Maximizing the Value of

Continuing Education Training:

Developing Internal Articulation

Agreements for Career Pathways

Dr. Pamela Gibson SenegalCentral Carolina Community College

NC Community College Adult Educators Association Conference, 2013

Agenda Why does articulation matter?

Defining articulation National best practices for CE to

CU articulation Options for CE to CU articulation

Critical elements for internal

articulation agreements Ideal CE programs for internal

articulation Building internal support for

articulation Connecting articulation to

pathways

Whi

te B

oard

Vo

ting

Why does articulation matter?

Short phrases

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te B

oard

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ting

To what audiences does articulation matter?

Bulleted list

Why

Doe

s Ar

ticul

atio

n Ma

tter?

Accountability for tiered occupational extension FTE

Landscape of learning changing

Experiential learning Veteran’s experiences Employer internal training

programs Open online education Levels playing field for students

from all backgrounds CE to CU is a great place to

build the frame for a conversation higher education

MUST have

Credentials Valued

in Workplace

“The question of

credentials, including

their value and

portability, is ever more

important as an

increasing number of

workers become what

has been referred to as

“free agents”—

performing temporary,

contract or freelance

work—or are otherwise

following a path that is

not a straight line tied to

a long-term corporate

career ladder and

traditional training

progression.”

Southern Growth Report,

2013, p. 17

“Increasingly,

employers are

looking for workers

with industry

recognized

credentials, and are

far less concerned

with the current gold

standard

measurements of

success in education,

such as course

credits and seat

time.”Developing Human Capital: Meeting

the Growing Global Need for a Skilled

and Educated Workforce (McGraw Hill

Research Foundation, 2011).

Artic

ulat

ion

Defin

ed

“Articulation is a process whereby colleges develop guidelines for students to receive credit

for completing a noncredit course if they later choose to enroll in a

credit degree program.” (DiChiara-Platt, 2007). (p. 16)

The Landscape of Noncredit Workforce Education: State Policies

andCommunity College Practices, 2008.

Full Study available at : http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?

UID=572

Whi

te B

oard

Vo

ting

Does your institution have

FORMAL, written policies or

guidelines regarding how to articulate continuing

education units for college credit?

Yes/No/IDK

Whi

te B

oard

Vo

ting

Does your institution have

INFORMAL agreements in

certain areas of the college

regarding how to articulate

continuing education units for college credit?

Yes/No/IDK

Whi

te B

oard

Vo

ting

Does your institution have

FORMAL, written agreements

regarding how to articulate

recently earned national, state or regional

credentials for college credit?

Yes/No/ IDK

Natio

nal B

est

Prac

tices

Guidelines for the retroactive granting of

credit for noncredit workforce education

most typically exist in the form of providing

credit for prior learning or life

experience credit. While many states do

not address this matter, 17 states have

some policies pertaining to the retroactive

granting of credit (see Figure 7). Generally,

the policies are designed to facilitate

retroactive granting of credit by assessing

individual students in areas of knowledge,

including those covered in noncredit

courses. Students may have the

opportunity to take an exam to prove their

knowledge of course material, but there

may be some restrictions based on the

faculty who taught the course.(p. 41)

The Landscape of Noncredit Workforce Education: State Policies and

Community College Practices, 2008.

Full Study available at : http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=572

ACE

- Cr

edit

Reco

mm

enda

tion

Mode

l

This model is based on the American Council on

Education (ACE) Credit Recommendation Service,

which recommends credit be given for:

Employer Union Professional association courses

that have been evaluated by a college faculty

evaluation team. Under the ACE program, faculty with subject-matter

expertise evaluate training courses and/or

programs to determine what portion of the training

warrants college credit. Recommendations are determined based on how

well each training organization defines and

assesses learning outcomes, as well as the quality

of instructional materials, delivery methods,

student support systems, course objectives, and

instructional staff qualifications and credentials.

