Career College Central
Forecasts and Trends for 2014
INSIDE! APSCU’s
The Link MARCH 2014 Volume 9, Number 2
RECRUITING THE NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENT Overcoming today’s challenges to establish a long-lasting organization
15500 W. 113th St., Suite 200 • Lenexa, KS 66219
A Bleak Landscape Why the jobs picture is more barren than you think
Top 10
Changes we’ll see in college education over the next five years
The Definitive Voice of the Career College Sector of Higher Education
www.CareerCollegeCentral.com
Contents Career College Central
Forecasts and trends For 2014
INSIDE! APSCU’S
ThE LINk MARCh 2014 Volume 9, Number 2
RECRUITING ThE NoN-TRADITIoNAL STUDENT
News
overcoming today’s challenges to establish a long-lasting organization 15500 W. 113th St., Suite 200 • Lenexa, KS 66219
A BLEAk LANDSCAPE
10 Hill Day 2014
Why the jobs picture is more barren than you think
ToP 10
changes We’ll see in college education over the next Five years
The Definitive Voice of the Career College Sector of Higher Education
www.CareerCollegeCentral.com
On the Cover Recruiting the Nontraditional Student
By Tracy Kreikemeier How to build a modern-day infrastructure that both creates and captures demand.
30
By Kevin Kuzma Editor Kevin Kuzma joins the career education leaders descending on Capitol Hill for the Association of Private Sector Colleges & Universities’ Hill Day event. With debate heating up on the Department of Education’s “gainful employment” rule, this year’s discussions with elected officials take on an added importance.
Introducing Leading through Innovation
By Martin Lind Sponsored by Velocify, Career College Central introduces a new webinar series, Leading Through Innovation, with an interview featuring Dr. Art. Keiser, Chancellor and Founder of Keiser University.
An Interview with Representative John Kline
Subscribe! Career College Central grants you access to: • Insightful operations tactics from sector experts • Student stories • Sector research and analysis
By Kevin Kuzma In Washington, D.C., career colleges have no greater advocate than John Kline, Chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee. He visits with Career College Central about the implications of the pending “gainful employment” rule.
Pushing for Changes
By Jenni Valentino As competency-based learning gains a larger following, a group of lawmakers begin a push for it and other innovations among the higher education community.
Contact us today! Call 1.855.280.1889 or email Subscribe@CareerCollegeCentral.com Subscribe at www.CareerCollegeCentral.com
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CareerCollegeCentral.com Publisher Ryan Busch Ryan.Busch@PlattForm.com Editor Kevin Kuzma Kevin.Kuzma@CareerCollegeCentral.com Graphic Designer Rick Kitchell Columnists Amir Moghadam Vincent Scaramuzzo Staff Writers Jenni Valentino Copy Editors Wendell Anderson Erin Cockman Piper Hale Holly Soptick Career College Central 15500 W. 113th Street, Suite 200 Lenexa, KS 66219 Phone: 1.855.280.1889
Contributed Articles 06
Because We Have To
0
No Consensus ... No Wonder
0
Urban Ed
By Nicole Kardell Was the Department of Education just running through the motions with its negotiated rulemaking negotiations?
By Kevin Kuzma While its gainful employment rule was the focus of discussion, the Department of Education’s rulemaking process is as flawed as the concept of the rule itself.
By Brjden Crewe The challenges of urban school districts should be a focal point of improvement if our nation truly wants to reap the rewards of a strong educational system.
Subscriptions Subscribe or renew at: CareerCollegeCentral.com/Subscribe Contributions Submit your suggestions, ideas and press releases to: Editor@CareerCollegeCentral.com Advertising & Sponsorships Phone: 1.855.280.1889 Email: Advertise@CareerCollegeCentral.com Media Kit/Editorial Calendar: CareerCollegeCentral.com/Media-Kit Career College Central, January 2014 Volume 8, Number 2 Application to mail at periodicals postage rates is pending at Olathe, Kan. Career College Central is published bimonthly, six times a year, in January, March, May, July, September and November. Office of known publication: PlattForm, 15500 W. 113th Street, Suite 200, Lenexa, KS 66219. Periodicals Postage Paid at Olathe, Kan., and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PlattForm, 15500 W. 113th Street, Suite 200, Lenexa, KS 66219
In Every Issue/Columns Letter from the editor 4 34 IMAGINE AMERICA FOUNDATION 49 the link 60 LINKED UP ON LINKEDIN 58 SCARAMUZZO 74 MOGHADAM 76 MAKING HEADLINES 80 Why I chose
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LETTER
from the
editor E
very winter morning, except this one, I turn on the bathroom faucet and the water pours out cold and clear into an even colder porcelain basin. But the temperatures in the Midwest fell to record lows – single digits – overnight and wind chills reportedly as cold as minus-eight. My house’s plumbing, along with the pipes in thousands of other homes across the city, was frozen solid. In this state, a brief panic sets in initially, not unlike claustrophobia – before you realize you can actually move and think and find a solution. A house without water is a predicament – a continual problem. Normal activity grinds to a sudden and violent standstill. The toilets won’t flush, and you can’t brush your teeth, wash dishes or cook. I looked out at the snow-covered rooftops of the other houses, a street marred with black ice and, at its edges, ankle-high snow. A house in this condition in Kansas, where I live, reminds me of the settler days and the stories of the cozy farm cottage on the bleak prairie winter landscape as described by Laura Ingalls Wilder in
her Little House books. I read them to my children now, as they were read to me in elementary school, and I feel a different kind of warmth when she writes about her father playing the fiddle and telling stories of his own childhood to Laura and her sisters gathered around the fire. The heat began issuing from the register in the kitchen, and then I realized how fortunate I really was – and I began to process things. I had a drawer full of ice cubes in the freezer, which I melted to make water for coffee, to brush my teeth, to dabble down my wild morning hair. And then suddenly, my own resourcefulness brought a smile to my face. With my world returned to the basic living conditions of an earlier time, I had found a way to survive. I tend to compare situations like this to education, given my role with this magazine, and after I readied myself – as best as I could – for a day reading and writing articles in the office, I drove to work contemplating the essence of education. In its simplest terms, learning is an information exchange. When you consider the way someone prefers to learn, either through touch or listening or repetition, it can be a very personal preference. Within the realm of higher education, we find ourselves in a bizarre new territory where nothing is as it appears – where schools and other for-profit leaders are acting boldly, bravely and innovatively to lessen the governmentimposed damage. This strange new world has become our normal existence: announcements of job cuts, education stocks diving, overregulation on behalf of the Department of Education, and so on. The March edition of Career College Central is your guide for the shape-shifting for-profit education sector. This is a new space experiencing an understandable yet unorthodox reorganization. The sector’s new outlook isn’t much different from the last decade in terms of schools’ philosophy and educational approach, but the prospects are somehow dimmer. Our writers take a deeper look at the issues and the stories shaping career education. Our primary consideration is the political landscape as it pertains to regulation, but there are others, such as Massive Open Online Courses, competency-based learning and technology as a whole. All those topics I just mentioned are ancillary to the purpose of education. They will help – or hinder – its delivery. The act of teaching and learning is the real essence. And it’s our hope as a magazine that higher education finds a way to subvert these issues and come back to its core.
January 2014 | 4
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jenny valentino
Pushing for
Changes Lawmakers push for innovations and competency-based learning By Jenni Valentino, Contributing Writer
The
career college sector already knows that “nontraditional” students are the new normal. About 75 percent of undergraduate students meet the criteria set by National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) categorizing them as nontraditional. For these students who are already juggling work, family, long commutes and other responsibilities, one of the biggest obstacles between them and an education is the hefty time commitment. Luckily, advocates of adult learning, both in the career college sector and in the federal government, are beginning to recognize the benefits of measuring student progress based on knowledge, rather than on time spent on pre-set curricula. This innovative approach to college credit would make degrees vastly more attainable for adults with years of onthe-job experience, as well as for the 37 million American adults who have some college credits but no degree. It’s known as competency-based learning, and it’s poised to turn higher education on its ear. A report from the Center for American Progress explains that competency-based learning “is an outcomes-based approach to education where the emphasis is on what comes out of postsecondary education – what graduates know and can do – rather than what goes into the curriculum.”
January 2014 | 6
“ The most important characteristic of competency-based education is that it measures learning rather than time. Students progress by demonstrating their competence, which means they prove that they have mastered the knowledge and skills (called competencies) required for a particular course, regardless of how long it takes.” Dr. Robert Mendenhall President of Western Governors University
“There is pretty compelling evidence that what we have right now isn’t working,” says Amy Laitinen, Deputy Director for Higher Education at the New America Foundation and the author of the 2012 report “Cracking the Credit Hour,” in a 2013 Inside Higher Ed article. “Cracking the Credit Hour” notes that “if time in college were related to learning, the students would know more over time. But instead, student knowledge is relatively constant over time.” The report found that when students took a 12-hour exam designed to test “baccalaureatelevel” knowledge, the percentage of students who scored in the 80th percentile or higher were as follows: 24 percent of freshman, 23 percent of sophomores, 28 percent of juniors, and 25 percent of seniors. This relative stasis suggests that students aren’t necessarily learning more just by spending more time in their seats. The antiquated “seat time” convention, designed for an undergraduate who attends college full-time and lives on campus (currently only 14 percent of students), has already lost some of its status through the recent proliferation of online education.
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However, even online degree programs follow the same standardized time constraints as campus-based programs; even though a student can complete the work at his or her own pace, that pace is still confined to the same testing schedule, completion dates, and rigid course requirements as everyone else’s.
Some elected officials, including President Obama, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Senator Christopher Murphy of Connecticut, recognize the importance of the flexibility and career relevance competency-based learning provides, and are publicly endorsing the concept.
Imagine, for example, that a 45-year-old man who has worked as an air conditioning repair person for more than 20 years wants to return to school to get his HVAC degree in order to increase his employment prospects and stability in this increasingly competitive job market. He would likely be discouraged at having to spend substantial time and money taking courses covering information he already knows. What if, however, he could essentially “test out” of some of the courses by effectively displaying mastery (gained through work experience) of the course materials and skill sets.
President Obama said in a speech that he was “pursuing an aggressive strategy to promote innovation that reins in tuition costs.” A notice published in the Federal Register in December 2013 confirmed this strategy as it solicited input (due January 31, 2014) on how to ease financial aid regulations for colleges experimenting with this and other “alternative” methods of student learning.
According to Dr. Robert Mendenhall, President of Western Governors University, one of the institutions that has piloted a competency-based education program, “The most important characteristic of competencybased education is that it measures learning rather than time. Students progress by demonstrating their competence, which means they prove that they have mastered the knowledge and skills (called competencies) required for a particular course, regardless of how long it takes. While more traditional models can and often do measure competency, they are time-based – courses last about four months, and students may advance only after they have put in the seat time. This is true even if they could have completed the coursework and passed the final exam in half the time. So, while most colleges and universities hold time requirements constant and let learning vary, competency-based learning allows us to hold learning constant and let time vary.” Western Governors University offers degree programs “developed by a council of experts in the field who define ‘competencies’ students need to possess to graduate. These competencies form the curriculum. This combination of expertise in both industry knowledge and academics guarantees your degree will be relevant in your chosen field.”
The notice said the Department of Education is “particularly interested in experiments that are designed to improve student persistence and academic success, result in shorter time to degree, including by allowing students to advance through educational courses and programs at their own pace by demonstrating academic achievement, and reduce reliance on student loans.” “This is a key step forward in expanding access to affordable higher education,” said Duncan in a 2013 written statement. “We know many students and adult learners across the country need the flexibility to fit their education into their lives or work through a class on their own pace, and these competency-based programs offer those features.” “We’re at the very early stages of the competency-based learning ecosystem,” Murphy said in November of 2013. “But the federal government should be a bigger partner in helping to develop these new innovative ecosystems around shorter-timeframe degree programs.” Of course, when the federal government partners with any initiative, it is going to come with strict regulation. In uncharted territory like competency-based education, however, this regulation should be welcomed for the benefit of both schools and students. By working together to define best practices for determining mastery in employer-recognized degree fields, the federal government and the career college industry have the chance to usher in a new era of education – one that rewards knowledge and experience, rather than rote “seat time,” to the benefit of nontraditional students the nation over.
Jenni Valentino is a freelance writer and editor with years of involvement and experience in the career college sector. She can be reached at JZValentino@GMail.com.
January 2014 | 8
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nicole kardell
Because
We Have To Is the Department of Education just running through the motions with its negotiated rulemaking sessions? By Nicole Kardell, Ifrah Law
January 2014 | 10
S
everal months have elapsed since the Department of Education released its first draft of the new Gainful Employment rule. After two sets of revisions and three rounds of negotiations, we appear no closer to a final rule. The outcome from the negotiation sessions is that the opposing sides remain polarized. No one can even agree as to what types of metrics, let alone what metric ranges, to use to determine whether career programs actually prepare students for gainful employment and thus qualify for Title IV funds. It is even hard to anticipate what direction the DOE is going to take in its proposed final draft: is it going to be more stringent than the version of the rule that was thrown out in federal court in 2012? The first draft of the new rule, published in August 2013, was described as leaner and meaner than the original, using only one type of metric, debt-to-earnings ratios, but incorporating more rigorous standards than the earlier rule and affecting a larger pool of schools. The second draft, published in November 2013, piled on more metrics, including loan repayment and a program cohort default rate (PCDR) metric, and maintained the more rigorous standards. It appeared that the DOE was listening mainly to detractors of for-profit education and heaping more regulatory
burdens onto the industry. Then, the DOE released a third draft of the rule in December 2013, shortly before the final negotiating session. The third draft dropped the loan repayment metric and took away automatic ineligibility for PCDR of 40 percent or more. These revisions greatly disturbed for-profit education detractors – they believed the DOE was backpedaling. Needless to say, the third and final negotiating session involved little negotiating and a lot of rhetoric. Since no consensus was achieved among negotiators at the end of the last round, the final draft remains entirely in the hands of the DOE. The three negotiated rulemaking sessions appear to have been largely a waste of time for participating negotiators and attendees. The lack of progress calls into question the efficacy of having negotiated rulemaking in the first place. Why bring together representatives of interested parties to draft regulatory language if they cannot effectively negotiate? But the negotiators are not to blame for the failed sessions. The DOE is. There are several problems with the direction of the negotiating sessions that could have been remedied by a little effort on the part of the DOE.
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Much of the time allotted for the first session of negotiations was taken up by process – discussing procedural rules, reviewing the agenda, deciding what to discuss. Did the participants need to convene in person to address all these items? Even if certain formalities must be addressed in-person, there are ways to expedite the process and not absorb almost half of a session (e.g., pre-session circulation, review and response to questions). The DOE should have provided draft regulatory language well in advance of each of the sessions to allow negotiators the time to thoroughly review and prepare for negotiations. The first draft of the new rule, which set the tone for the negotiating rounds and provided the basis for discussions, was published only six business days before the first session. The second draft, which
Will failures in the negotiating process provide a basis to challenge the final new rule? more than doubled the length of the first draft and incorporated significant new metrics, was published five business days before the second session. The third draft, which apparently blindsided some negotiators, was published a mere two days before the final round. Moreover, there was no data analysis for the second draft, and negotiators complained about lack of available data during the other rounds. How could the negotiators effectively discuss and deliberate with little time to prepare and with inadequate data to assess the best metrics to use? It is no wonder there was no consensus at the end of the day, especially when the negotiators are strongly positioned on opposite sides of a highly contentious subject. January 2014 | 12
So why does the DOE bother with negotiated rulemaking sessions if they don’t seem very productive? Because it has to. As the DOE notes on its website: “The Department is specifically required by law to use negotiated rulemaking to develop NPRMs (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) for programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.” The impetus for such a requirement is to reduce the threats of litigation and general dissatisfaction that can ensue from rulemaking, and to involve interested parties in the rulemaking process to ensure a more palatable regulation that still satisfies policy goals. But this rationale is undercut when the negotiated rulemaking process is ineffectively carried out.
It is more likely that the DOE is simply unorganized, cannot get its data together, and is stumbling into the negotiated rulemaking sessions. But even so, the failed negotiated rulemaking sessions raise a couple of questions: Will failures in the negotiating process provide a basis to challenge the final new rule? And if the DOE cannot get its act together to effectively oversee Gainful Employment rule negotiations, how can we possibly believe it will be able to oversee the complex compliance process that will result from the new rule?
Nicole Kardell is an attorney at the Washington, D.C.based law firm of Ifrah Law. She represents clients in matters involving government action. From federal and state enforcement actions to government contract work, Kardell has spent most of her time as a lawyer representing clients on the opposite side of the table of government regulators and prosecutors. She has worked on matters involving the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, Internal Revenue Service, Offices of Inspector General of several federal agencies, and attorneys general of numerous states. Contact her at NKardell@IfrahLaw.com.
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Specializing in the Purchase and Sale of Career Schools and Colleges Dr. Barry Berkowitz (561) 483-9554 Certified Business Intermediary (IBBA) Licensed Real Estate Broker www.sfsintl.com
Career Schools and Colleges are our Only Business! A skeptic might wonder if the DOE does not actually want this rulemaking process to succeed. The DOE preserves control over regulatory language when negotiators cannot agree. If consensus among negotiators is reached at the end of the negotiated rulemaking sessions, then the language consented upon will be the language used in the NPRM: “Only under very limited circumstances may the Department depart from this language.� However, if consensus is not reached, the DOE may develop new regulatory language for all or a portion of its NPRM.
Susan F. Schulz & Associates, Inc. Consultants to the Career School and College Sector Dr. Susan F. Schulz (561) 483-9554 susan@susanfschulz.com www.susanfschulz.com
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brdjen crewe
Urban
Ed
Be it public schools or colleges – urban or suburban – the nation benefits from a strong educational system By Brjden Crewe, Contributing Writer
L
et me first start by saying that, despite the title, this article has nothing to do with race. Often the word “urban” is used to describe minorities in major cities instead of its original purpose, which was to describe highly-populated metropolitan areas. I believe the term has become popular in part because people feel uneasy referring to black people in urban areas as “black.” So, to avoid that discomfort, the term “urban” has become synonymous with describing the people of color who populate these areas. Unfortunately, the educational tools, facilities and access to public and higher education are major issues facing these areas, which in turn lead to major issues for our entire country. Large cities such as Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, for example, are faced with overcrowded classrooms and poor, underfunded public schools, especially in their urban areas. In addition, facilities of higher education are rarely, if ever, located in these areas. And although people of color
January 2014 | 14
represent only a fraction of the total number of impoverished Americans throughout the country today, the percentage of poor people living in urban communities who are also people of color is exceptionally high. (Okay, maybe this article will have a little to do with race, but bear with me.) As a black writer in media who belongs to a number of journalistic councils and public forums, I’ve been asked on a number of occasions about my thoughts on slave reparations and whether or not the government owes them to the African-American community. Back when the topic of slave reparations was all the rage, I was frequently asked about how much money I believed the government should award African-American citizens as reparation payments. My answer was always the same: “The dollar amount on the check should total a well-funded, well-staffed, renovated school system in every black community in the country and zero cents.” The point I’m making has nothing to do with whether or not I believe African-Americans are owed reparations. But it lends to my belief that nothing is more important to the well-being, growth and sustainability of America than education. I believe that it all starts with education, and that we benefit most as a country from a strong educational system that is a top priority to our elected officials. I didn’t watch the Oprah Winfrey Show that often. I have nothing against her, but although she’s the “Queen of Daytime Media,” I never had the time or interest to get into her show, even when she had guests or topics
… we benefit most as a country from a strong educational system that is a major priority to our elected officials. that I thought would be intriguing enough to spend an hour watching. But one day about five years ago, Oprah did a show about the state of the public school system in my hometown of Chicago. Because I worked in that system, I decided to tune in. On this particular show, she decided to explore the discrepancies between the public schools in an urban area of Chicago and those in a nicer, suburban area of the city. They took a handful of children attending an urban public school and gave them an orientation of the suburban public school located about 10 miles northwest of their own school (but located in the same city) while doing the same thing with a handful of suburban children, whom they sent to the urban school. The urban children were in shock over how nice and clean the suburban school was, as well as having the luxuries of new, updated school books,
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an assortment of computers, a gymnasium with a swimming pool, and a lunchroom buffet offering a choice of cuisine based on country of origin. As the suburban students explored the urban school, they were introduced to leaks in the ceiling throughout the building, outdated textbooks, overcrowded classrooms, and other signs of impoverishment that they couldn’t have imagined, coming from the school system they were accustomed to. The urban students were amazed while touring the suburban school; the suburban students were saddened by what they saw in the urban school. This is an excellent example of not understanding a problem until you’re exposed to it. Of course, watching the reactions of a handful of suburban students who were upset by the conditions of the urban public school they were touring isn’t enough to effect change. And while American students’ scores on international tests aren’t as bad as recent polls and charts indicate, the scores remain extremely low for students in poor urban communities, compared with those of middle-class students in well-funded school systems. In fact, in polls the latter ranked near the top when compared with students from all over the world. A great solution to this problem can be found in online education. Educational programs available online can be accessed no matter where a student is located. And although it doesn’t solve the sociological problems facing urban communities, online education can be a great equalizer when it comes to the quality of education that American students receive. Today, the availability of computers and Internet access
is rising, even in the poorest of communities. And while computers aren’t as accessible as they could and should be in urban communities, most schools do have computer access. This could allow new and innovative educational programs to be introduced into every school in the country and to be available to every student. I like math equations. They’re relatively simple, and because they involve mathematical laws, their solutions are universally accepted. So whenever I get the opportunity to create a “sociological equation,” I jump at the opportunity. I will leave you with this one: A good education system produces good students. Good students become smarter citizens. Smart citizens get better jobs and are able to create more successful businesses, which create more jobs. More jobs means more people working. More people working means less people committing crime. Less crime means a better quality of life for all.
