Moving Beyond Degrees; Why competency is currency

Moving Beyond Degrees:
Why Competency is
Currency
Michael Bettersworth
Texas State Technical College
michael.bettersworth@systems.tstc.edu
November 17, 2010
TWC
Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Source: CollegeGrad.com. College graduates moving back home in larger number. 22 July 2009!

U.S. Credit Card Debt
$826.5 billion
U.S. Student Loan Debt
$829.785 billion
An estimated “$300 billion in federal student loan
debts have been incurred in the last four years...”
2007 Sub-Prime Mortgage
Balance: $1.3 Trillion

Four times the rate of
inﬂation.
Almost twice the rate of
healthcare.

Source: Cronin, Joseph & Horton, Howard.Will higher education be the next bubble to burst? The Chronicle of Higher Education. May 22, 2009.
“There is a growing sense among the public
that higher education might be
overpriced and under-delivering.”

Source: Business Roundtable, New survey reveals obstacles to training and education are threatening U.S. competitiveness and worker prosperity. October 8, 2009
And yet...
“American workers’ unmet need for further
education and training is exacerbating
today’s unemployment problem and portending
long-term trouble for workers and businesses --
even after the economy recovers.”
-Business Roundtable

The War on Work
The Education Dichotomy
The Higher Ed Imbalance
Measuring What Counts
Moving Beyond Degrees

“...the collective effect [...] has been
this marginalization of lots and
lots of jobs. And I realized [...] to
me the most important thing to
know and to really come face to
face with is the fact that I got it
wrong about a lot of things.”
“We have
declared War on
Work”
Mike Rowe, Dirty Jobs
Source: TED Speech, December 2008.

There is much talk of
“diversity” in
education, but not
much accommodation
of the kind we have in
mind when we speak
about the quality of a
man, or a woman: the
diversity of
disposition.!

Source: Dreher, Rod.The soft bigotry of high expectations.The Dallas Morning News. May 29, 2009.
Rod Dreher
“We have come to see labor as something
we do in exchange for money and not as an
expression of our intrinsic nature. Many a
white-collar man works hard but lives in a
world of soul-killing abstraction, where
what he does, what he feels and who he is
have little to do with one another.”

Source:The new competition for america’s jobs.Trends Magazine. June 2010.
Up to 3 million highly-skilled technical
positions remain unﬁlled as of June 2010.
This “War on Work” has led to the
devaluation of certain career and educational
pursuits.
How did we get here?

80%
20%
Blue Collar
White Collar
“Mental”
“Manual”
The Class of Work

This division has been
applied to American
education.

Smith-Hughes Act 1917
Education Dissected
AcademicVocationalEducation

Smith-Hughes Act 1917
Education Dissected
Academic Vocational

65%
20% 15%
Skilled “Labor”
“Professional”
Unskilled “Labor”
“Cubicles” “Fries with that?”
“Experts”
“Craftsmen”
“Developers”
“Skilled”
“Technicians”
“Engineers”
“Paid”
“Hired”
New Model - Still Off

Laser Optics
Laser Electro Optic Devices • Continuous Wave Lasers • Pulsed lasers •
Thin Films •Vacuum Technology • Geometrical and Wave Optics

Instrumentation & Process Control
Proportional, Integral and Derivative Control • Loop Tuning
Control Loop Systems • Computerized Control Systems (Allen
Bradley & Siemens) • Wonderware Graphics Fronts • Delta V
systems • Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering
Materials Classification • Non-Destructive Testing • Alloying • Plastics •
Polymers • Composites • Advanced CNC • Tools & Fixtures • Electrical
Theory • Materials Strength • Fluid Mechanics & Applications • Machine
Design • • 3D Solid Modeling • CAD/CAM • Physics • Statistics •
Welding Processes • GTAW • GMAW • SMAW

Nanotechnology
Nanotech Characteristics • Image characterization • Nanotech
Processes • Scanning Electron Microscopy • Atomic Force Microscopy •
Transmission Electron Microscopy • Class 100 Clean Room • Continuous
Wave • Pulsed Laser • Geometrical Optics • Wave Optics •
Semiconductor Manufacturing

Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics, and Engineering Research
“CASPER”
Hypervelocity Impacts and Dusty Plasmas Lab & Space Science
Lab (SSL) are supplied with full time technical support using TSTC
faculty and students with CASPER's technical support staff.
National laboratory model with Baylor/TSTC.

Source: Hacker,A & Dreifus, C.Are colleges worth the price of admission.The Chronicle of Higher Education. July 11, 2010.
Higher education must serve all of these
segments; however, according to the Chronicle of
Higher Education,“colleges are taking on
too many roles and doing none of them
well.”

