CUMU Conference 2019

The Drexel University College of Medicine has offered employment pipelines to address its costly turnover of Medical Assistants. These entry-level, career-ladder positions in STEM were filled by local hires trained in essential and technical skills by Drexel University Human Resources and the College of Medicine and a nonprofit workforce trainer. In 2019, Drexel will create a local employment pipeline for Patient Service Representatives applying the best practices of the existing program thereby cementing its anchor institution strategy of civic engagement and economic inclusion.

Higher education institutions are called to engage with local communities to serve as anchor institutions. These public purposes are not traditionally related to business practices. This successful project illustrated how institutional business needs connect with community employment needs to create positive outcomes. The unique engagement of Drexel Human Resources to train and employ the community’s most valued resources – people – demonstrates the progress institutions of higher education have made to inform the concepts of community engagement and anchor institution strategy.

This session will examine how the University’s institutional anchor strategy has become embedded into its business operations. Presenters will provide a summary of their institution’s methodology in optimizing these pipelines. Specific focus of the presentation will be dedicated to the positive outcomes of the Medical Assistant pipeline, development of the new Patient Service Representative pipeline, and share best practices that were applied from the Medical Assistant model. Session participants will have multiple opportunities to ask questions, provide feedback, and connect with colleagues during the session.

Through collaborations with on-campus and off-campus organizations, the UMB Office of Community Engagement supports three types of initiatives to support the residents of West Baltimore in finding sustainable employment.

Through a collaboration with the Mayor's Office of Employment Development (MOED) and the Southwest Partnership, the UMB Office of Community Engagement runs a weekly, career-focused open house at the Community Engagement Center. Staff from MOED, UMB's Human Resources staffing office, and our office work with community members on a walk-in basis each Wednesday. Individuals can get assistance with online job searches, résumé review, interview skills, and more. To date, we have had more than 300 visits to Workforce Wednesday. More than 100 of those visitors have been hired by a partnering organization.

The Southwest Partnership's Workforce Roundtable runs a community referral program where qualified residents who apply for jobs at Southwest Partnership anchor institutions can get preferred treatment. To date, the anchor institutions participating are UMB and the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Temple University’s Vocational Certificate in Urban Greening and Sustainable Landcare is at the intersection of two major concerns for the University and the City of Philadelphia: sustainability and green industries, and sustainable career paths for returning citizens. The program provides multiple entry points into green industries that are vital to Philadelphia’s mission of sustainability, by combining skills-based experiential training and job readiness curricula for students at the Philadelphia Department of Prisons with post-release paid internships.

This presentation will provide an overview of the Vocational Certificate in Urban Greening and Sustainable Landcare, and the specific elements that address barriers faced by returning citizens. We’ll cover the program’s skills-based experiential model; individualized learning opportunities; and the wide range of partners involved in facilitating the program (including the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Get Healthy Philly, the Mayor’s Office of Reintegration Services, and the Defender Association), enabling both expert instruction and access to a broad support network for students returning to their communities. We’ll also discuss the paid post-release internships, designed to strengthen the connection between the program’s learning objectives and their implementation in the workplace.

By sharing best practices and lessons learned, we aim to facilitate discussion around the ways in which higher education institutions can best serve students re-entering urban communities and workforces. Through creative instructional design and the development of partnerships with diverse organizations, we can develop programs that integrate industry-specific competencies with the skills and networks needed to tackle the numerous barriers faced by returning citizens.

Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc for many people living in the Houston region. The outpouring of support that followed brought with it many opportunities for renewal. Through a workforce development grant, and in partnership with a local community organization, the University of Houston Downtown created a program to address the workforce needs of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. With the support of UHD student mentors, this three semester, continuing education program gave participants their first ever opportunity to attend classes on a college campus, engage in a paid on campus internship, a paid off campus externship, a capstone class and graduation ceremony.

Temple University Pan African Studies Community Education Program (PASCEP) was coalesced from the vision of Annie D. Hyman, a TU School of Social Work graduate, to gain access of resources from the university for the community. In collaboration with the then Pan African Studies Department, administrators, faculty, staff and community professionals provided continuing education and noncredit courses at no cost or a nominal fee to community learners. The programs educational foundation utilized cultural sensitivity and trauma informed care by teaching the community about their history from Africa to the civil unrest in North Philadelphia. 40 years later, PASCEP continues to meet the need of the community through data driven strategies that includes workforce development, adult basic education and transition to higher education for nontraditional students. Through intentional coordinated alignment among the university colleges, workforce, economic development, community organizations and other stakeholders, PASCEP developed a Workforce Connection Hub as an access point for community members. Community Thursday provides opportunities to address trending topics, community centered concerns and facilitates civic discourse and information. Evening Classes provide noncredit courses and certifications that develop personal, professional and organizations efficiency. The programs target audience includes: returning citizens, disabilities including mental health, adult literacy learners, unemployed and underemployed in the eight zip codes around the University.