Brjden Crewe has been in radio for more than eight years and is a writer for a number of well-respected publications nationwide, including MTV.com, BET.com, SonicMusicMonkey.com and a number of local publications. He currently writes for Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas Weekly, The Daily Scene, VegasDeluxe.com, Las Vegas Magazine, Vegas magazine, as well as Vegas/Rated magazine and Vegas Seven magazine.
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tracy kreikemeier,
Recruiting the Nontraditional
Student
Building a modern-day infrastructure that both creates and captures demand By Tracy Kreikemeier, PlattForm
E
ducation marketers are rarely presented with a more complex set of challenges than marketing to the nontraditional college student.
Nontraditional students today make up the largest and fastest-growing segment of the postsecondary student population. This is a diverse lot, composed of older adults, part-time students, online learners and a host of other subsegments. Clearly, this group is immune to a one-sizefits-all marketing strategy. The technological innovations that have shifted the power balance in favor of consumers also offer education marketers powerful tools for developing marketing strategies that can both create and capture demand – critical, interrelated capabilities for the modern environment. We will examine key building blocks for constructing such a strategy. According to forecasts from The Parthenon Group, overall four-year, not-for-profit enrollment will be flat for the foreseeable future, with enrollment projected to hover at just above 8 million through at least 2019.
January 2014 | 18
The nontraditional student segment is a different story. Over time, this population has blossomed into higher education’s largest target audience, and it continues to expand, providing institutions with a significant opportunity for growth. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that more than 70 percent of college students might be identified as “nontraditional.” Broadly defined, the nontraditional population includes students matching one or more of the following descriptions: • Online and distance learners • Older adults • Single parents • Part-timers • Continuing education students • Mid-career professionals • Delayed enrollees • Occupational certification students
Why single out this amorphous group for discussion?
While colleges routinely acknowledge the growth – and growing campus presence – of nontraditional students, as well as their importance to overall recruitment goals, our experience at PlattForm is that many education marketers are slow to retool their strategies and campaigns to target and speak directly, rather than generally and generically, to specific nontraditional student submarkets. We find that more marketers are feeling frustrated rather than empowered by the digital age’s proliferation of platforms, channels and potential touchpoints. Some are giving short shrift to market subsegmentation and failing to customize their messaging, essentially ignoring the fact that the attitudes, objectives and behaviors of nontraditional students and the obstacles they face may differ strikingly from those of the traditional students colleges are accustomed to accommodating. The 2012 Noel-Levitz Adult Student Priorities Survey and the NoelLevitz Priorities Survey for Online Learners found that among students in a nationwide pool of adult undergraduate and graduate students and online learners, the top factors in enrollment decisions included convenience, work schedule, flexible pacing for completion, academic reputation, and availability of evening and weekend courses. Obviously, messaging that targets nontraditional students should prominently address these topics. Too often, it does not. Here’s a reality that marketers shouldn’t brush aside so readily: The winners will be the brands that distinguish themselves and excel at identifying market segments that align with their mission and program offerings, as well as the schools whose recruitment infrastructures – both generally and specifically with regard to the nontraditional student market – best meet the imperatives of the digital age. Subscribe at www.CareerCollegeCentral.com
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Evaluate and build brand equity across all platforms
Branding is an expression of the fundamental truths about an organization, product or service as communicated not just through marketing channels, but through all points of contact, from signage and promotional campaigns to policies and customer service. Marketers know all of this intellectually, yet marketing professionals often underestimate, ignore or fail to consider how brand experience affects their success.
Prospective students (the customers) most certainly base their enrollment decisions on cold, hard facts. They are also influenced – sometimes greatly influenced – by the totality of their experiences, perceptions and emotional connections. Every point of contact with a college, from TV commercials, websites and search collaterals to campus signage and broadcast programming, makes an imprint that contributes to a prospect’s general feelings and impressions. The fruitfulness of a prospect’s email inquiry to an admissions representative, the sights and sounds that linger from a campus tour, the appearance of buildings and grounds, the conversations January 2014 | 20
overheard – each bears testimony. An institution’s value and story must therefore span both time and technologies. Conscientious education marketers are alert to the broad range of influences – including influences beyond their direct control – that can affect their success. They embrace opportunities to exercise and expand their role in building their institution’s brand equity across all platforms, digital and otherwise.
How’s my driving?
How is my brand resonating? Is my messaging aligned with my institution’s mission and vision? If not, how should it be modified? How well does my messaging connect with the nontraditional student subaudiences the school is targeting? How do the perceptions of others align with how I want my institution to be perceived or positioned? By what means am I inviting, processing and responding to feedback about my brand?
Measure and optimize an online and offline marketing mix
As consumer search behaviors continue to evolve in response to mushrooming digital options, tracking marketing performance becomes exponentially more difficult – that’s a fact of life. But measure we must. The payoff is – to borrow from a popular corporate slogan – “What gets measured gets improved.” The modern multimedia landscape confronts education marketers with hard-nosed, unambiguous checkpoints: Do you have a reporting infrastructure in place for measuring the performance of your marketing channels and initiatives? Can you report with confidence that you are not overspending in certain categories while ill-advisedly neglecting others? Do you understand what to measure and how to analyze the feedback? Do you act on your results?
Marketing analytics should serve as confidence builders, arming professionals to intelligently and resourcefully push forward. These are excellent points of departure for marketers who are assessing the image and reputation of their institutions and, equally important, trying to maintain brand consistency across multiple platforms. An experienced educational marketing agency can be invaluable to schools planning a scientific, institution-wide brand audit that will thoroughly assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of the brand and provide a detailed analysis. Yet even a simplified evaluation can help schools understand how well their brand is relating to audiences that are increasingly diverse and media-savvy. Marketers should not be overly emotional about their audit results or the concerns, questions and ideas that float to the surface, such as “Is our messaging relevant to adult learners?” and “Should we develop materials in other languages?” Audits present opportunities to weed out what’s not working and to embrace new inspirations. The whole idea is to put the institution’s best foot forward and create positive emotional responses that draw people in and thereby create demand. Building the brand from the inside out involves strategic and tactical decisions that can create opportunities throughout the entire recruitment funnel – opportunities that institutions might not otherwise realize.
A thoughtful plan and up-to-date measuring tools will provide a feedback loop that continually generates data essential to creating a well-balanced marketing program: spending by channel, lead flow by channel, conversion rates, cross-channel performance and more. Cutting-edge metrics will offer a picture of how each channel is performing and also how productively the channels are interacting. Optimally, a fine-tuned, well-proportioned marketing mix will also support, with equilibrium, efforts to both create and capture demand. Time and resources permitting, institutions themselves can establish a comprehensive process for gauging marketing program effectiveness. Those who choose to do so should follow some fundamental guidelines: • Identify your target audiences. Don’t be vague – know exactly which subgroups of nontraditional students represent priority targets. • Start with measurable marketing goals. • Know what to measure – develop key performance indicators (KPIs). • Build reporting capabilities around your established KPIs. • Assess your analytics capabilities and decide which gaps to fill and how. Subscribe at www.CareerCollegeCentral.com
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Useful, do-it-yourself tools include Google Analytics and free website tools such as HubSpot Marketing Grader. The assessment toolbox should also include informal interviews and surveys. Asking members of targeted subgroups about their media consumption habits and preferences can yield valuable insights.
Don’t just know. Act.
Merely tracking search engine rankings and tabulating downloads, web page views, email opens, print ad responses, event registrants and the like is not itself the end game. Truly useful marketing assessments employ a variety of tools and techniques and measure activity across all channels, as well as the relationships between the numbers. Marketing analytics is art and science – and predictive. More does not automatically mean better, and less is not necessarily a negative. For example, data showing that website visitors are viewing fewer pages could mean that visitors are finding the information they want more quickly and conveniently. Sharp assessments will also account for other factors: adjustments by competitors, changes within the institution, shifts in marketplace dynamics, and the habits and attitudes of targeted market segments. Marketing analytics should serve as confidence builders, arming professionals to intelligently and resourcefully push forward. An email campaign that once seemed like a no-brainer may, upon keen analysis, metamorphose into an outdoor marketing push ideal for a certain subsegment over a prescribed time period. Knowing which specific tactics will deliver a return on investment (ROI) and understanding where and what adjustments to make to improve conversion success are positively indispensable. The proof is in holistic marketing analytics – smart marketers don’t make decisions without it.
Develop and enhance search engine marketing strategies to create demand as well as capture it
With data in hand, education marketers can – and should – intelligently shape their search engine marketing strategies to both create and capture demand. For some marketers, the notion of allocating appreciable resources to creating demand is a hard pill to swallow. Contrasted with the traditional short-term focus on capturing demand by pursuing the most obvious opportunities, the idea of creating demand may seem comparatively less worth the effort. The difficulty in quantifying its value and ROI can make demand creation seem peripheral – relevant, of course, but not vital. Here’s the truth, however: Considering the multidimensional nature of the nontraditional student market and the explosion of marketing channels, search engine marketing that remains lopsidedly devoted to capturing demand contains inherent shortcomings that put marketers at a clear disadvantage. This approach lacks the capacity to scale out, segment and broaden brand exposure and limits marketers to only select audiences. January 2014 | 22
72 percent of education seekers interact with a brand for two weeks or more before becoming leads.
We know that certain channels directly influence actions taken through other media. For example, online display advertising such as banner ads commonly results in a significant increase in website traffic. In fact, a Google Compete P2P Clickstream study showed a 50 percent lift in search behavior and a 45 percent lift in site traffic after exposure to a display ad. In short, a capture-dominated strategy is self-limiting and inhibiting. Earlier, we identified issues and factors that influence the enrollment decisions and success rates of nontraditional students – convenience, course availability, graduation challenges and so forth. The idea, then, is to aggressively develop cross-channel marketing content that engagingly and interactively addresses these issues with the targeted subaudiences. This is a more dynamic and potentially profitable approach to marketing than simply serving as an information station for consumers who are already familiar with and predisposed to a particular brand. Well-conceived, top-of-the-funnel marketing tactics help brands build affinity and emotional connections. They help to build trust, solve problems, promote positive experiences and establish consumer buyin, all of which feed brand awareness and consideration.
enormous resources at marketers’ disposal. In today’s environment, there is simply no substitute for marketing strategies that recognize that creating demand is just as valuable as capturing it.
What have we learned?
Rapid advances in technology and exponential growth in nontraditional student enrollment are creating complex challenges for today’s education marketers. Nontraditional students now make up more than two-thirds of the college student population. They also make up the fastest-growing market segment and are the most diverse. Students are adept, masterful even, at using technology to search broadly and explore all options. Education marketers must become equally savvy. By first gaining a more complete understanding of the nontraditional student market, and second, making effective use of digital-age tools and techniques, discerning marketing professionals can enhance their institutions' attractiveness among nontraditional students and boost their own power to engage and convert prospects from this expansive market segment. Tracy
The ability of websites to serve as communication hubs, capable of connecting searchers with a smorgasbord of channels providing personalized content and opportunities for brand interaction, puts
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2012 Higher Education Marketing Benchmarking Report for Not-for-Profit Schools Conducted by CUnet and LeadsCouncil to identify trends, best practices and issues facing the higher education sector. Here are some highlights. Getting quality students – and keeping them – is a top priority. Increasing enrollment yield is the highest priority, followed by recruiting higher quality students. Conversion tracking is falling short. Most schools do not monitor – or do not know if they monitor – cost per enrollment (CPE). For those who do, CPE is on the rise.
Traditional marketing methods are not enough. To meet increasingly aggressive enrollment goals, more cost-effective marketing methods (online) are being used. Email marketing and social media are being adopted the fastest.
Schools are realizing they can’t do it alone. 42 percent of schools outsource or plan to outsource some marketing/recruiting functions, with online marketing at the top of the list. January 2014 | 24
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MAPPING SUCCESS NATIONWIDE
MILESTONES MET BY PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS PREMIER LEVEL
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Sullivan University, Louisville, KY Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA Florida Technical College, Kissimmee, FL Lincoln College of Technology, Denver, CO Sullivan University, Lexington, KY Art Institute of Michigan-Detroit, Novi, MI Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, Tulsa, OK
Brown Mackie College, Miramar, FL Universal Technical Institute, Sacramento, CA Lincoln Technical Institute, Philadelphia, PA Lincoln College of Technology, Nashville, TN Tulsa Welding School, Tulsa, OK Ohio Technical College, Cleveland, OH Triangle Tech-Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
For more information contact Andrea Spisak at 571-267-3023 or andreas@imagine-america.org.
Facts without the Fiction The2014 Fact Book presents educators, legislators, and employers with a data-supported look at the impressive accomplishments of the career college sector By Robert L. Martin, President & CEO Imagine America Foundation
2014 FactBook
A Profile of Career Colleges and Universities
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very few months, a different group of researchers attempts to draw a clearer picture of the impact “for-profit” institutions have on students, graduates and the American economy. Usually, the data focuses on the negative. You know the studies I mean. The research calls out career schools for the supposed high number of drop outs, defaults, and lack of career prospects upon graduation. Of course, the findings aren’t presented in context or with appropriate comparison to traditional colleges and universities. The most recent of these studies, conducted by Public Agenda, reportedly found career college students were satisfied with their college-going experience. To the sector’s credit, the students reported “effective guidance from counselors, caring instructors and small class sizes.” Thirty-seven percent of the survey participants said their degree was “well worth it.” But the survey also claimed the rest said the value “remains to be seen.” And about a third of the alumni said their degree just “wasn’t worth it.” Buried in Inside Higher Ed’s article on the survey was this tidbit: "The researchers acknowledged that the alumni were contacted during a tough economy, and that alumni who are working are twice as likely to say their degree was worth it than are those who are unemployed." When I read that, I saw a different story entirely. In this labor market – no matter what institution you graduate from – it's going to take awhile for most people to reap the rewards of their college education. To put it lightly, there seemed to be an attempt being made to directly color perceptions of career colleges in a negative way. Wouldn’t it be ideal if someone made a thorough statistical – and impartial – evaluation of the accomplishments of the career college sector on multiple levels and packaged that data in a form that would make it easy to present the findings to key legislators, local business owners and other leaders? For close to two decades now, the Imagine America Foundation has done exactly that in the form of a publication we call simply, the Fact Book.
For decades, the Foundation has funded the research of numerous studies to show how career training-oriented colleges make valuable contributions to the American workforce and, in essence, help change people’s lives by empowering them with education … and finding them careers, not jobs. Prepared by leading industry analysts, the Fact Book contains research and analysis of important trends in the career college sector of higher education. The Fact Book presents a comprehensive look at the career college sector of higher education, as well as a comparison of public and private two-year and four-year institutions.
• Career college students graduate with the skills and credentials needed to enter some of the most in-demand careers in the nation – many from programs not offered at traditional colleges or universities. For example, 97,450 – or 77% of – medical assistants graduated from career colleges in 2012. • Career colleges serve more high-risk profile students than public or private not-for-profit institutions: 49% of career college students have 3-4 risk factors versus 18% at public institutions and 17% at private not-for-profit institutions.
Over the years, the Fact Book has become a valuable publication that many sector leaders have come to rely on in meetings with our nation’s leaders. Jerry Valdez, Executive Director, Career Colleges and Schools of Texas, said that he uses the book “in every meeting I attend on Capitol Hill.”
• In 2011-12, 43% of students who received awards from career colleges were minority students, up three percentage points from a year ago, and compared with only 25% at public institutions and 19% a private not-for-profit institutions.
“The Imagine America Fact Book is a leading resource for us to use in advocating for our schools, our students, and employment of our graduates,” Valdez said. “The value the Fact Book brings is that it’s a central clearinghouse of data that we use every day in our schools, with employers and other decision makers. It’s an essential guide – a must have to show the sector’s impact on the community, on student outcomes and graduation.”
• Career colleges award more degrees in programs available entirely through distance education, as a proportion of the degrees they award, than do public or private not-for-profit institutions - 30% of all degrees compared to 14% at public and 18% at private not-for-profit.
As the data in this year's Fact Book demonstrates, career colleges are uniquely positioned to fulfill the demands of the 21st Century workforce, perhaps even more so than community colleges or traditional colleges and universities. Today, there is a growing need for technology workers and an increased demand for health care professionals as the Baby Boom generation moves into retirement. The growth of our economy will require an increasing number of skilled workers. In order to remain competitive in a global marketplace, the higher education field must be more responsive to the demands of the new economy. The 2014 edition presents an abundance of important facts about career colleges that shows how our schools can bridge the gaps between underserved students and educational opportunity, between education and industry, and between the educational models of the past and the innovations of tomorrow. The Fact Book sheds light on exactly who career college students are and explains the unique opportunities career colleges create for these students to obtain an education and fill the needs dictated by the evolving global economy. Among the most interesting facts in this year's book are the following data points:
• 37% of military and veteran students attend online at career colleges versus 9% at public institutions and 9% at private non-for-profit institutions. “Aside from many individually impressive facts about the career education sector, the Fact Book also creates a fuller picture of how career schools fit into the realm of higher education,” said Daniel Levinson, Chief Executive Officer of Ex’pression College. “When meeting with legislators, it helps to have the comparative information to be able to show that we are serving our students, grads, and community in a favorable way,” Levinson said. “The information in the fact book lets us know how we compare not only to our competition, but the education sector as a whole which serves as a benchmark. Many times, the discussion is one-sided or single topic. The Fact Book provides a very balanced and broad view of not only who are students are, but why they decided to come to one of our schools and how likely they are to succeed.” The Fact Book 2014 is made possible by contributions from supporters of the Imagine America Foundation’s 21st Century Workforce Fund. Throughout the Fact Book, you’ll find even more achievements that are quite different from what you might have heard or read about this sector of higher education. For more information about the Fact Book go to www. imagine-america.org/factbook.
Every year thousands of career education students receive an Imagine America Scholarship or Award. Without contributions to the 21st Century Workforce Fund this wouldn’t be possible. IAF and career education students nationwide would like to thank our SILVER LEVEL 21st Century Workforce Fund sponsors!
THANK YOU!
