At the Board of Trustees retreat last week, an update on Workforce Development for the Vermont State Colleges System was presented. The presentation focused on what has been done, current areas of success and for growth, as well as goals for the future. This was presented by Pat Moulton, the inaugural Executive Director for Workforce Development for the full system. Other members of the team present were Ric Reardon, Director of the Castleton Center for Schools and the CU Dept of Education, and Tiffany Walker, Associate Dean for Workforce at CCV, Mike Stevens, Transformation Project Manager for Facilities Master Planning, and Katherine Levasseur, Director of Legislative and Government Relations.
The Vermont State College Workforce Transformation Team’s working definition of workforce development is: as the strategic approach of developing education and training programs to meet the needs of existing and emerging businesses and organizations. We engage a complex ecosystem of public and private sector policies, and programs to provide individuals with the opportunity for a sustainable livelihood. Workforce development helps businesses and organizations create a highly educated workforce. The education component of workforce development includes credit and non-credit bearing offerings in an array of forms including industry credentials, certificates, credit for prior learning, apprenticeship, professional development, internships, and experiential learning. As a result, Vermont gains economic sustainability and prospers in an increasingly competitive global environment.
By bringing the Community College of Vermont and the new Vermont State University into alignment to create a “no wrong door” structure for learners. Programs may remain separate, but learners who enter them will be able to move throughout the system to access what they need. Credit offerings and stackable credentials are a priority so that learners can build their credits and portfolio towards a degree, if they wish to follow that path.
The Executive Director of Workforce Development will be serving as the lead for creating/bringing new opportunities, projects, and grants to be executed by the workforce teams at VTSU and CCV. This work requires an integrated data collection system across VTSU and CCV, to identify better opportunities going forward and to determine if such opportunities are a good fit for the VSC. The presentation focused on the five-year vision for workforce development.
Some of the goals for success for VTSU’s workforce development, as identified by President Grewal, include:
- Embedding industry-relevant micro-credentials into all degree programs so that 100% of VTSU students will start earning at least one industry relevant micro-credential by 2028.
- Embedding experiential learning/professional development opportunities in all degree programs so that every student is engaged in at least one significant experiential learning/professional development activity before graduation.
- Addressing shortages of workers in critical need professions (such as nurses and teachers) by increasing the number of graduates by 50%.
Some of the goals for success for CCV workforce development, as identified by President Judy, include:
- Developing a process to track special populations in workforce programs and increase the number of such participants, including BIPOC participants and people with disabilities.
- Increasing occupational credential offerings by embedding industry recognized credentials into existing programs and courses.
- Increasing the number of Registered Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprenticeship Programs by 100% – from four to eight.
The next step, following the presentation to the Board of Trustees and agreement on the performance data reporting and frequency, is for the team to begin the design phase. Developing benchmarking data and defining data system needs will also be needed. The full PowerPoint that was presented can be reviewed on the VSCS website.