courses) and the flipped classroom, in which learners watch video lectures as homework and spend class time doing assignments. There’s also a greater focus on competency-based education, in which learners progress as they demonstrate mastery rather than having to put in a fixed amount of “seat time.”

“Instead of just talking about these changes in conferences, we’re seeing changes to the way educators are structuring courses and the way they’re writing assessments and assignments,” she added.

As the industry leader in online courses and programs, ed2go is well-positioned to take advantage of technological changes in education. The company’s videos and animations allow rapid learning, and online assignments and discussion areas let learners show what they know.

“Now education isn’t just about knowing. It’s about doing,” Doyle explains. “As a learner, you can’t just know the theory—you need to know how to apply it.”

In the digital age, “the learner is at the center of things,” she continues. “Sometimes we get hung up on the lessons or the details, but we need to remember that we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the learners.”

To help learners apply their new knowledge, ed2go is developing a “Jump-Start Your Career” program that


Career Development And Education In The Digital Ageby Kirsti MacPherson, Developmental Editor, ed2go/Cengage Learning


learners receive free when they register for a long-format program.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY. . . AND SOME INSTITUTIONS ARE NOT KEEPING UP.“Digital-age career development is a must,” insists Ron Nash. “And the biggest challenge is that most people don’t know how to use the tools effectively.”

Nash created a six-week course called Jump-Start Your Career With LinkedIn, and he is working with ed2go to provide career advice to all students who sign up for the company’s long-form programs.

“Most schools are still teaching 20th-century techniques” for finding a job, Nash says.

If a college’s career development staffers (and the administrators who supervise them) haven’t looked for a job themselves in a while, they may think that sites such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com are still the way to go.

“Monster was founded in 1994 [as The Monster Board],” Nash says. “Twenty years later, those tools are not as effective. They are 20th-century tools.”

Job seekers can still use the older sites, but they need to know how to use them effectively. For example, says Nash, “most people don’t know that Monster is a better place for high school graduates, and CareerBuilder is aimed at those who have a four-year degree or more.”

CAREER DEVELOPMENT IS NOW A TWO-WAY CONVERSATION, WHICH MEANS LEARNERS HAVE MORE CONTROL OVER THE PROCESS.In the old way of searching for a job, people post their resumes on digital job boards or send them out by e-mail and . . . just wait. “It’s a one-way conversation, like television,” Nash says. Many people using this approach “never get a reply—not even a ‘no.’ “

Today’s tools—such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Craigslist, YouTube, Facebook, and others—are truly interactive.“Now you can create a digital profile that, if done

right, allows recruiters to find you,” he continues. “You bring that online profile to life, not only through key words and key phrases, but also through video, slide presentations, and photos.”

This digital profile bears little resemblance to the 20th-century resume, which languished in isolation on paper or on a computer’s hard drive.

“Your profile is alive to the world,” Nash says. “You can find out who is viewing your profile, and you can reach out to them and discuss what you have to offer and what they have to offer.”

Other online sources have a wider reach than the older sites do.

“Did you know that LinkedIn aggregates over 77% of all U.S. job postings?” Nash asked. “And that number is unlikely to decrease.” The site uses a vertical search engine that returns not only information that companies have submitted to LinkedIn but also information from Monster, CareerBuilder, and the Web in general.

“It used to be that your digital profile was available to creditors only,” says Nash. Now, through Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sites, “job seekers have much more control and a wider audience.”

A digital profile isn’t the only part of the career development toolkit, though. Learners must also use social media to network with others who share their interests or educational background.

Using LinkedIn and other social media “isn’t just about finding a job,” Nash says. “It’s about creating a career network management tool.”

He continues, “Let’s say a learner graduates from ed2go’s Pharmacy Technician career training program. If that learner completes the Jump-Start training module and creates a digital profile, he or she can mention the ed2go program in that profile. And through LinkedIn, it’s possible for that learner to network with all the other learners who have completed that program and created a profile.”

Nash has more than 11,000 followers on LinkedIn and encourages all his students to connect with him there.




LEARNERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE STEPS OF THE NEW JOB SEARCH.Education professionals—especially those who are part of a career services or job placement team—need to explain to learners how job searches work in the digital age.

“Eighty percent of human resources people are looking at a candidate’s digital profile before they call that person in,” says Nash.

He described how the new job search works from the employer’s point of view:

● Access the candidate’s digital profile. The employer or human resources professional will do a Google search for the candidate’s name “as soon as that candidate pops up on their radar.” The searcher will notice what results come up not only on Google but also on Google Images, Twitter, and Facebook. This isn’t to spy on the job candidate; it’s to see how that person presents himself or herself.

● Learners need to check their own results on these sites before a potential employer does: “If the results of that Google Images search are that every single photo [of the learner] was taken at a bar, that’s a problem.”

● Examine the candidate’s LinkedIn profile. This is the learner’s chance to show off writing skills, and “it contains information about who the learner is and what he or she is passionate about.”

● The LinkedIn profile is also a showcase for endorsements and recommendations from colleagues. Instead of providing these references when applying for a job, the candidate has them ready to go before the HR person calls—perhaps even before the candidate realizes that there’s a job opening.

● Assess the candidate’s qualifications. Every career development staffer knows about this part of the process. However, if the learner’s digital profile and LinkedIn information is sparse or unflattering, the learner will most likely never get to the qualifications assessment stage.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT IS AN ONGOING PROCESS.The two-way nature of today’s career development means more work for the learner, but it also means more opportunity.

“When the learner has that profile done properly, with accurate and informative key words and key phrases, that allows recruiters to find that person 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Nash says. The days of mailing or e-mailing a resume and hoping that it reaches the right person at the right time are long gone.

These new technologies can overwhelm learners. So it’s important for education professionals to emphasize that the new tools allow learners more control over what they communicate and give learners a chance to be seen and heard by more employers.

“I am computer remedial and a bit overwhelmed by electronics, but now I feel I can be successful in utilizing the course content,” one of Nash’s students said. “The material was presented in a useful and easy-to-understand way.”

“Thanks to Ron, I look forward to the next stage of my professional life,” another student said. “I’m embracing my job search and no longer dreading it.”

“We need to get learners engaged,” says Carrie Doyle. “And the Jump-Start material helps our learners understand how they can begin their career search. It shows our commitment to the learner.”




Digital device learning, often called 1-to-1 computing or a “smart classroom,” is not some faraway abstraction or revolutionary concept in education. In fact, thanks to grants and state-subsidized funding, an increasing number of school districts nationwide are securing electronic devices such as personal computers, remote

accessible software and even handheld tablets for their students from such electronic giants as Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo. Proponents for digital device learning assert that greater access to advancing technology within the education system allows teachers to more fluidly support and satisfy Common Core state standards through engaging digital curriculum, interactive supports and assessments, and an enhanced learning environment for their students.

It’s simply a no-brainer that all students should have sufficient access to 21st century technology and the inalienable right to fulfill their educational potential; and while there still exists a substantial “digital divide” between America’s affluent versus under-performing, less funded school districts, there have also been some great strides towards progress.

For example, Digital Promise, an independent, bipartisan nonprofit authorized by Congress in 2008, seeks to ignite innovation in education. Alongside Verizon, Digital Promise recently partnered with eight U.S. middle schools to equip students with 1:1 digital devices, granting them access to mobile learning technology in the classroom and within the home, while providing educators with personalized professional development assistance.

The process will be fully documented via an online guidebook so others may learn and grow from the schools’ experiences as they transition into a digital learning environment. With a chief goal to close the digital learning gap, this initiative hopes to turn into a national community of practice.

WHAT TECHNOLOGY LEARNING MEANS FOR TEACHERSWhile lack of funding and device scarcity is an obvious barrier to making digital device learning universal, another issue linked to this digital divide is lack of teacher education and a fundamental understanding of how they can utilize these resources to implement curriculums and assess outcomes. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, a great part of the U.S. education workforce is comprised of individuals whose median age is 45 years. This particular demographic did not observe technology learning in their own schoolings, and digital device learning is not yet a principal theme within graduate or accreditation programs for the forthcoming generation of teachers to adopt.