CHANGE A CAREER EDUCATION STUDENT’S LIFE! Donate to the Imagine America Foundation by scanning the code with your smart phone or go to www.imagine-america.org/donate
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Do you want to recruit international students? The Student World has been designed to support you in reaching out to students in the UK, Ireland and South Africa interested in studying overseas. We organise the largest international study abroad events in the UK and Ireland and Road Shows in the UK and South Africa that visit top schools with a select number of international universities. The USA is the top destination for British students looking to study abroad, with almost 40% of all UK mobile students enrolling at US institutions. With the trebling of tuition fees in 2012 and the increased competition for places at top universities, there has never been a better time for international institutions to recruit from the UK.
Spring 2014 Events Networking Day, UK: Friday 21st March 2014 London, UK:
Saturday 22nd March 2014
Leeds, UK:
Sunday 23rd March 2014
Road Show, UK:
Monday 24th March 2014 Wednesday 26th March 2014
Networking Day, Ireland:
Friday, 28th March 2014
Dublin, Ireland:
Saturday, 29th March 2014
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Discover more about the exhibitions and the UK market by visiting our website:
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“The staff are amazing! I attend a lot of fairs, and my experience with The Student World is always stellar. They really pay attention to details and making the experience excellent for everyone involved. Over 75% of the students were exactly at the level in their studies (1st or 2nd year of A levels), and this is perfect timing for an undergraduate college such as us, Berkeley College.� Berkeley College, USA
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APSCU Welcomes Military and Veterans Leader Michael Dakduk
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am pleased to join the APSCU team leading military and veterans’ affairs. My primary focus will be to implement and strengthen initiatives at institutions to better support military servicemembers, veterans, and their families. Previous to this post, I led Student Veterans of America (SVA), a national nonprofit association of over 900 chapters in all 50 states. My efforts included increasing support for and advocating on behalf of veterans and servicemembers enrolled in postsecondary education institutions. During my tenure at SVA, I was fortunate to visit hundreds of colleges and universities. I found that many of the premier institutions serving veterans and servicemembers reside in the private sector. Now, I am eager to learn more and highlight the many innovative private sector institutions supporting the troops, veterans, and their families to stakeholders in and outside of government. I recognize some institutions may have questions about new federal regulations or how best to serve veterans and servicemembers. Today, our institutions are working hard to comply with Executive Order 13607, the Principles of Excellence, as well as Public Law 112-249, H.R. 4057:
Improving Transparency of Education Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2012. Others may have questions about the GI Jobs Military Friendly List, the Military Times Best For Vets College list, Military Advanced Education’s Military-Friendly Colleges and Universities Guide, U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges for Veterans or what veteran initiatives are best suited for your institution type. Regardless of an institution’s desired goal, ultimately our collective focus centers on how best to support military veterans, servicemembers, and their families. Some estimates predict that in the coming years upwards of 1 million troops leave active duty service and transition into civilian life. Undoubtedly, many of these veterans will choose education as a viable pathway to success. Given the adaptability and flexibility of private sector colleges and universities, I fully believe that this sector is uniquely positioned to educate servicemembers and returning veterans. I stand ready to visit and work with you and others at all our institutions to ensure that we fully serve and support our veterans and servicemembers. Please reach out with questions, comments or actions that we can take together. P O W E R E D
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Here’s What You Can Do Today Take action against gainful employment and ensure your voice is heard by following three simple steps. Step 1: Visit the APSCU Take Action Center Visit apscu.org/takeaction to learn more about the harmful impact the gainful employment regulation will have on hundreds of thousands of students. Find your designated members of Congress online.
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Step 2: Send a letter to members of Congress and the U.S. Department of Education On apscu.org/takeaction, review and customize the provided letter template. Share your story with your member of Congress. The more personalized the letter, the better. Explain how private sector institutions have provided students with access and opportunity for real jobs with real incomes. Step 3: Spread the word. Share your story and the URL apscu.org/ takeaction with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter, and via email. Encourage them to visit the APSCU Take Action Center to submit a letter too!
The Contribution of Private Sector Colleges and Universities to IP-Intensive Industries in the United States Nam D. Pham, Ph.D.
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rivate sector institutions provide an outsized proportion of skilled, credentialed workers to intellectual propertyintensive industries. These industries—petroleum and coal products, chemicals, computer and electronic products, transportation equipment, medical equipment, and software—invest more on R&D per employee than the national average among all U.S. industries. They fuel innovations that strengthen our economy and provide good jobs with high incomes.
Nearly 80% of the jobs that require these credentials are for technologists, technicians, and production workers. These individuals support the scientists, engineers, and managers who research, develop, and manufacture innovative products and services. Graduates of private sector colleges and universities apply their practical skills and education to the research and development phases of innovative industries that are the backbone of the U.S. economy. Some graduates support research scientists and engineers to create intellectual property; others work in the development and production phases to produce innovative products and services. Supported by these technologists and technicians, American companies are the largest source of innovation in the world. These graduates strengthen the competitiveness of American companies globally. In 2012, private sector colleges and universities conferred 32.5 percent of all postsecondary credentials and associate’s degrees, 7.4 percent of all bachelor’s degrees, and 9.5 percent of master’s or other advanced degrees.
This report presents data that documents the market demand of these growing industries for the practical education and training that private sector colleges and universities provide. Among the workforce in IP-intensive industries with at least some postsecondary education, one-half have earned either a credential or an associate’s degree. Private sector institutions have awarded more than one-third of these associate’s degrees and certificates.
Although private sector institutions offer all levels and fields of study, the majority of awards from these institutions are postsecondary credentials and associate’s degrees in health, business, homeland security, computer, and engineering technologies.
Private sector colleges and universities account for 13 percent of total postsecondary enrollment in the United States. Yet the credentials these institutions award represent 23 percent of all the postsecondary awards that IP-intensive industries prefer when hiring for their high-skill jobs.
Learn more about the contribution of private sector institutions to IPintensive industries at www.apscu.org/ipreport.
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PTI’s New Energy Tech Center Features Equipment Donated From Local Employers Pennsylvania experiencing a high demand for professionals with welding, HVAC and electronics skills for the Oil and Gas energy industry
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ittsburgh Technical Institute hosted the grand opening and official ribbon cutting of its new Energy Technology Center, a 15,392-square-foot steel structure that serves as headquarters for the college’s programs in Welding Technology, HVAC Technology, and Oil & Gas Electronics. PTI’s new Energy Technology Center features dedicated labs equipped with state-of-the-industry equipment, general classrooms, faculty offices, meeting rooms, a two-story plaza lobby, a walkway linking the building to the campus’ main building and on-campus residence halls, and a rain garden located on the building’s west side. PTI students will experience hands-on learning designed to meet employer needs in each of three dedicated labs equipped with nearly $1.25 million in industry-specific equipment. Employers who partnered with PTI have donated $750,000 worth of the equipment and software installed in the Center’s labs for student preparation for the welding, HVAC and Oil and Gas industries. Earlier this year, PTI announced a new certificate in Welding Technology program and an Oil and Gas Electronics concentration to its Electronics Engineering Technology associate in science degree program. PTI’s Oil and Gas program is the first associate degree program in the region that concentrates on electronics for the energy sector. The new electronics program is designed to prepare students to meet the demand for midstream industrial and commercial automation technicians created by the exponential growth of the exploration and development of Marcellus and Utica Shale.
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“ Our company and the entire shale gas industry needs instrument technicians trained on today’s technology. Having access to PTI grads will enable us to deliver more and differentiated value to our customers.” Jim Neville, Vice President, Equipment and Controls Inc.
According to Greg DeFeo, PTI’s President, industry demand for many types of electronics, pipeline, field service and well site technicians, as well as welders, soldering and brazing workers, machinists, sheet metal workers, structural metal fabricators, boilermakers and pipe and steam fitters led to the creation of these responsive new programs. “Our conversations with the region’s employers indicate a high demand in Western Pennsylvania for professionals skilled in electronics engineering, welding, and HVAC,” said Greg DeFeo, President of PTI. “A lot of resources are coming out of the ground in this region including natural gas, methane, propane, butane, both liquid and gas. These need to be measured, processed, and transported and electronics technicians such as those prepared by PTI’s Oil and Gas Electronics program are needed for every phase of these processes.” As students begin their career training, the college’s Career Services Department, which coordinates industry internships and works with graduates during their job search, has been receiving requests from regional employers for both interns and graduates. “The region’s employers are supportive of these new programs and have both guided curriculum development and contributed significantly to our facilities, especially with donations of equipment,” said George Pry, PTI’s Executive Vice President. “Companies such as Emerson and Lincoln Electronic have helped us outfit our labs with some of the latest equipment and technologies for training. Their involvement insures that our curriculum provides PTI students with stateof- the-industry knowledge and practical career preparation. More important is the fact that we know our graduates will have the skills our employers need and practice on some of the same equipment that our employers use.” Partnering companies have contributed nearly $750,000 in equipment and supplies to the Energy Technology Center teaching labs. Contributors include: A-Air Company Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania Copeland Corporation Emerson Process Management Equipment and Controls Inc. Endress+Hauser Fluke Corporation Forberg Scientific Johnstone Supply
Lennox Lincoln Electric Metro Heating & Cooling Trane Precision Laser & Instrument Inc. Premier Heating and Cooling Rockwell Automation Trane Universal Flow Monitors Inc.
“We're doing everything we can to help accelerate PTI programs. Our company and the entire shale gas industry needs instrument technicians trained on today’s technology. Having access to PTI grads will enable us to deliver more and differentiated value to our customers.” said Jim Neville, Vice President, Equipment and Controls Inc. Learn more about the HVAC Technology program, the Welding Technology program, and the Oil and Gas Electronics program by visiting www.pti.edu.
