BRIDGING THE GAP CONFERENCE
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This email language is available for partners to use to help publicize the Bridging the Gap:
Postsecondary Pathways for Underprepared Learners conference, taking place April 8-9 in
New Orleans. The main time to publicize is before mid-March.
Feel free to use this button image:
Link the image to: http://www.jff.org/bridgingthegap or directly to the registration site:
http://jff.cvent.com/d/z4qhqn
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Upcoming Conference: Bridging the Gap
Postsecondary Pathways for Underprepared Learners
April 8-9, 2015 • New Orleans Marriott • New Orleans, LA
The number of Americans struggling to earn the credentials needed to succeed in our economy
continues to grow. Over 1 in 6 adults have low basic skills, over 1.3 million students drop out of
high school each year, and 60% of postsecondary students need some type of remediation. We
need workable practice and policy solutions to help move more people into and through
postsecondary education and into the workforce now more than ever before.
This spring, Jobs for the Future is hosting an exciting new conference to explore the systems,
structures, and strategies that enable more underprepared youth and adults to access and
succeed in postsecondary education. This event will spotlight what works when designing
programs for underprepared youth and adults to transition to and succeed in postsecondary
education. Conference tracks will include pathway designs, teaching and learning strategies,
employer engagement approaches, sustainability, financing, and policy and research.
Register Now!
Longer Email Text
Jobs for the Future invites you to join us in New Orleans on April 8th and 9th for Bridging the
Gap: Postsecondary Pathways for Underprepared Learners. This exciting event will
spotlight what works when designing programs for underprepared youth and adults to transition
to and succeed in postsecondary education. Don’t miss this opportunity to interact with nationallevel experts, educators, practitioners, policymakers, researchers and other key stakeholders
focused on improving outcomes for underprepared learners.
The number of Americans struggling to earn the credentials needed to succeed in our economy
continues to grow. Over 36 million adults (one in six adults) have low basic skills; over 1.2
million students drop out of high school each year; and 60% of postsecondary students
need some type of remediation. We need workable practice and policy solutions to help move
more people into and through postsecondary education and into the workforce now more than
ever before. Through this interdisciplinary conference, we will explore the systems, structures,
and strategies that enable more underprepared youth and adults to access and succeed in
postsecondary education.
The two-day conference will feature a cross-section of leading practices and strategies from
many of JFF’s signature initiatives, including Accelerating Opportunity, Back on Track,
Credentials that Work, Breaking Through, and the Postsecondary State Policy Network.
Conference tracks will give attendees the opportunity to share and learn from each other.
Tracks on the roster for the conference include:
• Pathway Designs
• Job-Driven Pathways
• Teaching and Learning
• Financing, Scale, and Sustainability
• Policy and Research
Click here to view the session tracks and draft agenda.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Practitioners and policymakers focused on improving outcomes for underprepared learners,
including representatives of:
• Community colleges
• Community college state system offices
• Adult Basic Education and GED programs
• State Adult Education Directors
• Community-based organizations
• Workforce boards
• State education, workforce, and human service agencies
• Research organizations
• Federal agencies
• TANF and SNAP E&T staff
• Re-engagement centers
LOCATION AND HOTEL INFORMATION
Bridging the Gap will be held at the New Orleans Marriott. We have secured a group rate of
$169/night plus tax. Hotel reservations must be made by Friday, March 6, 2015 to
guarantee rate availability. We recommend you make your hotel reservation early as the
block will fill quickly and sell out.
New Orleans Marriott
555 Canal Street
New Orleans, LA&
70130
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/msyla-new-orleans-marriott/
To make hotel reservations at the group rate, click here:
https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=11927335
REGISTRATION AND FEES
The registration fee for this meeting is $300 per person. To register, please click here:
http://jff.cvent.com/d/z4qhqn
Please be sure to register by Friday, March 6, 2015 to guarantee availability.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Grace Ausick at gausick@jff.org or
(617) 728-4446, ext. 223.
We hope to see you in April!
Please also Promote the Call for Proposals, Due February 27
We want to hear from you! See below for two great opportunities for sharing your work during
Bridging the Gap: Postsecondary Pathways for Underprepared Learners. If you haven't yet
registered for the conference, you can do so by clicking here. We also encourage you to
make your hotel arrangements as soon as possible.
Innovators Exchange
JFF is seeking presenters to conduct mini-presentations during the Innovators Exchange
session on Thursday, April 9th scheduled from 2:15pm – 3:30pm. These informal, roundtable
sessions, roughly 30 minutes in length, are an opportunity for you tell your peers a little about
what excites you most about your career pathway efforts. We encourage presenters to talk for
10-15 minutes, followed by 15-20 minutes of conversation with their colleagues at the table.
You can talk about anything – programmatic successes, partnerships, recruitment strategies,
student services, job placement, data sharing, tools and resources you have developed etc. - so
long as you think it improved your career pathway programs and increased the opportunities for
your most disadvantaged students. But, this being a conference focused on creative solutions to
tough problems, bonus points for being innovative as well.
If you are interested in presenting, send an email to Nate Anderson (nanderson@jff.org) by
February 27th with a paragraph describing the topic you would like to share, and why you
consider it exciting. We will notify you of your selection by March 12th.
Feel free to email Nate as well if you have any questions. We are very excited to hear more
about your great work!
Consultancy Sessions
We are planning a session block on Thursday, April 9th from 9:45am – 10:45am that includes
some consultancy sessions. During these sessions, a program or community team presents an
issue or dilemma related to their career pathways work and receives feedback from participants
on how to address the issue or strengthen the pathway program. This format been very well
received at various JFF conferences and is a great learning experience for all involved. The
sessions are facilitated with use of a protocol and both presenters and participants come away
with new ideas about how to approach the work. We are interested in hearing from teams that
are interested in presenting an issue for these consultancy sessions.
If your team is interested, please email Terry Grobe (tgrobe@jff.org) by February 27th and
provide a brief description of the issue you’d like to present and discuss.
Should you have any questions about this event, please feel free to contact Grace Ausick at
gausick@jff.org or (617) 728-4446, ext. 223.