Ultimately, the technical knowledge required of teachers to fully benefit from digital device learning must be introduced and promoted by school principals and administrators, through intensives and tutorials, workshops and similar job training programs. A great example of this can be taken from the Baldwin County Public School District in Alabama, which has created a Digital Renaissance Leadership Academy for teachers, wherein seven teachers from each school take part in weekly professional development sessions and work with online coaches to improve their skillset.

According to a report on the program, the development sessions helped teachers become trained quicker while creating a close network of educators that motivated one another to advance their practice.


Technology Education Essential For Future STEM Workforceby Felix Ortiz, Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Virdis Learning


TECHNOLOGY LEARNING’S IMPACT ON STEM

It’s no secret there is an incredible middle-skills jobs gap right now, with not enough qualified workers to fill open positions in the U.S., especially in STEM fields, energy and manufacturing industries. While many policymakers have argued for the mandatory instruction of computer science at the middle and high school levels, an undeniable lack of teacher quality and quantity in STEM fields like computer science serve as a tremendous roadblock. The viable solutions appear be either training current teachers in computer science courses, perhaps leveraging online materials and instruction, or increasing incentives for computer science teachers to close this workforce talent gap.

However, with the introduction of digital device learning, for which teachers will inevitably need to master in due time, we have a unique opportunity to also integrate greater computer science and STEM curriculum through this growing technology and learning environment. With greater access to resources like Digital Promise and Baldwin County’s Digital Renaissance Leadership Academy, teachers will have the ability to interest, motivate and most importantly, support students towards these very necessary, and lucrative futures in STEM careers. School districts putting budget towards not only securing 1:1 digital learning devices, but supporting with dollars towards further teacher computer training, will inevitably see the most success in students as they prepare for future tech-facing career pathways.

Article submitted by Erin Dennis, The Narrative GroupReprint of an article originally posted on Huffington Post 8/16/2014. Reprinted with permission from the author.





Executives at all levels see an important business role for driving strategic growth. But when it comes to mastering the elements of building an effective strategic plan, implementation of key strategies, and accountability of their sustainability programs, many Continuing Education organizations have far to go.

Senior executives often state to us they have a strategy in place, and executives generally believe the issue is increasingly important to their organization’s success. But as their programs become challenged in the marketplace by many competitive sources, many of whom are using innovation to become better known for a single source or training, challenges to continue to retain key clients become incredibly more difficult. These are among the key findings from our most recent MarketCues SmartPlan360˚ Program assessments on the topic, which researched the key drivers and influencers asking how they drive and sustain their strategic growth.

One such example is organizational alignment. Year over year, large shares of executives cite alignment as a top reason their organizations are successful; of the six core foundational areas we research, they say alignment has the most value potential for their organization. However, we find that the majority of Continuing Education organizations are not pursuing the alignment-building activities that would maximize their financial value.

Comparing Continuing Education organizations with the most effective strategic alignment programs with others in the nonprofit and business market sectors highlights another challenge: incorporating a core strategy into key organizational processes, such as program development and innovation, is one area where their executive counterparts are better prepared and astute at implementing growth strategies throughout their organization.

Beyond simple vision and mission statements, the leaders in business and nonprofit markets share strong strategic direction and values that are the keys to a thriving sustainability program. Included in these strategies are aggressive goals that the entire organization is thoroughly aware of and are implementing on a daily basis leading to a focused strategy and broad leadership buy-in.

One reason Continuing Education organizations need to make a shift in their strategy development is sustainability is the top priority of any executive, in any market sector, to ensure their organization remains viable and strong for the future. Leaders in all markets agree that sustainability is the top CEO priority. To think otherwise is perilous.

To overcome this challenge, senior leaders must be able to identify and prioritize their most promising initiatives. In order to do this effectively, they must be willing to be truly objective to ensure they work within achievable parameters and set goals their organization is capable of delivering. To determine these objectives it is essential to use a proven methodology and be able to execute a strategic plan once it is developed. For one, they require the measurement of the potential of market segments that are essential to ensure a growth curve. Secondly, they require truly smart planning that is scalable and sustainable. With both, colleges can raise themselves to the next level of growth they need to build a positive and solid future.