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The Path to Efficacy: Improving Outcomes and What It Means to Private Sector Education Roland Schwarm, Pearson
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et's talk about results. The role of measured results in almost every industry is paramount to any other single factor in terms of survival. In a world where proof equals value, where does private sector education fit in? The world wants results from us, too. In fact, the world is demanding them. More than ever before, countries, organizations and families are recognizing the positive education impact can have on lives, communities and entire economies. This increased focus on the value of education, coupled with innovative learning technologies, is driving Pearson’s recent public commitment to efficacy: To help people make progress in their lives through learning. Pearson's efficacy model begins with the learner. This means a shift from focusing on inputs, to outcomes. If we are to ensure a student learns in a course, what technologies and assessment strategies can generate information that empower and encourage increased student-instructor interaction? How can instructors and institutions leverage solutions with evidence-based design to capture early, actionable data to drive the behaviors that improve both the conditions and habits for learning? Hundreds of new education technologies and learning models emerge every year. To provide a comprehensive and consistent analytical tool, Pearson recently shared its Efficacy Framework. The core principles of the Framework are that it is constructive, practical, forward looking, and enables comparison.
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“ Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.” Kofi Annan, Where On Earth Are We Going
The framework is action-oriented, and creates a path to efficacy by evaluating what is required to achieve learner outcomes as well as serving as a catalyst for collaboration around the actions required to achieve measurable outcomes. The four key elements of the efficacy framework are: 1. Outcomes: What are we trying to do? 2. E vidence: Are our goals grounded in experience and research? 3. P lanning & Governance: How do we intend to achieve the goals? 4. C apacity: Do we have the resources, people and skills to deliver the outcomes? The Outcomes and Evidence dimensions ensure the change is measurable against actual experiments and research, as well as based on understood learner goals. The Planning and Capacity dimensions target the implementation steps – to make sure the change will be supported. This framework also provides a method by which to evaluate entirely different learning models in a consistent manner, and in a manner that promotes a path towards future states of improved evidence. The complete Framework provides a clear definition of the improvements needed to assure a positive impact to learner outcomes is at its core. Initial engagements via the Framework are providing some early positive results in our sector. Pearson recently partnered with an online university to evaluate its college algebra course model and results. Students were doing well on homework, but failing quizzes and the final exam. The desired outcomes were: 1) increased learning and 2) better assessment performance. With a focus on the learner experience and needs, it became
apparent that students worked on homework all week and completed quizzes at the end of the week. But if they failed the quiz, the students had no opportunity to remediate. They needed to move on to new material starting Monday. Students needed an opportunity to practice with immediate feedback before taking the quizzes. And faculty needed a system that would alert them prior to the quizzes whether a student needed interaction and help. The resulting course redesign was new mastery learning model with software that provided early, real-time indicators to both students and faculty precisely what the students had mastered and what they needed to practice and learn before the quiz. The system provided personalized practice plans for each student and the data prompted objective-specific student-instructor interactions when they needed to happen. All other coursework, objectives, software and content remained unchanged. Not only were students learning, they were well prepared before the endof-week quizzes. The end result was a 19% improvement in mean final exam scores following the efficacy engagement. In addition, the institution was able for the first time to monitor and measure student learning gains on a weekly basis. The details of the Efficacy Framework are outlined at efficacy. pearson.com. The goal is partnership and collaboration amongst all in the education community – teachers, parents, students, universities, schools, associations, governments and others to achieve better results. While the education community has produced some initial efforts and accomplishments toward the path to results, to change the shape of one of humanity’s greatest resources will take the efforts of everyone. As Kofi Annan wrote in Where On Earth are We Going?, “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.” P O W E R E D
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Brown Mackie College system of schools signs on to Clinton Global Initiative commitment to action with Smart Horizons Career Online Education and ed2go, launching new high school scholarship program
The
Brown Mackie College system of schools has signed on as a partner in ed2go/Smart Horizon Career Online Education’s (SHCOE) Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) “Commitment to Action” to help re-engage high school dropouts back into the educational system. The commitment includes an agreement to offer scholarships to 64 young adults to enable them to earn high school diplomas and career certificates from SHCOE. Through the partnership, Brown Mackie College will fund 32 of the scholarships in high-demand employment areas such as retail and food services. SHCOE and ed2go will match these scholarships with an additional 32, allowing Brown Mackie College to offer a total of 64 scholarships. As a part of the commitment, Brown Mackie College will further support Career Online High School students by offering them the opportunity to take their Career Online High School classes in the computer lab of a Brown Mackie College facility. “Brown Mackie College is committed to ending the skills gap that is currently plaguing America by providing students with education that builds careers and transforms lives,” said Guy Bell, president of Brown Mackie College. “A key step in meeting that goal and executing on our mission as a post-secondary institution is to ensure that students obtain their high school diploma and have every opportunity to do so. Our system of schools has a history of being a responsible community citizen and we are delighted to be partnering with ed2go and SHCOE to make this happen.” Brown Mackie College is the first educational institution to participate in the program. The school system offers bachelor's degree, associate's degree, certificate, and diploma programs in health sciences, business, information technology, legal studies and design technologies through 28 school locations. “At the Brown Mackie College schools, learning is not limited by the boundaries of the classroom. Our students, staff, faculty and schools are engaged in their local communities and are working to make an impact in them each and every day. They volunteer their talents to organizations large and small, demonstrating a commitment to service from Brown Mackie College students, faculty, staff, and graduates. Participating in the Clinton Global Initiative ‘Commitment to Action’ program
is an important part of our goal to invest in those who need guidance, assistance and support in completing their high school education as the first step in furthering their education and future career options,” said Bell. SHCOE, the world’s first AdvancED/SACS-accredited online school district, and ed2go, the largest provider of turnkey online training and part of Cengage Learning, partnered in 2012 to launch Career Online High School, which provides affordable, career-based online education for the millions of adults in the United States without high school diplomas. Career Online High School students earn both an accredited high school diploma and skills-based credentialed career certificate designed to support employment outcomes. The school served over 2,500 students in its first year of operation. Career Online High School is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvements (SACS CASI) which accredits secondary schools. In August 2013, SHCOE and ed2go created a CGI “Commitment to Action” to engage corporations that commonly hire employees lacking high school diplomas to commit to providing scholarships for those employees to finish high school. Existing partners include the Taco Bell Corporation and Kinexus, a workforce development organization operating in southwest Michigan. “The scholarship-matching program is designed to support young adults who are limited in their career options because they lack high school diplomas and further education,” said Ron Stefanski, Chief Business Development Officer at ed2go. “We are excited to bring Brown Mackie College into our CGI ‘Commitment to Action,’ expanding educational and career opportunities to young adults in the communities Brown Mackie College serves.” For more information on Brown Mackie Colleges’ career focused education, please visit: http://www.brownmackie.edu/ For more information on Career Online High School, please visit: http://www.careeronlinehs.org/. For more information or to read the CGI Commitment to Action, please visit: http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/commitments/ commitments_search.asp?id=830506. P O W E R E D
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SCARAMUZZO
Famous Last Words “ I’m open to relocation … for the right opportunity.” By Vincent Scaramuzzo, Ed-Exec Inc.
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iring managers, human resource personnel and recruiters everywhere have lamented the most common response to the question, “Are you open to relocation?” If one accepts this answer “as-is,” hiring anguish and embarrassment are likely to follow. Unfortunately, too many hiring managers take an affirmative answer at face value, sending candidates through a long interview process only to have their job offer turned down. When candidates respond that they are willing to relocate for the “right opportunity,” often what they mean is that if someone makes an offer so over the top that they can’t say no, they will relocate – but otherwise they are not open to relocation. In the search for exceptional talent, the ability to distinguish a serious relocation candidate from one just entertaining the thought of moving can have a significant financial impact on your organization. Airline tickets, hotels, limousines and taxis are the least of the expenses. The lost opportunity costs and wasted time of your senior management interviewing candidates who may never move is immeasurable. To take some corrective actions, immediately stop asking candidates if they are willing to relocate. Why? Almost everyone says yes. Instead, try an open-ended question like “Tell me about the relocations you have made in your career,” or “Have you lived in your current state all your life?” One of the best ways to predict people’s future behavior is by finding out what their past behavior has been. Have they sold a house before? Did they have trouble with the kids switching January 2014 | 48
school systems? Did they live in temporary housing for a while? Some candidates are convincing when they know the routine. With others, it becomes obvious they dread the thought of moving. If you ask these open-ended questions, the follow-up questions won’t sound combative. Of course, be careful to follow all state and federal human resource guidelines when doing so. Another great questions to ask: “Have you considered relocation?” If they answer, “yes,” follow up with, “Great, what are the top three cities you and your family have targeted for a move?” If they can’t rattle off at least one location quickly, you probably want to move on to the next candidate. If they are able to articulate a couple of destinations, dig deeper. Why is that area desirable? Have they ever lived there before? More importantly, do they have family there? One of the biggest and most fool-proof candidate motivations for moving is getting closer to family. When the recruiters at my firm hear a candidate mention family already living in a relocation destination, it is music to their ears. Having family at the destination city changes everything. Now, a recently relocated employee has relatives to stay with during the move, people to help unpack, free childcare if needed, hot meals and a friendly face to help smooth things over. Always test candidates on housing. Do they own a house, or do they rent? It is much easier to relocate renters because there is no house to sell, and they typically have fewer household goods. Be sure to find out if they will incur any penalties for
breaking a lease, though; you don’t need an unforeseen relocation expense. If they own a house, you should ask more questions. Can they sell the house in their marketplace? Are they underwater with their mortgage? Was this their custom dream house that they won’t be able to emotionally depart from?
When candidates respond that they are willing to relocate for the “right opportunity,” often what they mean is that if someone makes an offer so over the top that they can’t say no, they will relocate – but otherwise they are not open to relocation. Finally, avoid the weekend warrior at all costs. Our definition of the weekend warrior is a candidate who accepts a position that requires relocation. These new employees then get a small apartment in town, but never relocate the rest of their family. On weekends, they attempt to scurry back home for some family
time, only to turn around again on Sunday night or Monday morning to try and return to work. It baffles me just how many organizations continue to hire candidates like this. They rarely last more than 8-12 months in their roles as the strain of travel and being away from their loved ones just becomes too much. In addition, they are usually not very effective in their positions because they are arriving late on Monday or departing early on Friday for travel. These candidates have usually run out of local employment options and are desperate for a paycheck, but not necessarily eager for a career with a specific school. Schools that hire them are usually desperate to make a hire or pay a reputable firm to find them a suitable candidate who will last. Don’t be desperate. The cost on the back end to your institution will end up being significantly more. Nothing is worse than having offer accepted by a candidate, only to watch your new employee crumble under the pressure of a move and back out. Dig deep. Ask the hard questions up front, and you will benefit down the relocation road.
