Plus 50 colleges roll with the changes
By Matthew Dembicki, Published August 14, 2009

Thanks to a lagging national economy, the blueprint for a national initiative to engage older learners looks a lot different than it did a year ago when it was launched.

The spiraling economy even prompted one participating community college, Chaffee College (California), to drop out of the Plus 50 Initiative. The institution could not sustain the program given the draconian budget cuts in California.

But the other 14 colleges in the national program did what two-year colleges do best: adapt and adapt quickly.

In January, many of the colleges participating in the Plus 50 Initiative started seeing that a growing number of students enrolling in their Plus 50 projects geared toward older learners were dislocated workers. In Washington state, the Community College of Spokane expected to enroll 45 older learners in its programs. Instead, about 150 individuals signed on.

At the initiative’s first annual meeting last month, many of the Plus 50 colleges noted that they have shifted from offering enrichment programs, such as arts and crafts and history, to general short-term job training. Those programs are helping older dislocated workers become acquainted with the skills needed in today’s workforce. The programs are particularly focused on basic computer skills training, resume-writing and interviewing.

Northern Virginia Community College held a free community symposium in June that featured discussions that ranged from job skills and volunteering to using social media networks for personal and professional enrichment, said Keith Wynn, the 50 Plus program coordinator at the college. The most popular activity was the resume and portfolio critique by college staff volunteers, he said. Seven out of 10 participants at the symposium—which drew about 50 people—brought their resumes for review, he said.

Several Plus 50 colleges are offering courses to help older learners start their own businesses—such as St. Louis Community College (Missouri)—or they are helping them plug into growing job fields. With a growing "voice-over" talent demand in Raleigh, N.C., for radio, audio books and the Internet, Wake Technical Community College (WTCC) began offering such voice training courses. It now has a wait list, said Martha Williams, dean of community projects and education programs at the college.

Some participating colleges are focusing older workers skills in the virtual world. WTCC created a "virtual assistant" certificate program that trains workers who previously worked as office assistants to provide their services online. So a person in North Carolina can provide clerical services to a company in, say, California through the Internet.

Other colleges have focused on addressing industries with well-known worker shortages—nursing and teaching. In Florida, the shortage of teachers prompted Santa Fe College (SFC) to reach out to plus-50 learners. Through the state’s Educator Preparation Institute, the college trains newly hired teachers and potential instructors who have at least a bachelor’s degree. This year, 30 people signed up for the program, said Paul Hutchins, the Plus 50 program director at SFC.

The college’s Plus 50 program is also trying a similar approach to address the nursing shortage in the state, Hutchins said. SFC is working with current clinical nurses who are approaching retirement to consider a second career in teaching future nurses. It tested a Nursing Educator Preparation Institute this spring and plans to officially launch it this fall, he said.

Luzerne County Community College (Pennsylvania) also addressed the nursing issue. It partnered with local hospitals to help retired nurses get back into the field. Many of those nurses have been retired for a decade but have to go back to work because their spouse lost his or her job. But they feel intimidated by new technology, said Christine Donnolo, the college’s Plus 50 director.

In Minnesota, Century College focused on the health care industry, redirecting and preparing dislocated front-desk workers for the field. After its first class, the program placed 13 students in jobs, said Mary McKee, program director at the college. However, local hospitals are freezing jobs because of the economy, so the college will nix that program for the fall, she said.

Several of the participating colleges are using their unique resources to serve older learners. Western Dakota Technical Institute (South Dakota) created a course that combined classroom teaching and outdoor exploration to provide hands-on training as paid and volunteer interpretive rangers for the National Park Service. The college this spring graduated its first class of 10 students, who visited and talked with rangers at four national parks in the college’s service area.

Many of the Plus 50 colleges are gearing up to focus on volunteering, mainly by pairing experienced, older students with at-risk students to serve as mentors and tutors. Central Florida Community College is tapping its older students to volunteer as mentors for former prisoners. The college’s service area will soon house the largest female prison in the world and the college wants older citizens to serve as role models for incarcerated women who will enter the local community when they are released, said Jerone Gamble, the college’s Plus 50 director.

Despite the tough economy and shrinking budgets, several of the colleges have earned key support for the Plus 50 programs from their presidents, board members and business partners. Clover Park Technical College (Washington) wasn’t able to fill its continuing education coordinator and manager positions—key to its Plus 50 program—because of budget issues, said Mabel Edmonds, who runs the program. But the college president tapped a reserve account to fund a manager and another staffer for at least a year, she noted.

College officials noted that the retooled training programs are not just conveyor-belt systems to get dislocated workers ready for new careers. Many of the programs offer a personal approach to help the workers, who often have only a high school education and have worked in one job for decades.

Cape Cod Community College (Massachusetts) used part of its Plus 50 funding to hire a part-time adviser for the program to talk and advise dislocated workers about their old jobs and their future. The adviser works eight hours a week, serving 59 students whose average age is 56, said Susan Miller, the college’s program director.

"The initial interview is often just listening," she said.

The Plus 50 Initiative is a three-year, $3.2 million project funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies and managed by the American Association of Community Colleges. For more information, visit http://plus50.aacc.nche.edu.