“Be like Curious George, start with a question and look under the yellow hat to find what’s there.”

Jim Collins / Good to Great

MarketCues has conferred with many colleges that can’t make up their minds if they should grow or stay the same size. This internal conflict of their corporate strategy centers around the questions of “What is the cost of maintaining our status quo?” versus “What is the value of achieving our growth goals?” In nearly all


Strategy’s Important Work: MarketCues National SmartPlan360˚ Resultsby Tom Marin, President & Founder, MarketCues, Inc.


cases, those organizations that invest in their future through changing their strategic directions end up in a stronger financial position than those that sit on the sidelines waiting for the market to change.

Often, growth is a tricky business and simply grabbing ideas that come along is not a healthy way to go about building sustainable growth. Executives know there is a strong need to analyze their market, competition, pricing scenarios, and a whole host of associated issues. But what context should you use to accomplish this planning?

Common problems organizations face in their strategic planning include:

● Duplicating planning phases and efforts within the organization because there is not a central project owner who is tasked to lead the project;

● Inability to obtain critical business intelligence outside the organization’s walls;

● Underestimating the complexity of a particular initiative or project;

● Inability to execute business objectives due to a lack of accurate budget forecasts; and

● Creating too complex charts of action points that are difficult to communicate and implement with the full staff.

Starting from a clear set of business objectives with a focused set of tools is the best approach to execute a successful strategic plan. As always, this type of initiative works best when it is initiated by senior management who will set time aside to focus and monitor the effort. These conditions are central to developing successful strategies.

Using our SmartPlan360˚ assessment program we are able to pinpoint both the strengths and weaknesses of an organization and to identify the perception gaps that exist between an organization and its clients leading to disconnects and deteriorating financial results. The 360˚ evaluations we conduct have proven themselves many times in many organizations. The results are benchmarked against 500 organizations used as our sample to ensure an objective set of criteria and results.

Following are three actual case studies that highlight the challenges, strategies, and results using the SmartPlan360˚ Program.

CASE STUDIESCase Study #1: National Training Firm

The client strategy team wanted to explore the potential with a new consultative training approach based upon a national outreach program. Although the national training firm’s existing client pipeline was relatively limited, larger national clients of theirs had expressed an interest in the firm expanding its ability to serve as a “consultative partner” that, when combined with their current training systems, would be able to provide a total turnkey service over the next 10 years.

The SmartPlan360˚ Program was employed to determine if the required substantial investment in new professional services would drive a strong, justifiable Return On Investment (ROI) for the training firm. The specific areas of research focused on both their firm’s existing resources and skillsets along with the market potentials gathered from external market sources including prospective clients, existing clients, financial and legal advisors, and related service vendors.

The SmartPlan360˚ revealed the following major insights:

● Potential client firms do not possess the ability to perform high level (scientific engineering) diagnostics or expertise and are unable to materially collaborate.

● Integration into the process-driven problem-solving to date has created a negative culture that has disrupted the current business and is deemed an important area that needs attention.

● Knowledge barriers severely hinder communication and sharing of information between groups that are designed to work together.

● Poor management and sense of community as a result of current process and operations are preventing the completion of time-bound initiatives.

● Key scientific talent leaving.




Strategic Recommendations

● Offer a new resourceful “human element” to key clients to drive their organizational change.

● Provide new consultative services based upon a “Fee plus Bonus” agreement that will yield significant profit once the programs prove successful, and thereby mitigate upfront investment costs.

Results

● Using our SmartPlan360˚ Program, we created a strategic market platform with a divisional structure to deliver rapid consultative services and drive excellence.

● The National Training Firm’s revenues tripled in four years guided by the SmartPlan360˚ Program’s strategic initiatives.