Vincent Scaramuzzo is President of Ed-Exec Inc., one of the leading executive search firms in education. As a specialist in the education field, Scaramuzzo works nationally with universities, colleges, online schools and career schools. He can be contacted at Vincent@Ed-Exec.com or 860.781.7641.
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The
Career College Central LinkedIn group is a forum full of invoking questions, thoughtful responses and animated discussion. If you haven’t joined our LinkedIn page yet, you’re missing out. Come join us and make your voice heard!
Kevin Kuzma: Should community college be free? Don Arnoldy: If you believe that an educated populous is the foundation of a democratic society... if you believe that it is the collective responsibility of the society to make that education available...then why does it need to stop at grade 12? If you believe that education is wasted on the children of the poor...then why offer public education at all? Chuck Steenburgh: You get what you pay for. Look at community college graduation rates for "first-time, full-time freshmen" (who this proposal is aimed at) and tell me this is an effective use of resources. Alfred Parcells, Jr.: So Kevin, at what point in the rewrite of the law granting this idea do you see the exclusion of for-profit tax-paying schools being added. As Chuck points out community colleges may not be the best place to toss more good money! January 2014 | 50
Raul Valdes: Why not set tuition on a "need" basis. Same for four-year schools. If household income is $100k for one student and $30k for another, why should both pay same amount of tuition? Larry Alvarado: We pay for k-12 and now students need more education than that. I'd be for paying for 2 years of education or training after high school wherever people choose as their education. For tuition and books/materials perhaps. The rest is on the student. A set amount perhaps rather than whatever the school charges. You can only use it for education/'training even perhaps for remedial classes since so many are not prepared for higher education training even though high school graduation rates have risen. Doesn't mean they can all perform at grade level.
Joe Nenninger: We have been throwing money at education forever and getting little in return. I have found that students who have no "skin in the game" (see VA) are usually the ones who have no problem with minimal effort, low attendance and multiple Fs or withdrawals. Two more years free would most certainly not apply to our sector and we'd be out of business.
John Ricky: I agree with you Kevin ...... however, Raul's point is also valid ... if you have enough jobs to pay back, then the college cost won’t be that big issue. There are a couple of issues which leads to the current situation of students. I personally know of a guy who is working as a bouncer in a club after his bachelor's degree in nutrition and has a loan of USD $35000.
John Ricky: Is Mr. President's education plan actually serving the purpose?
Barbara McConnell: Perhaps we need to look at this from a different perspective. Individualize the responsibilities for putting graduates to work following graduation onto the institutions themselves. A great portion of the responsibility for increasing and insurmountable student loan debt (and by comparison, default rates) are on the institution as a result of exponentially increasing tuition rates in order to support enormous salaries for the upper administration, sports coaches, etc.)
Kevin Kuzma: College cost is the real issue here. Would you agree John? Raul Valdes: Cost is one factor. Lack of jobs that pay reasonable wages is the other. Majority of jobs created under this Administration are service jobs and other low paying jobs. This is the other side of Debt/Income. Many Colleges need to lower tuition but Administration has to be better at incentivizing job creation.
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lance merker
Three Big Web Trends for Colleges in 2014 What college leaders must keep in mind when adapting to today’s web users By Lance Merker, OmniUpdate
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olleges, universities and other educational institutions are being buffeted by the rapid changes in technology that are transforming the way we work and communicate. As a content management system (CMS) provider, you can imagine how important it is that we keep schools current with these changes as they serve recruitment goals and support students, faculty, alumni and staff. Here are three big trends higher education leaders must consider as they adapt to today’s web users.
1. The rise of the mobile user Schools nationwide are seeing an explosion in the number of visits to their websites from smartphones and tablets. Sixty-eight percent of college-bound students report they have viewed college websites on a mobile device, according to the Noel-Levitz “2013 E-Expectations Report.” Not only is mobile use growing, but a full 43 percent of students use their mobile devices for all their web browsing. Staff at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania found this mobile trend even stronger among adult learners. “There’s a misconception that it’s just young kids accessing websites from mobile phones,” said Donna Talarico-Beerman, Director of Integrated Communications at Elizabethtown College. “Our website analytics showed that adult learners are more likely than our traditional students to visit our website from mobile devices.” For this reason, when Elizabethtown College revamped its School of Continuing and Professional Studies website to appeal to adult learners, they decided to make their site responsive. With responsive design, users can view a site on any device, and the content is automatically formatted to the device’s width. January 2014 | 52
“We wanted to make sure our prospective students had a good experience on the website whether they were viewing it from a tablet, mobile device or desktop computer,” said Talarico-Beerman. “It was an extra effort to use responsive design, but we wanted to take care of everything from the get-go. In the long run, it will pay off.” While Elizabethtown went with a responsive site to improve the experience for mobile users, other schools are working on turnkey mobile apps or native apps. Tarrant County College watched visits to their website from mobile devices shoot up a whopping 16 percent in just eight months. They went from approximately one in 10 visitors accessing their site on a smartphone or tablet to an astonishing one in four. However, since their CMS could not easily provide a mobilefriendly site, they chose to use OU Campus to implement a mobile site. “Building a website designed for mobile devices would bring in a lot of responsive design features, in addition to being adaptive and working on any mobile device. It would provide easy access among students and devices,” said Robert Heyser, Interim Director of Web Communications at Tarrant County College. “We decided a mobile app was the way to go, and we would implement our main site in OU Campus later – when we were ready and resources were available.”
Not only is mobile use growing, but a full 43 percent of students use their mobile devices for all their web browsing. 2. Library services in the digital age Today’s students have high expectations for their libraries. Additionally, as more and more institutions add distance learning as an alternative to classroom-based programs, library websites are becoming even more central to the educational experience. Noel-Levitz’s “National Online Learners Priorities Report” surveyed students at 104 institutions and found that online learners rate adequate online library resources as a top factor in their overall satisfaction with their program. Subscribe at www.CareerCollegeCentral.com
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Libraries are responding to these changing student needs by using technology to improve the experience both online and in person. For example, The University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library found that when students had questions, they wanted help in different ways.
“The vast majority of departments were supportive of the move because it meant that they would have a better website than they had before, and one that was easier to maintain than what they had before,” said Martin. “But it was key to our buy-in process to allow people to manage their own content.”
“Some people just don’t want to talk on the phone,” said Tracy Medley, Head of Discovery and Web Development at Marriott Library. From that observation, the library built an “Ask the Library” widget through OU Campus.
To enable faculty, staff and students to act as site creators and contributors, WKU marketing and IT divisions partnered on a CMS implementation and training program, using a combination of forums, hands-on training workshops, online modules and a selfhelp website. The team trained 650 CMS users in 18 months with just three employees.
Found on the library’s homepage, the widget directs users to a range of options for getting assistance. The library’s phone number is prominently featured, as is a button to start a live online chat with library staff, a form to ask questions via email, a link to a map of service desks in the library and a form to request an in-person library research consultation. Through the widget, the library is able to quickly guide website visitors to assistance in the way that makes the most sense for them.
“It was revolutionary for us to move into a CMS because it meant we completely changed how we managed our entire web presence,” said Martin. “But that collaboration was really essential to our success.”
The library also used its CMS as a portal for users to search multiple databases. Now students can search course reserves, local resources, journals, digital collection items and articles from a single search field. “More and more users are going to expect this from their online experience,” Medley said. The library also dealt with users’ jarring experience of finding pages through search that looked completely different based on the source. “One of the trends we’re seeing is that people want things to be prettier. We’re using OU Campus to make their experience seamless using web design templates,” Medley said. “We’re unifying the look and feel of our services for our patrons.”
3. Today’s college website: one brand Western Kentucky University (WKU) was also looking to unify the look and feel of its websites across campus. “We had 730 different websites that all looked different,” said Corie Martin, Creative Web Services Director at Western Kentucky University Public Affairs. “It was impossible for our users. It was important for our brand to have some consistency.” The school’s solution was to move to a single CMS for the entire school, with consistent WKU-branded templates.
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Lance Merker is President and CEO of OmniUpdate, the leading web content management system (CMS) provider for higher education and a Co-sponsor of the study. Its enterprise web CMS, OU Campus™, is used to manage more than 700 college and university websites around the world. OU Campus™ empowers institutions to effectively manage and enhance their web presence and take advantage of the latest web and mobile technologies. Merker can be reached at LMerker@OmniUpdate.com.
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karen southall watts
An Interview with
Representative
John Kline A staunch defender of the career education sector visits with Career College Central about the gainful employment rule By Kevin Kuzma, Editor
In
March 2011, Representative John Kline, R-Minn., Chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, emerged as a staunch defender and critical champion of the career education sector on Capitol Hill. Kline introduced an amendment that was to block the funding for what was then a new and controversial rule being proposed by the Department of Education called “gainful employment.” As our readers know, the original incarnation of the rule was eventually struck down in federal court, and the department has since embarked on its second take on the rule, with no less surrounding controversy or hoopla. In his most recent defense of the sector, last July, Kline introduced the Supporting Academic Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act. The bill would repeal three Department of Education regulations: gainful employment, state authorization and the definition of credit hour. Working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, Kline is fighting the punitive federal regulations that affect all parts of higher education. So, what does Chairman Kline think will be the future of the gainful employment rule? Here are his thoughts as he shared them with Career College Central: Do you think the Department of Education’s Gainful Employment Rulemaking Committee was balanced? What are your thoughts on the committee’s inability to reach a consensus on the rule? Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and I
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Expertise for the Digital World Email
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have both been troubled by the makeup of recent negotiated rulemaking panels charged with examining proposed higher education regulations. As you may know, section 492 of the Higher Education Act requires the Department of Education to choose individuals with experience relevant to the negotiations at hand. While we are pleased a second proprietary institution was included in the latest panel on the gainful employment rule, we will continue to monitor the rulemaking process closely.
