A Systematic Approach to Prior Learning AssessmentBill Koontz & Matt Thomsen

Demographic Info

Sioux City, IA

Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota

Siouxland Population of 120,000+

Demographic Info

Western Iowa Tech Community College

Founded in 1966

Serves 6 counties with 4 branch/center campuses

Credit Enrollment of 6300+ students

70+ programs

Corporate College

Non-Credit Enrollment of 35000+ students

Demographic Info

Wells Enterprises

Founded in 1913

Largest privately held ice cream and frozen treat maker in US

Employee force of over 2500+

Le Mars, IA

Complete Your Degree Initiative

Problem

Aging American Workforce

In demographic terms, about 10,000 baby boomers in the United States will turn 65 every day until about the year 2030, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Death Of Shop Class And America's Skilled Workforce

Without early exposure to shop class many kids are going to lose out on the opportunity to discover whether or not they like making things, and the inclination to pursue a career as a drafter, carpenter, welder or auto mechanic.

Lack of shared space in the community to bring companies together.

Suggest Solutions

Building Incumbent Workers Job Skills with Effective Workforce Training Programs

Utilizing Job Training Experience To Enhance Educational Levels

Utilizing training funds that are directed to evidence-backed programs and to workers who can benefit from those programs.

Build training programs that directly engage employer and industry partners and actively guide students to career specific training. d

Stackable Credentials

Designed to form a pathway for students to acquire credentials along a trajectory.

Have exit and entry points designed in a way to allow students to pick up wherever they left off en route to the next level of achievement.

Associate's degrees leading to bachelor's degrees leading to master's degrees are stacked credentials.

Higher education should act in concert with industry to ensure that standards of quality and rigor are attached to any certification.

Stackable Credentials

Stackable Credentials

The wrinkle in today's approach is that the initial stacks are sliced thinner, typically starting with an industry certification or the completion of a course sequence that provides the student with a marketable skill.

The stack must be built on a solid foundation; without clear standards, we do harm to both the student and the workforce.

Endorsed Stackable Credentials

The NAM-Endorsed Skills Certification System is a system of stackable credentials that can apply to all sectors in the manufacturing industry.

Sector Board Needs

The Western Iowa Tech Community College Industrial Maintenance Sector Board was created to identify current and projected workforce issues and develop strategies to address them.

This board provided an active forum for Industrial Maintenance workforce-related topics/needs in order to keep our economic region competitive and growing.

Business leaders brought together to engage in a structured discussion on the workforce challenges facing Western Iowa’s industries.

The board is charged with providing input on:

• Labor Forecasting - Jobs/Skills/Educational Needs

Needs of Industry

Basic Electrical

Motor Control

Electromechanical Control Systems

Electrical Control Circuits

Electrical Circuits

Electrical Measurements

Electro-Control of Fluid Power

Industrial Electronic Sensors

Industrial Automation

Industrial Electrical

Wiring

Industrial Power Distribution

Programmable Controllers

PLC Systems Troubleshooting

AC Electronic Drives

DC Electronic Drives

 Boiler Systems

Building Automation

Precisions Measurements

Hydraulics

Pneumatics

Pneumatic Troubleshooting

Hydraulic Troubleshooting

Power Transmission

Predictive Maintenance

Instrumentation

Blueprint Reading

Mechanical Drives

Pumps

Systems Troubleshooting

Contract Training Pathways

Electrical Maintenance Technician CertificateLevels 1 - 4

Mechanical Maintenance Technician CertificateLevels 1-4

Reliability TechnicianLevels 1-2

Contract Training Pathways

Electrical Maintenance Tech (Hours)

 Basic

Electrical

Motor Controls

Blueprint Reading

Industrial Wiring

PLC'sElectrical

Safety

Tech Level 1 20 7 5 8 4 4Tech Level 2 16 10 10 10 6 4Tech Level 3 16 16 10 12 18 4Tech Level 4 10 20 8 10 24 4

  Hydraulics PneumaticsBlueprint Reading

Power Transmission

PumpsMechanical

SafetyTech Level

110 7 8 10 9 4

Tech Level 2

16 9 7 12 8 4

Tech Level 3

16 16 10 12 18 4

Tech Level 4

20 15 4 13 20 4

Mechanical Maintenance Tech (hours)

Continuing Education to Credit Conversion

SJT – Structured Job Training

Lawson – Internal Training Log System

Internship Credit Conversion – Work Experience

Other – college, military, certifications

Systematic Pathway to Degree Completion

Recruitment initiated

Joined with Corporate College

Added Academics

Developed Consistent Credit Review

Created Process for Industry Review

HSED to PhD Partnership

WITCC HSED (GED) ELL Associate’s Degree (focus on Tech Studies)

Bellevue University Bachelor’s Degree Master’s Degree PhD

Challenges

No Consistency on Review

Academics and Continuing Education “playing nice”

Defining/Categorizing continuing education into credit

Time for Review – build the time, multiple departmental reviews

Proving importance to college and industry administration

Champions

Recruitment – outside force pushing

Corporate College – eager to convert non-credit experience to credit

Wells Internal Champion to push

Registrar to finalize documents

Industry to make educational advancement part of the culture

Successes

2 graduates after first summer

21 enrolled currently with more coming

Training now has credit conversion in mind

Shift towards industry educational culture

Sustainable continuing education training methodology

Sustainability

Trainings tied to credit if student wishes

Roll down into communities, families, schools, workforce

Continuing to build a pipeline of a trained workforce

Building communication between industry and educational entities

Questions

Questions, comments, wonders, concerns?

Thank you for attending!!!

Contact Info

Bill Koontz, Project Manager, bill.koontz@witcc.edu, x1358

Matt Thomsen, Recruitment Coordinator, matt.thomsen@witcc.edu, x4207