The desire for high-quality out-of-school time programming in the Norris Homes Community Center presents an opportunity for a meaningful partnership between the Norris Community Residents Council, Inc. (NCRC) and Temple University’s College of Education (TUCOE). A collaborative approach was taken during the planning stages to ensure that the goals are community-driven and that the academic and social needs of Norris children are being met. Therefore, this program is a resident-led model for delivering out-of-school time (OST) education within the community center located at Norris Apartments. The overall goal of this project is to provide assistance to the residents of this community to operate afterschool and summer programs for the children in their neighborhood and ultimately transform this facility into an educational center for their entire community. The curriculum and activities of the afterschool program are academically enriching, project-based, culturally responsive, and aligned to the School District of Philadelphia’s (SDP) standards of academic achievement (e.g., Common Core, PSSA). The NCRC is contracted to provide educational programming, receive professional development on academic instruction and behavior management, and be responsible for the operational aspects of the program. Researchers from Temple University provide the curriculum, standards, and professional development of the NCRC staff to ensure the integrity of service delivery. Temple University is also responsible for program evaluation through data collection, analysis, and reporting. This collaboration requires a continued level of contextual understanding, responsiveness, transparency, joint-decision making, and sustainability efforts.

Led by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Innovate Birmingham’s durable coalition of 15 community partners and more than 30 employers is woven together by a shared belief: talent is distributed equally in our community but opportunity is not. Our goal is to solve two problems with a unified approach: (1) meet the demand of an IT workforce growing at the second-fastest pace in the country; (2) harness the potential of under- and unemployed youth in Greater Birmingham. Our programs establish a sustainable pipeline of talent in Birmingham to fuel inclusive innovation for local employers, meeting IT workforce demand for the region by offering demand-driven education, training and employment opportunities for area youth who are disconnected from the labor market. The proposed session provides a case study of the Innovate Birmingham workforce development framework effort to strengthen ties between two- and four-year programs and build bridges to non-traditional education programs (such as bootcamps and apprenticeships) while connecting students in local high schools to opportunities for training and development for high demand IT occupations. The purpose of this session is to describe the initiation of the workforce partnership that was critical to the creation of the Innovate Birmingham Workforce Development Program. We will discuss the employer engagement process and how feedback from employers was used to guide the development and reiteration of training program.

In 2018, Temple University instituted the Lenfest North Philadelphia Workforce Initiative which is a collaborative and community-informed effort to develop and implement strategies to help local residents secure gainful employment. Temple LNPWI staff will highlight its data collection and “Table Talk” strategy, as well as other efforts for authentic community engagement. These efforts resulted in participation of over 100 local residents, over 60 leaders representing faith-based institutions, involvement of the offices of 8 elected officials and participation of over 70 service providers and dozens of employers. The LNPWI also effectively engaged numerous university students, staff, faculty, administration and alumni.

Furthermore, the LNPWI embraced and fostered the concept of collaboration, coordination and partnership with other institutions of higher education, workforce development service providers, non-profit organizations and city agencies. This presentation will showcase methodologies that worked, talk about the lessons learned through trials and tribulations, and discuss the associated measurable objectives, which included: enhanced community outreach, increased awareness of programs, leveraged financial and in-kind resources, and new services and partnerships. The LNPWI will share its process for soliciting “concepts” for workforce development programming from both the university and the community-at-large.

The presenters will also explain how various community and university partners contributed to the evaluation design for the LNPWI. The process and outcome indicators -- categorized as youth development, job readiness and workforce development, employment and community/university impact -- for this university-based workforce development strategy will be shared.

VCU Health has a long history of fully integrating workforce/pipeline programs into its anchor institution mission. A range of programs prepares community members for health care careers. The first program implemented in 2005, “From Jumpropes to Stethoscopes” supports middle schoolers with health education, summer camps, shadowing experiences and mentoring. Launched in 2009, “Project Search” is a collaboration with Richmond Public Schools, the state Department of Rehabilitation Services and VCU to allow high school seniors with disabilities to spend their senior year at the hospital; students participate in internships to prepare them for work and life.

Based on needs identified by employers, public schools and the community two programs were added last year. “Quick Start to Construction” addresses the need for skilled construction employees for planned projects. Partnering with local law enforcement and a community agency, non-violent offenders participate in a five-week job-readiness program, and receive on the job training. “RVA Pathways to Health Careers” brings a diverse range of community partners together to prepare at risk youth for employment in the health system. Career pathway development continues after employment. Both programs provide skills/education assessments and classes on resume writing, interviewing, team work, appropriate attire, computer and customer service skills, personal budgeting and job search techniques.

Each program has resulted in employment, and robust health and education benefits for employees. The intentional alignment of health system and community workforce goals has resulted in creating viable and meaningful career pathways for our community.