A Call to Streamline Community College Training Programs

Community colleges can likely better serve displaced workers by offering prescribed curricula, creating block schedules and moving students through training programs in cohorts, according to presidents of a major education foundation and an organization that focuses on increasing college completion rates. The goal of reform is to get workers trained and into jobs as quickly as possible, said Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation for Education, and Stan Jones, president of Complete College America, who spoke in Washington on a panel discussing postsecondary education and job training.

Merisotis and Jones outlined a plan Washington Monthly to revamp community college efforts to serve unemployed workers and those needing skills upgrades and ways federal policy changes could support these efforts. Their strategy targets combine the strengths of community colleges, low-cost and open access, with the strengths of nonprofit education institutions, developing high-demand programs and focused curricula.

They examined Tennessee's system of 27 technology centers, which focus on one-year certifications and diplomas in high-demand fields, compared to the state's academically oriented community colleges. Classes at the centers are scheduled in blocks and at times that are most convenient for students, who move through the program as a cohort. In addition, the centers are run on trimester schedules and offer 55 occupational programs that are based on local industry needs. Students attain their credential when they master competencies, said Carol Puryear, director of the Tennessee Technology Center at Murfreesboro. Although the focus is on skills for specific jobs, academic lessons are embedded in the work so students develop a comprehensive understanding, Puryear said. The centers also offer apprenticeships and use data on job placement, income and other indicators to fine tune their programs, she said.

The successes speak for themselves. Seventy five percent of students who enroll graduate, and 83 percent of them find jobs in their selected fields and still hold those jobs a year later, Puryear said.

The technology centers are a model that community colleges can adapt, Merisotis said, noting that Lumina is examining other potential solutions to get workers trained quickly and into jobs. This fall, Ivy Tech Community College will pilot a three-year program funded by Lumina and Indiana Commission for Higher Education to help students enrolled in certain programs to attain an a two-year degree in one year.

Source: Community College Times, Matthew Dembicki, 6/18/10