College credit recommendations resulting from

these evolutions are published along with course

descriptions in the National Guide to Educational

Credit for Training Programs. (pp. 12-13)

Prio

r Lea

rnin

g As

sess

men

t

Prior Learning Assessment Model –

Assessment of Prior Learning (APL) is a

term used by many colleges to describe

the process of earning college credit

based on the learning that occurs as a

result of a student’s work, professional

or occupational training, volunteer

activity, and/or personal life. Colleges

and universities nationwide have

adopted a number of different

assessment practices and tools to

determine what students already know

from prior life and/or work experiences

and what portion of that experience may

be awarded college credit. At the

individual community college level,

assessment methods most often include

Credit by Examination and Portfolio

Assessment. (p. 13)

Milit

ary

Asse

ssm

ent o

f Tra

inin

g fo

r Civi

lian

Hirin

g (M

ATCH

) as

sess

men

ts

“But, unfortunately, a lot of

returning heroes with advanced

skills -- they don’t get hired simply

because they don’t have the civilian

licenses or certifications that a lot

of companies require. At the same

time, I hear from business leaders…

who say they can’t find enough

workers with the skills necessary to

fill open positions…So think about it

-- we got all these openings and all

these skilled veterans looking for

work, and somehow they’re missing

each other. That doesn’t make any

sense.” - President Obama, June 1,

2012

Kent

ucky

Academic Framework Model – This

model, which is based on the Kentucky

Community and Technical College System

(KCTCS) Career Pathways program, uses an

academic framework to build a cluster of

non-credit course modules. An academic course is broken down into a

set of competencies and delivered in

course modules. By breaking down an

academic course into a subset of course

modules, individuals tackle one “chunk” of

learning at a time. “Chunks” are bundled and individual

learners earn college credit for each course

as they proceed through the career

ladder... By using a process of periodic program

review, colleges have an opportunity to

create a set of competency-based non-

credit courses that when bundled together,

offer credit toward an academic certificate.

Rather than articulating courses into a set

of electives, colleges that build programs

around an academic framework can use

course for course substitution. (p. 13)

Kent

ucky

Colleges can offer courses customized to specific

business or industry needs in small course modules.

To create these modules, faculty review

noncredit courses with the intention of

offering workforce development programs

with multiple entry and exit points and

embedded certificates. Noncredit offerings are aligned with

credit offerings and are competency

based, focused on evaluating and

documenting competencies, especially

in technical areas. The state system is moving to eliminate the

distinction between noncredit and credit

within its community colleges, and has

recently hired a system director of

modularization to focus on building noncredit

programs that re-bundle college-level

competencies appropriate for credit.

A policymaker in Kentucky described some of

the sentiment informing this approach: “It is

almost criminal not to offer credit, so there is

no wasted time, particularly for low-income

students.” (p. 43)The Landscape of Noncredit Workforce Education: State Policies and

Community College Practices, 2008.

Full Study available at : http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?

UID=572

Florid

a

Finally, allowing courses to be listed as both

credit and noncredit may ease a student’s

transition from noncredit to credit programs.

The North Orange County District allows a

certain number of seats in some credit

courses to be dual listed. Students may

enroll in these courses as noncredit and

follow the same syllabus except with no

requirement to complete a final paper or

exam. According to an interviewee, this

arrangement encourages the migration of

noncredit students into credit programs by

allowing first-time students to get a taste of

college material before actually enrolling in

a credit program. (p. 16)The Landscape of Noncredit Workforce

Education: State Policies and

Community College Practices, 2008.

Full Study available at : http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?

UID=572

Florid

a

Florid

a

New

York

Guidelines for the retroactive granting of credit for

noncredit workforce education most typically exist in

the form of providing credit for prior learning or life

experience credit. While many states do not address

this matter, 17 states have some policies pertaining

to the retroactive granting of credit (see Figure 7).

Generally, the policies are designed to facilitate

retroactive granting of credit by assessing individual

students in areas of knowledge, including those

covered in noncredit courses. Students may have the

opportunity to take an exam to prove their knowledge

of course material, but there may be some

restrictions based on the faculty who taught the

course... New York’s state education department

houses the National Program on No collegiate

Sponsored Instruction, which facilitates the

conversion of learning experiences into college

credit... The absence of a state policy relative to

granting retroactive credit may signal a lack of

support for such mechanisms or a desire that this

issue be locally decided.(p. 41)

The Landscape of Noncredit Workforce Education:

State Policies andCommunity College Practices, 2008.

