Reflections on Building University/Industry Partnerships:

An Experiential Learning Approach

Michele Summers, Purdue College of Technology at Lafayette

Sue Ann Ford, Wabash National Corporation

Reflections on building university/industry partnerships: An experiential learning approach What?

Why?

How?

Productivity Enhancement Success Yields Pride and Sense of Ownership Succession Planning Recruiting Tool Retention Tool

Why Employers Provide Education Programs:The Research

Investment

2012 Reinstituted Tuition Reimbursement Updated Policy: $4,200/year - $30,000/lifetime Education Fair >$100,000 Tuition

WIIFWABASH?

Started 2005 to fill supervisory bench Standard of “What Good Looks Like” to

home-grown leadership Internationally-known Locally revered Network with other student professionals

Strategy for ROI

Workplace-related Specific if possible Appeal to instructor Instructor selection criteria includes work

experience Teach multiple times when possible = business

familiarity Presentation to management

Letter to Instructor Dear Instructor,   Welcome to the Learning Center! We are excited that you are here to help us further our training/educational

endeavors. We want to make sure that you have all you need to make your experience here pleasant and successful.

 

As an instructor of our associates, you have the unique ability to tie their education to their work, and we would ask that you make every effort to do so. As activities and projects are introduced, please give strong consideration to making those experiential opportunities as true to their work as possible. We will be happy to assist!

  Please call upon me (765-771-5806) or Sarah Canarsky, Learning Center Administrator (765-771-5406), should you

have any questions.   Again, welcome and thank you. Sue Ann Ford Manager, Organizational Development  

     

WIIFSTUDENTS?

Increased student learning and retention Andragogy (Knowles, 1980) assumes the following

about the design of learning: Adults have the need to know why they are learning

something Adults learn through doing Adults are problem-solvers Adults learn best when the subject is of immediate use

WIIFWABASH?

Immediate application: Solve problems Create, improve processes Ownership in results

Removing waste = better work environment, more profit!

Gaining Knowledge: Learner Requirements

Willing to be actively involved in the experience

Able to reflect on the experience Possess and use analytical skills to

conceptualize the experience Possess decision making and problem solving

skills in order to use the new ideas

Design

Two objectives: one for the experience one for the debrief discussion

Development

Goals Instructions Roles Tasks Materials

Reverse-engineered characteristics

Who is it for? Describe the audience. How many participants per session? How long should it last? What experience/dynamic should it mirror? What group dynamics or constraints should be represented in

the experience? What skills/knowledge should it engage? What factors should make the task easier/more difficult? How should it feel? What other characteristics can you describe?

whole-system.com

Panelists Bud Smart

24 yrs at Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. Production Manager, Camry Trim and Final Assembly; 16 yrs in

management Started Purdue OLS 2008 Senior - graduate May 2014

Joe Hancock 28 year employee of Wabash National Corporation Plant Manager of the Dry Van business unit of the Commercial

Trailer Group Spent 7 years in the Purdue OLS program:

OLS Certificate 2007 Associate Degree in OLS 2009 Bachelor degree in OLS May 2012

Training Methods Course

Select work-related job Identify tasks, skills Understand:

Adult Learning Principles Varying learning styles Appropriate, effective formats

Develop training manual

Coaching & Developing Coaching & Developing EmployeesEmployees

No longer are technical skills enough to sustain you in your role. You now have employees with those skills. Therefore, it is time to learn how to coach & develop employees so you can motivate them to complete the necessary work. The skills that made you a great team player won’t necessarily make you a great supervisor. It’s not enough to keep yourself motivated — you have to be a coach & a cheerleader, & you have to deal with people who have bad days, interpersonal conflicts, & skill deficiencies.

Course ContentCourse Content

• Coaching & Developing people

• Communication• How to communicate with

people• How to read peoples

expressions

“Where the Rubber meets the Road”

Joe’s examples:

Statistics class

Interviewing

Budgets

The Best Results

The Best Results

Questions?