Case Study #2: Corporate College

The strategy team of the Corporate College had driven their organization’s reputation to be known as a leading educational system in their central region. The Corporate College was located on several campuses serving thousands of students each year. As part of the strategic plan, it was determined that the Corporate College could benefit from increasing its awareness and usage among both its current and prospective corporate clients for its training services, facilities and programs. The challenge facing the strategy team was the Corporate College’s identity had remained largely unchanged since the Corporate College’s opening. To increase awareness, a greater understanding of the perceptions and realities surrounding the Corporate College was required. The goal was to create a stronger and more cohesive strategic platform. MarketCues’ challenge was to research and determine the core strategic drivers to implement the changes and improvements in the college’s strategic planning.


● Corporate College organization as a whole seems to be disconnected and scattered within certain areas of the total services organization.

● The identified assessment analysis shows that there are a number of organizational gaps that need to be improved to continue the growth the Corporate College desires to achieve within its marketplace.

● The relationships that exist with suppliers, the parent College organization, and Customers are not always collaborative. The organization leverages little information across the organization.

● Training programs and associated services are being provided within stand-alone silos rather than a full-integrated approach.


● Organization Management: Continuous improvement and development should begin by addressing the observed ‘in-house’ needs that have to do with strategic alignment among the Corporate College’s many multi-departments operating as sub-units within the larger umbrella of the Corporate College.

● An aligned strategic platform that everyone can agree to and stand behind within the Corporate College is required to ensure a successful and sustainable growth program.

● An expansion of the corporate training programs the Corporate College provides is advisable to improve performance in the identified organizational management areas.

● Sales Marketing Management: Additional business industry customers are required to continue to build a sustainable business model by growing past the several key manufacturing, safety, mining and insurance program customers that are supporting the entire organization.

Results

● Improved Corporate College’s management by realigning specific training offerings along clients’ needs and thereby creating strong synergies with key corporate clients.

● Improved workflow and system throughput by increasing sharing of client and related information thus speeding up the delivery of services to clients.

● Identified high-growth program offerings – and eliminated unprofitable programs – thereby creating a substantial increase in Return On Investment (ROI).




● Doubled corporate training revenues within one year.

Case Study #3: Online Educational E-Learning Company

The client planning team wanted a comprehensive set of market data that would provide them with the ability to make informed decisions regarding the market potential – and risks – associated with a new market expansion they were planning. The SmartPlan360˚ Program was used to assess the business outlook and market potential focusing on the organization’s current product offerings. Pricing and related key drivers were specified to research to inform of the most effective ways to market the product.


● Further pricing reduction of online product offering is required to become competitive with other offerings in the market.

● Potential value of cross-selling each subscription with supplemental items could yield an additional 30% in higher revenues.

● Adjustment of brand messaging in four demographic selections is required to better align with the potential subscribers.


● Reduce costs by 25% to produce content and marketing.

● Leverage famous educational people to provide assurance and to build trust for the brand.

Results

● Strategic adjustments brought the risk to an acceptable level within the investment parameters stated.

● Subscription trials of the online educational system proved effective.

● The new online educational system won over significant public and homeschoolers.

● The strength of the current educational offerings helped support the introduction of the new program offerings and led to significant increases in revenues.

CONCLUSION

Over the years, we have found that there are three types of colleges that greatly benefit from the SmartPlan360˚ Program:

1. Colleges that are encountering problems of declining profits;

2. Colleges that need a new strategic focus to drive a specific innovation or change;

3. Smaller colleges that need strategic planning assistance to remain relevant in today’s changing environment.

Beyond hiring, nurturing, and rewarding the best and the brightest employees, the best way to grow an organization is through a thorough strategic plan that is integrated throughout the organization. This requires knowing what is coming next and how to position your college to be the most relevant source in your market for customers to choose. Having this knowledge allows leaders to develop and implement winning strategies for both short-term gains and long-term sustainability. The SmartPlan360˚ Program is designed to deliver these growth development results.

Tom Marin is the Founder & President of MarketCues, Inc. that provides strategic planning for educational and business clients using the firm’s SmartPlan360.com Program. Tom may be reached at [email protected] or (407) 330-7708.



mailto:tom.marin%40marketcues.com?subject=


The National Council for Continuing Education & Training Seeks Contributors to the CATALYSTTypes of Submissions:

Length of feature articles should be 1,500 to 2,500 words, and of interest to the field of continuing education.

