The Gap is teaching community college students job searching skills, college faculty are helping teach McDonald's employees English language skills, and NextEra Energy Resources created an apprenticeship program to help students transition into high-paying jobs.

These are just a few of the high-impact partnerships that Skills for America’s Future (SAF) is highlighting as “Models of Success.” SAF hopes these types of programs will be replicated by other community colleges and corporations that want to work together but don’t know the best way to get started. So far, eight exemplary Models of Success are posted on the SAF website.

SAF, administered by the Aspen Institute, is a national effort focused on partnerships between community colleges and employers. Since it was launched by President Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board in 2010, it has helped create or expand partnerships between 30 employers and 200 colleges.

These partnerships have different goals, said SAF Director Karen Elzey, who also serves on the American Association of Community Colleges’ board of directors. Some are aimed at developing the talent pipeline, while others target training for incumbent workers or create a community benefit, such as providing career skills.

Career skills

One of the Models of Success is the Gap for Community Colleges partnership, launched by the Gap clothing retailer in seven cities in February 2011. It has since grown to 15 sites and is expected to expand to 21.

To date, about 800 community college students have completed the program, which includes a three-session workshop covering resume writing, interview skills and practical workplace skills, such as managing people, setting priorities and communicating effectively, said Charlene White, director of the Gap initiative.

Although many of the students are pursuing careers in fashion merchandizing, the skills they learn are useful for any career, White said.

The sessions are tailored to community colleges’ needs. Gap managers ran three classes in the Introduction to Fashion Merchandising course at Houston Community College, for example, she said, while the partnership with Portland Community College (Oregon) included an all-day Saturday program for underserved high school students as part of the college's Future Connect program.

The real value of the training is “motivating students and getting them excited about going into the workforce,” White said.

In addition to the workshops, Gap offers optional off-campus modules, including a mock interview session at a Gap store, a feedback session that assesses students’ resumes and presentation skills, and a job-shadowing activity with a Gap manager.

Montgomery College (MC) in Maryland is involved with two Models of Success partnerships, one with Discovery Communications, a media company that owns several cable channels, including TLC and Animal Planet, and another with Accenture, a global management and technology consulting company.

A handful of senior executives from Discovery came to two of MC’s campuses earlier this year to talk to students about career opportunities in digital media and emerging technologies. The company is also taking part in MC job fairs and mentorships.
 
The college is one of six community colleges working with an Accenture program aimed at helping students acquire the “soft skills” needed to compete in the job market, such as effective communication, appropriate conflict resolution and critical thinking.

Accenture executives have given presentations to MC business students on such topics as becoming a CEO, developing a strategic business plan and presentation etiquette.

The  sessions “give students a glimpse into the real world of consulting in business,” said Clarice Somersall, special assistant to the MC senior vice presidents for academic affairs and student services.

There is no guarantee that any of these partnerships will lead to jobs, but “the exposure is so important,” Somersall said. “Students routinely tune out faculty, but when an Accenture executive talks about portable skills and presentation skills, it resonates with them. To have that message reinforced is huge.”

Models of Success

Other Models of Success highlighted by SAF:

• McDonald’s English Under the Arches program uses community college faculty to provide English language instruction to employees who are paid while they learn.

•  The Motorola Moments program is a partnership with Harper College in Illinois that provides a weekly “lunch and learn” summer program that helps students connect their class assignments with real-world tasks. Motorola employees address such topics as critical thinking, innovation, marketing, communications, interviewing and lifelong learning.

•  Pacific Gas & Electric’s PowerPathway program with 16 community college partners provides introductory courses in the utility industry, energy industry-related certificate and associate degree programs, and advanced capstone courses for those already working in the field. The company has made a commitment to SAF to expand the program with a $1.5 million annual in-kind investment to community colleges and other partners over the next three years.

• UPS Metropolitan College is a collaborative effort of UPS, Jefferson Community and Technical College in Kentucky and other partners. Students work part-time at UPS on the night shift, while the partners pay their tuition plus bonuses for completing credit milestones and graduating.

• Indian River State College (IRSC) in Florida has partnered with NextEra Energy through its subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Co., to meet the company’s needs for more workers. Students who complete the two-year Power Plant Technology Institute developed by IRSC and NextEra can get jobs at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant, earning about $56,000 annually.

Long-term sustainability

Promoting these partnerships is crucial in encouraging further collaboration.

“In many cases, employers don’t have community colleges in mind,” Elzey said. “Or they might have had a bad experience in the past, or they think of community colleges as remedial schools.”

Both community colleges and employers need guidance in figuring how to work together, and SAF is in the early stages of identifying the criteria of what makes a partnership successful.

“You’ve got to be very clear about the ultimate goal—what you’re trying to accomplish,” Elzey said.

It’s also important to determine who is contributing to the partnership, what they are contributing, who will manage the relationship and who will benefit.

The partnership “needs to be ingrained in the company,” she said. And it needs strong support from the community college at the highest level—the  president, if possible—to ensure it will be sustained as lower-level administrators come and go.

It’s also crucial for the employer and community college to build trust and stay in touch so they can meet each other’s needs, Elzey said. For example, when a company has jobs to fill, it needs to work with the college to make sure students know about those opportunities and are learning the right skills.

When approached by an employer hoping to form a partnership, Elzey urges colleges “to be very clear if the timing is not right or it is not a good fit.” Just because a relationship might not work now, “don’t close the door on future opportunities,” she said.