To meet workforce and economic development needs, colleges must strive to link workforce continuing education and credentialing efforts to the region’s occupational outlook (high-growth and high-wage) areas, including continuing education units, certification offerings, assessment services, and workforce credentials. Focusing on building and sustaining high-performance labor pools will require many colleges to re-engineer their current operational structures, staffing roles, systems, marketing strategies, and practices. Well-devised workforce continuing education and credentialing programs provide job-focused performance and career-oriented lifelong learning opportunities which lead to defined Career Pathways promotion, wage increases, and advancement steps. A key step is the alignment of the industry’s needs and a college’s continuing education, workforce certification exams, assessment services, professional offerings, and college academic offerings. Direct input by industry sector executive-level leaders in defining needs and occupational requirements increases business and industry buy-in and drives the college’s enrollment and credentialing success.
Successful colleges are focused on, and consistently achieve, success in three categories: (1) marketing and recruitment; (2) program development; and (3) delivery and evaluation. Services are tailored to each college’s needs and may include seminars, a snap-shot assessment, a plan of action, or comprehensive coaching services that provide immediate actions, operational tools, professional development, and reporting to enhance achievement of performance indicators and measures of success.
Program Components
Reviewing performance indicators, desired outcomes, measures of success, and organizational structure, including clearly defined internal team member roles and a progress evaluation and reporting process
Defining current strengths and challenges related to workforce continuing education, certification, and assessment services
Evaluating regional needs, occupational or trade partnering opportunities, and defining potential programs, CEU, certificates, credentials, and proper delivery methods
Determining improvement areas for the operational or administrative effectiveness process
Re-allocating staffing time and resources to improve workflow and output
Practice of systematic systems for evaluation and management of a diverse portfolio of programs and offerings
Developing and instituting effective marketing and communication tools, activities, and schedules that drive performance-indicator outcomes
Developing systems to enhance performance in leveraging corporate tuition reimbursement to increase enrollment
Managing implementation systems, progress tracking, and evaluation of learning outcomes to provide documentation of CEU, certificates, and workforce credential value and impact
Program Outcomes:
Increased headcount of the number of students served by continuing education
Further alignment and increased enrollment and graduates of workforce credential programs
Increased Career Pathways oriented life-long learning repeat-customers
Defined potential programs, CEU, certificates, credentials, and proper delivery methods and evaluation
Diversified and increased portfolio of the types of services provided that are aligned to community and industry needs
Enhanced performance in application for government-funded workforce grants and partnering with trade organizations
Consistent desired outcome planning and evaluation process for department operation
For additional information on our Workforce Continuing Education and Credentialing service, please send inquiries via email to Amy Pollock, Associate Vice-President of Programs and Services: apollock@clmgroup.com
