Empire State Today

DCC to expand offerings that bolster career and academic success of diverse community of learners

Dutchess Community College announced it will design micro-pathways in business, construction, and information technology/data science in partnership with the Educational Design Lab (the Lab), a national nonprofit that designs, implements and scales new learning models for higher education and the future of work.

About Education Design Lab: The Lab is a national nonprofit that co-designs, prototypes, and tests education-to-workforce models through a human-centered design process focused on understanding learners’ experiences, addressing equity gaps in higher education, and connecting new majority learners to economic mobility.

Through its Community College Growth Engine Fund (the Fund), the Lab works with colleges to create micro-pathways for students who may not have previously be able to enroll in full-time study, slowing their academic and professional progress, for several reasons, including time and financial constraints.

What are micro-pathways? Co-designed with learners and employers, micro-pathways are defined as two or more stackable credentials, including a 21st-century skill microcredential, that are flexibly delivered to be achieved within less than a year and result in a job at or above the local median wage, and start (l)earners on the path to an associate degree.

President and CEO of the Lab, Bill Hughes, elucidates some of the reasons for developing micro-pathways: “The world of work has never before put such an onus on skills as exist today. Learners and earners need to show evidence of skills to be eligible for advancement in their career journeys. Employers need workers whose skills align with their talent requirements. The traditional degree alone does not solve for either of these, as it may be too time-intensive or expensive, and it may not align with the fast-changing needs of the labor market. The response to these challenges must be a shift to open up more affordable, accessible, job-aligned routes to employment opportunities. The work of the Community College Growth Engine Fund does that, and the Lab is excited to launch its next and largest cohort.”

DCC will join the Lab’s third cohort in February 2023 along with 17 other community colleges across the country, including the five other schools in SUNY’s Hudson Valley Education and Workforce Consortium — Ulster, Westchester, Orange, Rockland and Sullivan.

As part of its ongoing efforts to increase higher education accessibility and economic mobility to the Hudson Valley community, the College will utilize this opportunity to work with employers to develop and evaluate micro-pathways that bring value to both the individual, in search of higher wages and professional growth, and industry, in need of employees with specified sets of skills.

Director of DCC’s Workforce Education & Development Paloma Krakower says of the initiative: “The thing I really like about the Lab’s model is that it works in tandem with the College’s Guided Pathways framework, positioning students on an upward career trajectory and giving them touchpoints and credentials to help them build momentum along the way. Because the credentials students will earn in micro-pathways are stackable, portable and flexible, students managing multiple responsibilities in addition to work and education will be able to move more seamlessly between their roles to realize their academic and professional goals.”

DCC President Dr. Peter Grant Jordan shares his support of the micro-pathways initiative: “Through partnering with the Education Design Lab, the College will have the chance to incorporate more industry input into its program development. Through our industry advisory councils, employers will help design the curriculum and be involved in the evaluation process, meaning that we will be able to really align the needs of our students and industry stakeholders to have an even greater impact. Our participation in the Lab will provide much needed perspective and data-driven insight to inform relevant programming that will create new possibilities for our students and employers throughout the region.”

 Original source can be found here.