Workforce Strategy Center

WSC webinars broadcast promising practices and policies in workforce development.

• Helping Low-Income Young Adults to Attain Postsecondary Credentials:
• Using Data to Support Employer Involvement
• may 4, 2010 | view archived webinar | view Q&A DOCUMENT
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• Successful workforce development efforts aimed at advancing low-income young adults into family-sustaining careers require careful tracking of a program’s progress and performance—from concept to completion. This entails researching labor market information to ensure curricula are in line with industry needs, setting measurable goals, measuring student skill levels before and after courses are taken, collecting and tracking participant transition and completion rates, and keeping abreast of market changes that may require course changes. Hear from representatives from Project ARRIBA in El Paso, Texas, Metropolitan College of Louisville, Kentucky, and Workforce Development, Inc. of Rochester, Minnesota, as they discuss how they use data to continuously improve their programs for success.

• Helping Low-Income Young Adults to Attain Postsecondary Credentials:
• Maintaining Employer Involvement
  
• April 6, 2010 | view archived webinar
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• Successful workforce development initiatives effectively partner with employers on all aspects of program delivery, from curriculum development to internships and job placements. Our research has demonstrated that success, level of commitment, and continued employer involvement are largely built on the strength of employer relationships that result from careful planning, cultivation and maintenance. This webinar features three different approaches from model workforce development sites: Arkansas Delta Training and Education Consortium, Gateway Technical College in Southeast Wisconsin, and Year Up, a national organization based in Boston, Massachusetts.

• Helping Low-Income Young Adults to Attain Postsecondary Credentials:
• Roles for Employers
  
• march 9, 2010 | view archived webinar | view Q&A DOCUMENT
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• There are many ways employers can support programs that seek to help low-income young adults attain postsecondary credentialing and advance on to family-sustaining careers. Employer activities can range from guiding the development of programs, reviewing curriculum, and contributing financially to mentoring students, offering internships, and actually running programs. On this webinar, representatives from the Washington Area New Auto Dealers Association (WANADA), Cisco Networking Academy, and The Standard, an employer partnered with Open Meadow in Portland, Oregon, discuss their motivations for engaging with workforce development collaboratives, describe their roles in those collaboratives and what keeps them engaged, and share lessons learned.
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• The following webinars were produced by Workforce Strategy Center for The Joyce Foundation's Shifting Gears Initiative. The archived webinars may be accessed at the Shifting Gears website.
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• Harnessing the Power of Performance-Based Funding: State Models and Lessons Learned
• November 2009
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• In this webinar, Kristen Conklin, Founding Partner of HCM Strategists, provides an overview of performance-based funding in postsecondary education and discusses specific models, challenges, and lessons learned. Following Ms. Conklin’s presentation, Dr. Ronald E. Abrams, Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges, discusses the work on performance-based funding in Ohio. In addition to sharing this information, the speakers answered questions about ways that states can leverage performance-based funding.
  Moderator: Julian L. Alssid, Executive Director, Workforce Strategy Center
• Education Officials on Making President Obama's Initiatives Work for You
• October 2009
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• Hear Glenn Cummings, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Vocational Adult Education and Vickie Schray, Senior Policy Analyst, Office of Postsecondary Education discuss the American Graduation Initiative, OVAE’s new transitions initiative, and other Office of Postsecondary Education investments. In addition to sharing the latest information the speakers will answer your questions about ways you can make connections between these new initiatives and work in your state.
  Moderator: Julian L. Alssid, Executive Director, Workforce Strategy Center
• Innovation from Oregon: The Career Pathways Roadmap Tool
• march 2008
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• Mimi Maduro, Pathways Initiative Statewide Director and Mark Williams, Division Chair of Computer Information Technology at Lane College provide an overview and demonstration of Oregon's career pathways tool.The presenters discuss the history of the tool, the development process, and how it's currently being used to foster collaboration and cross-agency discussion around program development, approval, delivery, assessment and accreditation.
  Moderator: Melissa Goldberg, Senior Associate, Workforce Strategy Center
• Perkins: The Newly Revised Career and Technical Education Law
  
• December 2007
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• Kimberly Green, Executive Director of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium; Dr. Pradeep Kotamraju, System Director for Federal Perkins Grant for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities; and Rob Kerr, Director of Career and Technical Education for the Illinois Community College Board discuss changes in the Perkins legislation and how those changes impact the development of state Shifting Gears implementation plans.
  Moderator: Julie Strawn, Senior Fellow, CLASP