CATALYST College Exchange articles (shorter pieces which share information on successful, innovative practices in the profession) may be from 500 to 1,000 words in length.

Opinion pieces or editorial submissions should not exceed 500 words.

Manuscript topics should be related to the fields of community services, distance learning, continuing education, workforce training, lifelong learning, or economic development.

Authors should include the following information: author’s name, title, institution, address, telephone and/or fax number, e-mail address, and photo. Please identify if the submission has been previously published or if it is being considered for publication. Manuscripts submitted are subject to editing. Wherever possible the author will be consulted during the editing process.

Are there topics you would like covered in the CATALYST? Share your ideas with us!Please submit materials and suggestions to:[email protected]

Share Your Knowledge

mailto:ruth%40executive-office.org%20?subject=


National Leadership Award

Jane E. Schulman is the Vice President of the Division of Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) at LaGuardia Community College, where she leads the division’s senior leadership team. ACE serves over 25,000 adults, youth and businesses yearly in a wide variety of workforce development, pre-college and business programs, courses and services.

At the college for over 30 years, Ms. Schulman has greatly contributed to making LaGuardia a city, state and national model in the field of adult and continuing education. She has secured grant funding of more than $35 million, and created and promoted numerous entrepreneurial programs that are responsive to the needs of individuals, businesses and the community.

In 2009, LaGuardia was chosen by Goldman Sachs to be the first community college to pilot the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses initiative. Ms. Schulman spearheaded the development of the program at LaGuardia, and today over 400 small businesses have graduated, having grown their companies and created jobs in their communities.

Other innovative ACE initiatives include the Bridge to College and Careers Program, a contextualized curriculum model that has increased the pass rate for those taking the High School Equivalency Exam and helped them gain access into higher education

and employment, as well as several integrated education and workforce training programs that assist underserved populations in developing basic educational and vocational skills simultaneously in order to enter or advance in a professional career and increase their earning potential.

Ms. Schulman is recognized by the New York State Education Department as a leader in career development and has authored training materials that have been implemented statewide. She received her Bachelor’s of Science in Education from State University of New York at New Paltz and a Master’s of Science in Guidance and Counseling from Brooklyn College, City University of New York.

AW

AR

DS

The National Leadership Award is presented to an individual who has contributed to the field of community services programming, continuing professional education, workforce and economic development, or learning technologies, and demonstrated support of NCCET.

JANE E. SCHULMANVice President, Division of Adult and Continuing Education (ACE)LaGuardia Community CollegeLong Island City, New York



AW

AR

DS

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION CATEGORY Tidewater Community College

Academy for Nonprofit ExcellenceThe Academy for Nonprofit Excellence is designed to provide ongoing professional development to enhance the effectiveness of nonprofit staff and board members in Hampton Roads, VA. The Academy specializes in providing the unique workforce development solutions needed by the nonprofit sector to thrive in today’s environment of fast change and limited resources. Courses help participants and their organization build capacity through alignment of their organizational systems. Instructors are seasoned professionals who are experts in their respective fields. Each course offers real-world scenarios and gives participants the opportunity to enhance their leadership and management capabilities. Individuals completing 10 continuing education units (CEUs) earn a Certificate in Nonprofit Management. There are five core topic areas and one CEU must be earned in each area. The remaining five CEUs are electives of the participants choosing. Participants are not required to pursue the certificate and may choose to concentrate on areas specific to the needs of their organization and/or career.

WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CATEGORYPiedmont Technical College

Center for Advanced Manufacturing In 2011, ZF Transmissions, one of the world’s top 10 automotive suppliers, announced plans to begin production of 8 and 9-speed transmissions at its new Laurens, SC facility. To support these operations, Piedmont Technical College (PTC) partnered with the SC Technical College System’s Workforce Division (readySC™), as well as private industry, the Laurens County Development Corporation (LCDC) and local city and county government. In February 2011, readySC™ and PTC met with ZF officials to understand the project’s hiring plans and training requirements. It became evident that a collective effort would be necessary. Thus, planning discussions between PTC and all involved stakeholders began to take place.