“Over the next ten
years, 26 of the top
30 fastest growing
jobs will require
some post-
secondary
education or
training...The
demand for skilled
workers is outpacing
supply, resulting in
attractive, high-paying
jobs going unﬁlled.”
Emily Stover DeRocco
President,The Manufacturing Institute, National Center for the American Workforce
Former Assistant Secretary of Labor for Education and Training

Therefore, it is reasoned, we
must increase college
graduation rates. In Texas we
call this,“Closing the Gaps.”
What Gaps Are We Closing?

0
27500
55000
82500
110000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Texas Public Two-Year Colleges Awards
Texas Public Four-Year Universities Awards
College graduation is increasing in Texas.
That’s a good thing.

Technical awards are ﬂat/declining.
Academic awards are now the most common.
This is incongruent with job demand.
0
12500
25000
37500
50000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Texas Technical Public TwoYear Awards
Texas Academic Public Two-Year Awards

Academic
Transfer

Launchpad Fund Job Building Fund
Career and Technical
Scholarship Fund
$10,000,000 $10,000,000$5,000,000
Equipment for high-
demand technical
programs at two-year
colleges.
Support nonproﬁt
programs preparing
low-income students
for high-demand
occupations.
Scholarships for two-
year college students
enrolled in programs
for high-demand
occupations.
The Texas JET Fund

Source: McNichol, Oliff, and Johnson. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. States continue to feel recession’s impact. October 7, 2010

State budget cuts will likely lead to
further reductions in technical training
capacity.

Source: House Education & Labor Committee (May 12, 2009).“High school dropout crisis threatens U.S. economic growth and competitiveness, witnesses tell house panel”. Press release. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
Nationwide, 7,000 students drop out of high
school every day.
- U.S. House Education & Labor Committee

Source: Bridgeland, Dilulio and Burke Morison, The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts, A report by Civic Enterprises in association with the Peter
D. Hart Research Associates, Washington, DC, March 2006.
I dropped out of school because…

Source: Bridgeland, Dilulio and Burke Morison, The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts, A report by Civic Enterprises in association with the Peter
D. Hart Research Associates, Washington, DC, March 2006.
I could have graduated...

One in every four students leaves college
before completing sophomore year.
Source: American College Testing

Only about 60% of Americans who enter
a four-year college graduate with a
degree within six years.
Source: American College Testing

“Before making
any decision,
prospective
students should
contemplate the
debt levels they
are willing to
assume, along
with realistic
salary
expectations
after graduating.” Tom Pauken
Commissioner
Texas Workforce Commission

“Unless we can align career
and technology education
with what is needed in the
workforce, we will simply
not be able to realize the
vast potential of the Texas
Energy Cluster or other
high-growth sectors.”
“…I believe that our
education system
should make a shift to
one that is market-
driven and takes into
account the skills
needed by employers.” Tom Pauken
Commissioner
Texas Workforce Commission

In order to affect change in these established
institutions we must measure the right things and
respond accordingly.

Activity
Measurements
Performance
Measurements
Enrollments
Demographics
Contact Hours
Course Completion
Graduates
Numbers of Awards
Award Levels
National Benchmarks
Placement Rate
Earnings
Student Satisfaction
Employer Satisfaction
New Companies
Return on Investment
Value to Taxpayer
Efﬁciency
What’s Measured What Counts

Example: Earnings Data

Source: Kelley, P.,The dreaded “P” word: an examination of productivity in public postsecondary education, July 2009.
Median earnings in Alabama employment market, and certiﬁcates/degrees weighted by value to the state and individuals:

Median earnings in Alabama employment market, and certiﬁcates/degrees weighted by value to the state and individuals:
Source: Kelley, P.,The dreaded “P” word: an examination of productivity in public postsecondary education, July 2009.

If you earn a bachelor’s degree, you will earn
$1,000,000 more over the course of your life.
BUSTED

It’s not that you study,
but what you study
in relation to market
demand.

“Imagination is more
important than knowledge.”

“Imagination is more
important than” a TEK.
Employability is more
important than a degree.
Return on investment is
more important than a
contract hour.
Placement is more important
than enrollment.

"A university degree
used to be an entree to
a job.”
“Their university degree
means they have a good,
solid education but not
necessarily something
that translates easily
into a job.” Ann Buller, President
Centennial College
Source: Birchard, K. (2010) Canadian university graduates are going back to the classroom for vocational training. The Chronicle. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/
article/Canadian-University-Graduates/66078/?sid=cc&utm_source=cc&utm_medium=en.

"The colleges have
become kind of a
ﬁnishing school for
university graduates.”
Enrollment of "postgraduate
students" at Seneca College
has increased at a steady
rate, making up 15
percent of the full-
time student body and
50 percent of the part-
time population in
2009.
Rick Miner, President Emeritus
Seneca College
Source: Birchard, K. (2010) Canadian university graduates are going back to the classroom for vocational training. The Chronicle. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/
article/Canadian-University-Graduates/66078/?sid=cc&utm_source=cc&utm_medium=en.

Source: Zernike, K. “Making college relevant.” The New Yokr Times. January 3, 2010.!

The colleges that most students
attend "need to streamline
their programs, so they
emphasize employability.”
Anthony P. Carnevale
Director, Georgetown Center
Georgetown University

“If educators don't
provide people with
employability all the
other missions, the
more grand missions
that are talked about at
colleges and
universities, they are
not going to
achieve those
either.”

“If you can't make
people employable,
they are not going
to participate fully
in the life of their
times in this
system.”

We must develop talent
pipelines aligned with
market demand, not simply
increase college completion...
..and measure performance throughout.

Traditional higher education is a linear
progression built on courses, semesters,
degree plans and graduation. In order to
respond to the nation’s workforce
needs, we must do better.
This is a national competitiveness and
national security priority.

Start
Enroll
in Program
Intro to Auto
Automotive Electrical
Automotive Hydraulics
Intro to Diesel
Diesel Electrical
Diesel Hydraulics
Intro to Industrial
Systems
Industrial Electrical
Industrial Hydraulics
Traditional Curriculum Model
Source: Ron Sanders, Texas State Technical Collge

Start
Assessment
Automotive
Applications
Diesel Applications Industrial Applications HVAC Applications
Path
Technology Core
Basic Hydraulics
Basic Electrical
Basic Controls
Mechanical Principles
Thermodynamic Principles
Basic Computing
Core Curriculum Model
Source: Ron Sanders, Texas State Technical Collge

TSMC

Fast-Track Model

Modularized curriculum with
embedded certificates in
flexible schedules aligned with
employer demand where student
success is defined as job
placement, not simply completing
a course.
MODEL:

Employers must develop more
sophisticated competency-based
talent pipeline integrations to
increase capacity.

Standard Talent Pipeline
College Career
Quality assurance of new hire is limited.
Retention can suffer if bad ﬁt.
Time to full productivity delayed.
Stronger candidates have been cherry picked.
Insufﬁcient volume of candidates.
-
-
-
-
-
Interview
Position Full Time
Hire
Enroll

Improved Talent Pipeline
College Career
Interview
Early
Look
Advisory Position
-
-
-
-
-
Enroll
Full TimeHire

Extended Talent Pipeline
College Career
Intern
Early
Look
InterviewScholar-
ship
Position
-
-
-
-
-
Enroll
Full TimeHireAdvisory

Advanced Talent Pipeline
College Career
-
-
-
-
-
Enroll
Intern
Early
Look
Full Time
Hire
Interview
Scholar-
ship
Position Co-OpAdvisory

Sponsorship Elements
College Career
Part Time Employment
Candidate Pays Tuition
Employment
Beneﬁts, etc.
Reimbursed Tuition
Pay Remaining Tuition
2Year Contract
Performance
Visits
Full TimeHireInterviewCo-OpAdvisory
-
-
Enroll
Intern
Scholar-
ship
Position Sponsor

Capacity Building Talent Pipeline
College
Middle School High School
SecondaryCollege
Career
Certs
Full TimeHireInterviewCo-OpSponsor
Position Scholar-
ship
InternAdvisory
CompeteCampsToursCareer Interview
Dual
CreditEnroll

Aerospace Capacity Pipeline

Jr. ROTC High School

College

Career

Workforce education is not about
keeping students in seats.
It’s about getting people
out of seats and on their feet.

FundingValue instead of Time.

The Next Phase:
Skills Validation
(stay tuned)

The War on Work
The Education Dichotomy
The Higher Ed Imbalance
Deﬁning Student Success
Moving Beyond Degrees

Source: Gardner, J. "Excellence: Can We Be Equal and Excellent Too?", p. 86 (1961)
An excellent plumber is inﬁnitely
more admirable than an incompetent
philosopher.
The society which scorns excellence in plumbing
because plumbing is a humble activity and
tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is
an exalted activity will have neither good
plumbing nor good philosophy.
John W. Gardner
President, Carnegie Corporation
Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.

Moving Beyond Degrees; Why competency is currency

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