Leadership & Workforce Pell

It's been interesting and frustrating to watch universities (particularly private universities) stare blankly out the window as they pass the Workforce Pell billboard. 

Workforce Pell took effect in July, but too many university leaders see it as a community college thing. I'm seeing it as a test of sorts for how effectively universities can respond to a rapidly changing definition of "value" in higher education. The universities that pass the test have or will quickly develop a plan. This doesn't have to be complicated, but it does need to have the university authentically consider if workforce development is or will be a core part of the institution's mission or simply an opportunistic revenue experiment. If the answer is a serious and financially supported commitment to workforce development, the plan is easy. 

First, get into the room with the right state leaders in the Governor's office. Bring reams of labor-market evidence, your catalog of market-sensitive credit and non-credit programs, and employer commitments that demonstrate your university is all in on workforce development. Second, ground the presentation and the ask for funding in reasonable and achievable outcomes. If you don't have the program completion, job placement and earnings data required for funding eligibility, demonstrate how your current reporting infrastructure and data ecosystem will be deployed to measure and capture what works AND what doesn't. Third (and this is critically important), connect your current and future programs to the on-ramp(s) that Workforce Pell is intended to create. If the connectivity isn't already there to move students directly into qualified employment, identify how you're going to redesign your programs for that necessary connectivity. Fourth, align your institutional leadership and governance to cross academic affairs, financial aid, enrollment, and external relations. Finally, start small and build your credibility (don't kid yourself that you already have this). A few really well-designed, well-resourced efforts with early results will quickly build your reputation as a serious participate in workforce development.

Like many things in higher ed, this isn't hard. You just need to commit to being all in or step aside and cede the space to your regional community colleges. There's some small amount of dignity in admitting that your university just can't or wont do what's necessary.