These discussions led to the development of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM). The CAM includes CNC labs, CMM labs and classrooms, which will benefit the residents of Laurens County. This partnership met the needs of a critical new employer, while providing the local workforce with a means for upgrading their skills with relevant technology-based training.

COMMUNITY SERVICES PROGRAMMING CATEGORY Howard Community College

Bridging the Gap: Creating ESL Pathways to Success Like many community colleges across the nation, Howard Community College (HCC) in Columbia, MD offers two tracks for adult English as a Second Language (ESL) – credit and non-credit. Credit ESL classes are pre-requisite English classes that are offered to foreign-born, degree-seeking students whose English language skills are not yet high enough to complete college-level coursework successfully. These classes are generally geared toward high intermediate and advanced English language learners (ELL). Non-credit ESL classes are typically government grant-funded continuing education classes aimed at students who need to develop basic English conversation skills for life and work. Funding for these grant classes is targeted toward lower level ELL’s, from pre-beginning through intermediate levels. Unfortunately, there is often a gap between these two tracks of ESL, leaving many students underserved. Many of the underserved ELL’s at HCC were those who were learning English to prepare for academic studies at the undergraduate or graduate level. They had completed the grant-funded courses, but they didn’t have the English skills required for the academic study. The other group consisted of students with a higher level of English proficiency, many of whom already had college degrees. They weren’t interested in academic pursuits, but needed higher level English for jobs or personal aspirations. Since it was clear that many of our students needed something other than the four levels of government funded basic English conversation classes that were being offered, the staff at the English Language Center (ELC), the non-credit ESL program at HCC, decided to take a new approach to non-credit ESL and began to offer inexpensive, tuition-based, Intensive ESL classes taught at six different instructional levels. It is the Intensive ESL classes that make the ELC such a unique program.

Exemplary Program AwardsThe purpose of NCCET’s Exemplary Program Award is to recognize outstanding programs that impact a college’s community and that are sustainable, innovative and replicable.


OVERVIEWThe National Council for Continuing Education & Training (NCCET) is committed to providing its members with benefits that keep them up to date on new trends, help maintain a personal and professional network, and give access to the latest leading-edge programs throughout the country. The NCCET leadership is active on the national scene, working with AACC Commissions, such as the Commissions on Economic and Workforce Development, and Learning and Communications Technologies. NCCET has actively been contributing to national policy development through our sponsorship of national colloquia on certification and credentialing (2001) and transcripting (2003), as well as our authorship of white papers on these important topics. Our constituents are continuing education leaders, professionals,and innovators in community and junior colleges and technical schools. Other important stakeholders are our corporate partners and our parent organization, the American Association of Community Colleges.

Contact UsNCCETPO Box 2916Columbus, OH 43216-2916(888) 771-0179Fax: (877) 835-5798 [email protected]

Executive OfficeExecutive Director, Jennifer StarkeyDeputy Executive Director, Paula Hammer, CAEChief of Staff,Tracy CurvinDevelopment Director, MarCee GerdesMembership Director, Misha LawsonCommunications Director, Ruth Handelman

NCCET 2014-2015 BOARD OF DIRECTORSExecutive Committee

President Dr. Paul Koehnke, Dean Central Campus Central Piedmont Community College

President ElectLinda Head, Associate Vice Chancellor Workforce Development & Corporate PartnershipsLone Star College System

Immediate Past PresidentKirk White, RN, MSNDirector, Center for Healthcare ProfessionalsColeman College for Health SciencesTexas Medical Center

Vice President, FinanceBo Garcia, Executive Director Business and Community Institute Lansing Community College

Vice President, GovernanceMartha O’KeefeDean of Workforce and Professional DevelopmentGermanna Community College

National DirectorsCarla Hixson, Bismarck State CollegeDr. Michael Bankey, Cuyahoga Community CollegeAlfred L. McCambry Jr., Gulf Coast State CollegePamela Murray, Portland Community CollegeLouise Slezak, The Community College of Baltimore CountyJohnna Coleman-Yates, MPA, Tidewater Community CollegeJenette Kane, Lane Community College

About NCCET

nccet catalyst october 2014

Documents