WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Adult Career Pathways –Moving to Scale
Amy Charles
July 2013
Challenges
Employers Want Skills
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Ninety percent of employers in manufacturing, regardless of company size,
industry, or location, face a moderate to severe shortage of qualified skilled
production employees, such as machinists and technicians.
More than half of the employers surveyed by the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce considered it hard or very hard to find qualified workers to fill job
openings, even in the midst of a slow economy.
Workers Need Skills
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In the US, over the last generation, pay-off to college has grown
substantially.
Wisconsinites with college degrees have seen wages increase steadily;
those with less education are falling behind.
Washington identified the Tipping Point – a year of post-secondary
education culminating in a credential
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Tomorrow’s Workforce
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Origins
Preliminary Work
• Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
• Madison Area Technical College
• Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin
Joyce Foundation’s Shifting Gears
• Regional Industry Skills Education
• Goal: Increase the number of adults who earn postsecondary
occupational credentials
• Strategy: Adult Career Pathways and Bridges
• Target: 700,000 adults, without a credential beyond high school, in
the workforce and making less than the median wage
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Adult Career Pathways – Basic Concept
Education
Industry With Jobs
Skilled
Topdarkgreen
LtGrnRect
TopMed
Degree
GrnRect
or
Bottom
Diploma
MedGrn
Bridge
Rect
High School or Less
For workers:
• Predictable path to job advancement
and higher wages
• More employer support; easier access to
education
• More security
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Credentials
?
MedGrnTrap
LtGreenTrap
Low Skill
For employers:
• Larger pool of qualified workers
• Better pipeline to fill skilled jobs from
within
• Higher retention, employee loyalty
Critical Components
Post-secondary
Occupational
Education
Support
Services
6
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Adult Basic
Education/ELL
An Entry Point for All Learners
A Career Pathway Bridge helps adults in need of
basic skills or English Language Learning succeed
in a Career Pathway by integrating basic skills
development into the college-level coursework of
the first credential or credentials of an
established Career Pathway.
Career Pathway Bridges accelerate students’
transition from pre-college to college level work
and help them complete credentials.
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Nicolet Area Technical College
Gas Arc Welding
The credits in the certificate below, plus:
Welding Technical Diploma
(31-442-1) 29 credits
Gas Metal Arc Welding Certificate
(30-442-2) 15 credits
(plus Integrated and team-taught
ABE for students who benefit
from this instructional approach)
Destructive & Nondestructive
Testing – 1 Cr.
Shielded Metal Arc Welding – 2 Cr.
Oxyfuel & Arc Cutting Processes – 2 Cr.
Flux Cored Arc Welding – 3 Cr.
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding – 5 Cr.
Customer Relations – 1 Cr.
Basic Blueprint Reading – 4 Cr.
Safety in Welding – 1 Cr.
Metallurgy Fundamentals - 2 Cr.
Gas Metal Arc Welding – 4 Cr.
Applied Tech Math – 2 Cr.
Applied Comm -- 2 Cr.
Continued
instructional and
student support
services as
needed
Integrated ABE Courses
• Basic Reading Skills for Welders -- 1
•
cr.
• Basic Math Skills for Welders -- 1 cr.
• Basic Communications Skills for
Welders -- 1 cr.
ABE and ELL
Instruction and
Skill-Building
Efforts to date
• Established the need for Adult Career Pathways
• Created definitions to anchor efforts
• Established local base of support in colleges and workforce
programs
• Created a data set to support new analyses of adult learning
trajectories and outcomes
• Implemented a communications plan
• Conducted data analysis of Pipeline data, created data storyline and
began to report results
• Participated in multiple national efforts related to Adult Career
Pathways– Including AQCP (Association for Quality Career
Pathways) a 10-state initiative to create benchmarks for quality
career pathways measurement.
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Taking Career Pathways to Scale
Expand Adult Career Pathways, including Adult
Career Pathway Bridges, so they are offered in every
technical college district and cover all major
industry sectors and occupational clusters
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Coordinated Development
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Taking Career Pathways to Scale
Integrate ongoing Career Pathway work with sector
efforts driven by Wisconsin Economic Development
Corporation (WEDC) and the Department of
Workforce Development (DWD)
• See Sectors for your region at:
http://inwisconsin.com/economicfuturestudy/
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Partnering with the Workforce System
• All 11 Workforce Development Boards (WDB) are
convening local Employment and Training partners
Directory of Adult Career Pathways and Bridges
– New website and Career Pathway Roadmap tool
• Job Centers
– Re-structured services and staff to orient clients to Adult
Career Pathways
• Clients meet with career advisors during first visits
• Assigned staff have become “industry experts” to bring
industry-specific knowledge to the Job Centers
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Taking Career Pathways to Scale
Expand pipeline data system to allow us to
measure outcomes related to Adult Career
Pathways and Adult Career Pathway Bridges, and
continue to influence decisions on policy and
program priorities.
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Data Pipeline Study: Then and Now
• Initial RISE review of Data Pipeline Study
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ABE is a small but significant feeder to postsecondary programs.
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ABE students who go on to PS programs are about as successful as those who start
at college level.
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ELL students enroll in PS courses at very low rates. The ones who do, perform well.
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Program enrollment makes a big, positive difference for all groups in terms of earning
college credits.
• Next steps
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What specific services and/or instructional practices are necessary for success in an
Adult Career Pathway?
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How are an individual's wages improved by participation in an Adult Career Pathway?
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What is the ROI for students? Programs? Colleges?
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Taking Career Pathways to Scale
Support Career Pathway implementation with a
mix of public and private funding streams through
state‐level program policies and collaboration
among local partners.
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Overview of Current Career Pathway
Activities
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US Department of Labor Grants
– Workforce Innovation Fund
• Skills Wisconsin
• Various sectors
– TAACCT Grant – Round 2
• Making the Future
• Manufacturing focus
– TAACCT Grant – Round 3
• INTERFACE
• IT/Computer Skills focus
CLASP
– Alliance for Quality Career Pathways Initiative
Jobs for the Future
– Accelerating Opportunity
Initial discussions with philanthropic entities
– Incourage and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Next Steps
• Further Integration of Student Services and
Instructional Delivery
• Data-Driven Decisions
• Defining the linkage to Performance-Based
Funding
• Continued Communication and Outreach
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM
Career Pathways Concerns
• Capacity issues- students, class space and
enrollment management issues
• Need more employer involvement to create
pathway opportunities
• Funding strategies-Issues with Financial Aid
• $$$$
• Lack of consistent language state-wide
• Willingness to fund programs collaboratively
across agencies.
• Concern over Adult and Youth Career Pathways
WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM