FIPSE & Displaced Workers

Grant Number:

P116W090244

Project Title:

Credentialing the Workforce: Closing the Skills Gap

Abstract:

Richmond Community College will mount an initiative, Credentialing the Workforce: Community Colleges Closing the Skills Gap, to address the plight of displaced, adult, and unemployed workers who are facing the emerging global economy with obsolete skill sets. The project collaterally addresses the issues facing employers seeking a certified, ready, and capable workforce through credentialing.

The project takes a holistic approach, integrating a learner-friendly enrollment and placement model, Individual Needs and Desires, Individual Answers, with an enhanced package of student services designed to address the special needs of the target learner population. Another innovative component of the project includes integration of occupational skills into the community college academic curriculum through application of ACT's Work Keys methodologies and instruments. Technical competencies required in the emerging workplace are taught across the curriculum through integration of high-technology instructional methods that prepare the learner for today and tomorrow's work environments.

The final key pieces include identification of emerging high-growth job clusters, definition of the specific skill sets required by employers and integration of credentialing processes certifying competencies in those skills within the curriculum. Outcomes include increased retention and program completion, completers with credentials certifying employer-required skills, enhanced job placement and reduced unemployment, improved workplace competencies, and adaptation of Work Keys to program outcome assessment. Our partners - ACT, the North Carolina Community College System, and the Fort Bragg BRAC Regional Task Force - make this effort feasible and replicable on a regional, statewide, and national scale.