Full Study available at : http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=572

New

Jers

ey

In New Jersey, the state’s Community

College Consortium for Workforce and

Economic Development is currently involved

in the development of programs that

articulate noncredit courses with credit

programs. These programs include formal

mechanisms to translate noncredit courses

that employers seek for their employees to

credit courses in specific areas. Some career

ladder programs with transitions between

noncredit and credit have been developed in

specific areas, including social services and

education. State policymakers in New

Jersey report that they are finding interest in

this model where credit is awarded for

noncredit work when the student enrolls in

and/or completes some coursework in a

related credit program. (pp. 43-44)

The Landscape of Noncredit Workforce Education: State Policies and Community

College Practices, 2008. Full Study available at : http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=572

North

Car

olin

a

In North Carolina, both credit and noncredit courses

appear on students’ transcripts, including the course number, title, and grade (a letter grade for credit course; pass or fail for

noncredit). (p. 38)The Landscape of Noncredit Workforce

Education: State Policies andCommunity College Practices, 2008.

Full Study available at : http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=572

Ideal CE programs for

internal articulation

• Nationally, state or

regionally awarded

credentials

• Examples:

• EMT

• Phlebotomy

• Nursing Assistant

• Biowork

CCNA

Criti

cal e

lem

ents

for

inte

rnal

arti

cula

tion

agre

emen

ts • Internal Champion• Formal, written guidelines• Publicized to employers, current and former students

Whi

te B

oard

Vo

ting

Who should drive the process for

creating internal articulation

agreements between CE and CU?

Use titles or areas of the college

Building Internal

Support• CAO

• Senior CE

Leader

• Begin with

national, state,

and regional

credentials

• Veterans affairs

• Marketing

• Admissions

• Registrars

• CFO

• CE/CU faculty

• DACUM model

• Customized

Industry 359

to create

industry

specific

pathways

• Perkins administrator

• Colleague

manager/ITSD

Barri

ers t

o Bu

ildin

g In

tern

al S

uppo

rt

Some states reported barriers to implementing

guidelines on articulating noncredit and credit

programs. One state official we interviewed

stated that articulation “raises hackles with

faculty.” Another state reported that it had

some discussion about the relationship between

credit and noncredit courses, but in general, it

has “been going in circles” on this issue. Finally,

a state reported that the colleges were unlikely

to move in this direction without a push from

the state, but there were no state policies on

record or discussion at the state level... The

state is concerned about academic quality and

the perception that their institutions could be

seen as “diploma mills” if they are too generous

in granting credit for nontraditional modes of

education, such as noncredit workforce

education. (p. 44)The Landscape of Noncredit Workforce Education: State Policies

andCommunity College Practices, 2008.

Full Study available at : http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=572

Whi

te B

oard

Vo

ting

Which of the following elements SHOULD be

included in an effective career pathway?

A) Multiple entry exit optionsB) Level Progression

C) Work experienceD) Support E) All of the above

Conn

ectin

g ar

ticul

atio

n to

pat

hway

s

“Career pathways are linked education

and training services that enable

students to advance over time to

successively higher levels of education

and employment in a given industry or

occupational sector. Each step on a

career pathway is designed to prepare

students to progress to the next level

of employment and education.

The career pathways approach is a

framework for weaving together adult

education, training, and postsecondary programs, and

connecting those services to the

workforce needs of employers. Career

pathways tend to include multiple

entry and exit points, learner-centered

instruction and delivery, assessment

of skills and needs, support services,

and quality work experiences.”

pp. 5 – 6, http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/documents/files/Introduction.pdf

Funding Career Pathways and Career Pathway Bridges: A

Federal Funding Toolkit for States, REVISED EDITION MARCH

2013

Build

ing

Inte

rnal

Su

ppor

t -

Accr

edita

tion

Agen

cy

In a review of accreditation agency’s

guidelines explicitly related to noncredit

education, few have many significant

guidelines that would impact these

processes. The one exception is the

Middle States Region, which specifies in

its description of noncredit offering that “if

non-credit courses are potentially

applicable to for-credit programs at the

institution, academic oversight should

assure the comparability and appropriate

transferability of such courses.” (Middle

States Commission on Higher Education,

2006). However, as noncredit workforce

education grows, it may gain more

attention from accreditation agencies. (p.

45)The Landscape of Noncredit Workforce Education: State Policies and

Community College Practices, 2008.

Full Study available at : http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=572

Part

of p

athw

ay

deve

lopm

ent Without this process in

place, students are hampered in their ability to move forward in their educational attainment.

Cont

act

Info

rmat

ion

Dr. Pamela Gibson SenegalVP, Economic and Community DevelopmentCentral Carolina Community College919.718.7254psene563@cccc.edu

What’s coming:• Comprehensive review of NC practices • Articulation guidance resource book• Recommendations for policy changes• Matrices of common recommendations• Workshops