Work Shift

Texas is at the frontier of community college funding. In its first year, a new performance-based model based on “credentials of value” has boosted in-demand programs in the state, but Colleen Connolly found that work remains on defining and tracking value. ?? The state is putting real money behind the plan, with 95% of all community college funding now based on performance metrics, up from 10% under the state's old formula. That high proportion, and the focus on credentials of value, sets it apart from other performance-based models across the country that have seen mixed results. Other states are watching. #highered #statepolicy #opportunity #goodjobs Colleen has the story on Work Shift: https://lnkd.in/e63ZGBkB

Is it #skills vs. #degrees? A coalition of national #highered associations is betting that digital skills wallets, or LERs, could actually help restore faith in the value of a #college education. And they're now working to speed their adoption. Paul Fain has the news in the latest issue of The Job, and he also talked with Mike Simmons, Ph.D. of AACRAO for a Q&A on Work Shift. “If we can’t adequately demonstrate and show relevance of education more appropriately and with greater clarity, we face a challenge to the validity of the entire enterprise,” Simmons says. ???? Links to the latest issue of The Job and the Q&A in the comments. #digitalcredentials #skillsfirsthiring #collegevalue AACRAO, American Council on Education, American Association of Colleges and Universities, American Institutes for Research, Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN), EDUCAUSE, National Association of Colleges and Employers, UPCEA, and 1EdTech Consortium

Maine's community colleges may be leading the nation's most ambitious push on short-term education and training. The system has tapped $100M from the Harold Alfond Foundation and federal funding to create a broad range of on-ramps to jobs in healthcare, shipbuilding, and much more. Through a new compact with 1,700 employer partners -- comprising half the state's workforce -- the system increasingly is seeing businesses help cover costs for the short-term programs, Likewise, manufacturers in Georgia have teamed up with the state's two-year colleges to create fast-track training programs -- and are covering the pricetag. The urgency is due in part to an annual turnover of 56% of the state's manufacturing workforce. The new programs are designed to quickly prepare workers for good jobs. Are these employers in Maine and Georgia on the leading edge of a trend?

A consortium of Big Tech companies is out with its much-awaited take on the impacts of #AI on jobs. ?? The analysis found that nine in 10 of the top tech and communications jobs could be transformed by AI. ??? Roles like technical writing are especially exposed to the evolving tech. ? What does that mean for colleges, employers, and workers themselves? Next up from the group is a workforce playbook. Paul Fain has the story on Work Shift. ???? Link in the comments.

Working on a step-back project on AI, building on trends we're seeing in our reporting at Work Shift. And I'd love to hear ? what's on your mind: + What are the biggest questions you have about AI in education and work? + What do you most want to know about what other colleges, companies, and nonprofits are doing? Specific things, not enormous questions like, Hey what's the world going to look like in 10 years? Would love to hear from you as we refine this project—and stay tuned for the first piece in the series later this month. #ai #highered #futureofwork, not #futureofspecies ??

A bipartisan bid for an overdue update to the federal workforce system may be toast, at least until after the election. The WIOA bill fracas is about draft Senate language that would require funding recipients to disclose that they comply with all applicable labor laws. Business groups call the provision overly sweeping and undiscriminating, saying it could penalize employers for minor paperwork flubs. Some claim it would limit employer participation in the public workforce system. Unions and consumer advocates say the language is a simple disclosure about basic protections for workers under federal labor laws. Taxpayer money shouldn't subsidize low-road employers, they say.

A new partnership between Podium Education and Upwork aims to bring freelancing into college education. The move is designed to help more students use and refine the skills they're learning in class, and make some money along the way. + More than 70 universities, including Georgetown University and the University of North Texas, are involved. + Students can learn marketing, data analytics, or coding skills for credit through Podium and then get customized access and support on the Upwork freelancing platform Freelancing experience won't replace internships, but will give students another tool in their toolkit as they look to launch careers, says Adam Fein of UNT. He likens it to giving students more options with microcredentials and certificates. “We’re really working hard to not be a single-product industry anymore,”?he says. Read it on Work Shift: https://lnkd.in/eHsQ59hd #highered #freelancing #futureofwork #goodjobs

Multiverse—one of the U.K.'s leading apprenticeship providers—recently paused its registered #apprenticeship programs in the U.S., raising questions about the access and effectiveness of the system. In the latest Work Shift op-ed, I argue for increasing public funding, refining success metrics, and streamlining administrative processes to help ensure that all employers and workers fully realize the promise of apprenticeships. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/evXyg-vd ? ?

A dozen tech hubs in often-overlooked places aim to take $500M+ in seed money from the U.S. Department of Commerce and develop advanced industries and good jobs. ?? “What’s really important and exciting is the marriage of economic growth and economic mobility,” says?Jon Schnur, CEO of?America Achieves, the lead champion for funding the tech hubs. https://lnkd.in/e6HD-B5p

Multiverse is hitting pause on registered apprenticeships in the U.S. The U.K.-based apprenticeship company made a big splash when it entered the American market in 2021, but now says its business here hasn't grown fast enough to support its model. Paul Fain talked with leaders at Multiverse about what hasn't worked for them in the U.S., and to experts in the field about what this high-profile exit might mean for the growth of apprenticeship more broadly. #apprenticeship #nondegree #highered Read it: https://lnkd.in/eTSnU6mv