EMBARGOED UNTIL THURSDAY, JUNE 11 at 12:01 AM ET
Community Colleges and Employers Work Together to Develop Digital
Courses and Credentials to Address Skills Gap in High-Need Areas
Community colleges in four states and major employers launch consortium to expand access to critical
skills through next-gen learning platform
PHILADELPHIA, PA—June 11, 2015— Today, some of the most innovative community colleges from
across the U.S. and leading employers, including Boeing and MetLife, have announced a new
partnership designed to provide prospective employees with in-demand skills in the advanced
manufacturing and financial services industries.
According to a recent survey of business leaders conducted by Gallup, employers are struggling to find
skilled employees that can succeed in the rapidly evolving industries. To address this gap, four
community colleges will work with employers to create curricula and credentials that match the needs
of high-growth industries.
“Community colleges have always been a critical pipeline of talent,” said Dr. Brian Inbody, president of
Neosho County Community College. “By working with employers to actually develop course content, we
are able to help students develop high-demand skills in the context of a meaningful academic
environment. The Collaborative is a natural extension of our mission, and we’re proud to be a founding
member.”
The three other community colleges joining the College Employer Collaborative (CEC) include Everett
Community College in Washington State, LaGuardia Community College in New York, and Alamo
Colleges in Texas. Employers representing the manufacturing and financial services include AGCO,
Boeing, MetLife Premier Client Group, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, Waddell &
Reed, and Securian Financial Group. GAMA International, the professional development association
for leadership and management professionals in the insurance, investment and financial services
industry, has helped to convene some of the largest employers in the field for this effort.
The Collaborative was developed by corporate learning pioneer CorpU and Jobs for the Future, a
national nonprofit focused on bringing educational institutions and employers together to address
workforce demands. Courses will be developed using CorpU’s social learning platform, which is used by
Fortune 500 companies and several of the country’s top business schools.
“This Collaborative will offer students new ways to skill up for in-demand jobs and offer employers new
ways to work with colleges to meet their workforce needs,” says Gina Burkhardt, CEO of Jobs for the
Future. “We hope this collaborative inspires more employers and colleges to invest in similar proactive
efforts across the U.S.”
The course content will be developed in collaboration with employers and CorpU learning designers.
The employer-driven design process ensures that the needs of each industry directly informs student
learning. The online content that results will be delivered by employers, and integrated into courses
offered at the colleges in formats that blend online and in-class learning.
“We work every day with forward-thinking employers who recognize the opportunity in partnering with
academic experts to prepare their current and future workforce for the challenges of tomorrow,” said
Alan Todd, CEO of CorpU. “By bringing together the best of academic content, real-time insights of
employers, and our social learning platform, we are offering students the opportunity to pursue some of
the most exciting jobs available.”
Students who successfully complete the courses will earn a credential recognized by employers in the
Collaborative, which signals their mastery of these critical skills.
“The CEC is about preparing people for the jobs they need to do both now and in the future. Part of our
learning and growth framework at AGCO is to Know, Share, and Experience. Through this model, we
have the chance to work with college partners to align the ‘know’ and ‘share' pieces to prepare learners
for their experience on the job,” said Kathleen Stout, Global Manager of the AGCO University at AGCO
Corporation. “While these are only two classes, if other colleges begin to adopt this model, we will see
an employment pool with more people ready to apply their learning to evolving work environments like
ours.”
The Collaborative will meet in mid-June to begin course design, and courses will be available beginning
fall 2015.
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About CorpU
CorpU is reinventing corporate learning. We help the most successful companies in the world share knowledge,
solve problems and activate the strategies that drive growth. Our platform applies the science of learning in
organizations to unlock the collective genius of teams: www.corpu.com.
About Jobs for the Future
Jobs for the Future is a national nonprofit organization that works to ensure economic opportunity for all. We
develop innovative career pathways, educational resources and public policies, resulting in increased college
readiness and success for students and a more skilled workforce for employers. For over 30 years, JFF has been a
leader in building connections between education and work that expand opportunity and strengthen our
economy. For more info please visit: www.jff.org.