In your opinion, how vital is the role of career education institutions in providing jobs for the 21st century workforce? As rising tuition and demographic shifts collide, the number of traditional students – the 18-year-old high school graduates we may picture when we think of college freshmen – is declining. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, non-traditional students are now the fastestgrowing demographic in postsecondary education. Career education institutions are making it possible for more of these men and women to gain the skills they need to succeed in the modern workforce. Career colleges offer a wide variety of coursework and the kind of flexible scheduling that is invaluable to many of today’s students. Whether the schools offer competency-based models of education that enable students to learn at their own pace or accept prior learning assessments that recognize what an individual may already have learned through previous study or work experience, career colleges provide a critical path forward for the millions of individuals balancing work, family and life with a postsecondary education.
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This innovation is at the heart of career colleges’ success in meeting the needs of a diverse population and opening doors for many of the more than 10 million unemployed men and women in America. My colleagues on the House Education and the Workforce Committee and I recognize this corollary and are moving forward to reauthorize the Higher Education Act in a way that recognizes innovation and rewards success.
At a time when demand is great and the stakes are high, government should focus on increasing opportunities, not penalizing institutions that are trying to prepare students and workers for a changing economy. What will we see in a final gainful employment rule? Do you feel it will be balanced toward career colleges and community colleges? It’s tough to say what the final gainful employment rule will look like. I would expect we will again see a rule that levies unjust penalties on the career education industry and threatens postsecondary institutions’ ability to continue to serve students and communities well. At a time when demand is great and the stakes are high, government should focus on increasing opportunities, not penalizing institutions that are trying to prepare students and workers for a changing economy. January 2014 | 58
In an effort to stop the gainful employment and other punitive regulatory actions by the Department of Education, last summer I joined Rep. Foxx and Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) in introducing the Supporting Academic Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act. Our bill eliminates the gainful employment regulation and also repeals the burdensome state authorization and credit hour regulations. It also prohibits the Department of Education from issuing additional, related regulations until Congress reauthorizes the Higher Education Act. The Supporting Academic Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act passed our committee with bipartisan support and now awaits consideration before the full House.
Kevin Kuzma is Editor of Career College Central. His feature writing, essays and short stories have appeared in The Kansas City Star, Urban Times, Review, Ink Magazine and Present Magazine. He can be contacted at KevinK@CareerCollegeCentral.com.
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moghadam
Excellence in Higher Education Leadership Improving student achievement through leadership at all levels By Amir Moghadam, Ph.D. MaxKnowledge Inc.
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igher education institutions continue to face many longterm challenges during this time of political, economic and social change, including many critics questioning the value of higher education altogether. According to research from Northeastern University and FTI Consulting, Americans rank educational level as the most important factor in determining a candidate’s success in today’s job market. However, 62 percent of the adult Americans surveyed in this same study also felt the U.S. higher education system is currently doing only a fair to poor job of preparing college graduates. Regardless of the factors that may fuel this public perception, higher education institutions realize they must improve performance. Although we have developed an improved understanding of the strategies, best practices and technologies that may help improve student achievement, the adoption of these changes very much depends on the leadership skills of many people working at various levels within institutions. In the career college sector of higher education, a growing number of state regulatory agencies are recognizing the important role of effective leadership in developing highperforming, compliant and ethical employees to better serve students. As a result, the National Association of State Administrators and Supervisors of Private Schools (NASASPS), an association of state regulatory agencies that governs private postsecondary education in the U.S., recently created a professional certification opportunity for higher education leaders in the sector. The Certified Higher Education Professional (CHEP) in Higher Education Leadership is a credential awarded by NASASPS to individuals who successfully complete 48 hours of approved leadership training. Once earned, CHEPs are required to complete eight hours of approved training annually to maintain their credentials.
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The Excellence in Higher Education Leadership program, offered by MaxKnowledge and its partner associations, has been approved by NASASPS and leads to the CHEP
certification. Developed in collaboration with Harvard Business Publishing, Norton Norris and NASASPS, the program is based on the results of the doctoral study of Dr. Michale McComis, Executive Director of the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC). In his study, he summarizes leadership characteristics that lead to student achievement in private career colleges. The program cultivates an understanding of leadership concepts and self-awareness in current or aspiring leaders. Participants develop an awareness of their leadership skills and traits through a combination of assessment and developmental tools, self-reflection, and real-world examples of leaders in action. In addition, participants address challenges and dynamics in the higher education sector and create their own personal leadership development plans.
Although we have developed an improved understanding of the strategies, best practices and technologies that may help improve student achievement, the adoption of these changes very much depends on the leadership skills of many people working at various levels within institutions. The excellence program, in more detail, crosses the management spectrum and addresses techniques for developing strategy, supervising staff, managing operations and handling the workplace challenges faced by higher education professionals. Many of the courses in the program have been built from Harvard ManageMentor modules, with high-quality training content drawn from foremost practitioners, renowned experts and business leaders around the world. The program provides practical advice, downloadable tools and timesaving tips on key management topics to help leadership staff build skills quickly for an immediate impact on performance. If you are interested in learning more about the Excellence in Higher Education Leadership program, please visit your association’s online training center or contact Robert Starks Jr., MaxKnowledge Vice President of Learning Initiatives, at roberts@maxknowledge.com. Dr. Amir Moghadam is the Founder and CEO of MaxKnowledge, the leading employee training company for the career college sector of higher education. He has more than 25 years of experience in career education, serving in many capacities, including Professor, Director of Education, Academic Dean, Director of Student Affairs, Campus Director, and College President and Owner. Moghadam earned his Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Cambridge at the age of 22. He is a recognized leader in career education and has been selected as a Top Innovator by Career College Central. Moghadam can be reached at AmirM@MaxKnowledge.com.
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making headlines Concerns expressed about Obama’s college rating system Last week the Obama administration released hundreds of pages of formal comments on its proposed college rating system, documents that mostly underscore the deep reservations that many higher education leaders have about the plan but also highlight pockets of support. Nearly every major higher education group submitting comments on the rating system expressed concerns about the proposal. Molly Corbett Broad, President of the American Council on Education, in a letter signed by 19 higher education associations, outlined a range of pragmatic concerns about how the ratings regime may harm higher education, but also questioned whether producing such a system was an appropriate role for the federal government to play in the first place. “Beyond the many questions and technical challenges that surround the development and implementation of a proposed rating system, rating colleges and universities is a significant expansion of the federal role in higher education and breaks new ground for the department,” Broad wrote. “Moreover, it is extremely important to note that a federal rating system will carry considerably more weight and authority than those done by others." Comments from other higher education associations largely echoed the concerns of many college leaders: they worry that a ratings system will create improper incentives for institutions, undermine the value of higher education and cut off access to institutions that serve low-income and underprivileged students. But none were as forceful in criticizing the proposed ratings system as the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. David Warren, the group’s president, said that his members were fundamentally opposed to the concept of a college ratings system. Synopsis of: “Rating (and Berating) the Ratings” Source: Inside Higher Education January 2014 | 62
Wisconsin bill could assist students with borrowing A new bill is designed to offer higher education debt relief to hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites. Bill 376, also known as “Higher Ed Lower Debt for Wisconsin” is designed to help close to 750,000 Wisconsinites with federal student loan debt. If approved, it would allow you to deduct your student loan payment from your state income tax, and give you an option of refinancing the interest rate. The UW Eau Claire Financial Aid Office says the average loan debt for the 2011-12 graduating class was just shy of $24,000. The bill's author, Senator Dave Hansen, says student debt hurts the economy, hampering car and home sales. The bill would help current borrowers by giving them an option to refinance their student loans to get lower interest rates, just like homeowners can refinance their mortgages. “Combining that with being able to deduct some of those loans from their state income tax would be two positive things that would help people through school and in the repayment process,” said Financial Aid Director Kathy Sahlhoff. But critics of the bill say making it easier to pay off student debt will only encourage students to borrow more money. The first hearing for the bill was held on Wednesday. The bill's author says if it passes, Wisconsin will become the first state in the country to offer student loan refinancing. That could make the Badger State a warm climate for business in industries that require a bachelor’s or advanced degree for employment. Synopsis of: “New bill designed to help students with education loans” Sources: WEAU.com
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why i chose “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Why I chose? Well, just like many others, I was brought here by the desire to be an influential leader capable of fostering individual and group talents to overcome complex challenges and achieve mission success. Sounds canned, right? Well, it is true. However, what is not often discussed with success stories are the battles, bridges and barriers that consistently need to be negotiated. Being disregarded for my seeming inexperience was a consistent and constant theme throughout my social life and professional career. Self-esteem, humility and a need to prove my capabilities all played a part on why I chose my college.
Confidence vs. competence
A confident problem-solver by trade, I have always been extremely comfortable with being out front leading, contributing solutions to complex challenges. While I have always had leadership qualities, capabilities and qualifications, competence in the form of a college degree haunted me for almost 24 years after I graduated from high school in 1986. I was lost. Without coaching or a mentor, I immersed myself in work with no real direction while those close to me went to college or followed pre-determined goals. Beginning in 2006, my mentors Steve Fox (Col., Ret.) and Mike Helfrich guided me to college with their patient, persistent mentoring, guidance and contagious leadership skills. Combined with referrals from Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Training branch and a very dedicated, enthusiastic enrollment counselor, I chose Grand Canyon University in 2010 over six other institutions. I also chose a Bachelor of Science in Public Safety and Emergency Management. This degree was within my field of expertise and could only enhance my life experience and professional skills. The ability to control your own destiny online was perfect for me. Though it was very challenging to complete, I took advantage of every posting, encouraging classmates, drawing knowledge from professors, and graduating with a solid and consistent 4.0 GPA. January 2014 | 64
“Why I chose,” you ask? Because I want to be an influential leader that can foster individual and group talents to achieve complex challenges and mission success as a “servant leader.” In summary, let me share another of my favorite quotes: “There are two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group because there is less competition there.” – Indira Gandhi
student stories To nominate a student for Why I Chose, contact News@CareerCollegeCentral.com.
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