What Do Businesses Want? The Same Things Individuals Do

Blueprint with protractors and rulers on desk

What does human capital strategy mean? The answer seems to differ, depending on who you ask. Ask local elected officials, and the answer will likely involve their plans for K-12 schools or community colleges. Ask  economic development leaders, and they might discuss their strategy to attract more jobs to their region. Ask an employer, and…

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Getting Higher Education in Sync with Workforce: A Q&A with Steve Partridge, Vice President of Workforce and Economic Development at NOVA

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Serving one of the fastest growing communities of the Washington, D.C. suburbs, Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) has faced the challenge of helping local communities prepare for an influx of new jobs in health care, information technology, and cybersecurity. As the vice president for workforce and economic development, Steve Partridge has been NOVA’s point man…

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My Higher Education Story

In September 2017, I graduated from The College of Health Care Professions (CHCP) with a bachelor’s degree in Health Informatics. Though I had completed the program online, I drove nearly 200 miles from my home in San Antonio, Texas, to the graduation ceremony in Houston. That might seem like a lengthy drive, but it was…

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Employers are a critical piece of higher education reform

various groups of people talking and eating in a cafe

Companies are finding it difficult to fill open positions, saying they simply can’t find workers with the right qualifications. The half-life of skills continues to shrink, with many technical skills losing their usefulness after just five years. According to the Pew Research Center, more than half of all working adults now say it is necessary…

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The Student Success Movement’s Next Push: Career Services: A Q&A with Bridget Burns, Executive Director, University Innovation Alliance

Two people going over notes at a desk with two laptops

Earlier this month, the University Innovation Alliance announced its next scale project, with a cohort of seven institutions teaming up to close the gap between college and the workforce. This next scale initiative, which received $2.4 million in funding from Strada Education Network, will involve career services professionals developing innovative concepts to pilot both on…

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5 ideas for change in higher ed from SXSW EDU

Julie Peller participated in a panel at SXSW EDU where she discussed why it is critical for policymakers and institutions of higher education to better understand the evolving needs of today’s students.

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My Student Story as an Independent Student

Daquawn Bruce

Editor’s Note: In this video narrative, Carthage College student Daquawn Bruce discusses his experience as a financially independent student and community college transfer. This story is Daquawn Bruce’s video submission to Higher Learning Advocates’ Voices of Today’s Students, a national campaign to educate policymakers about the demographic shift and experiences of the modern higher learning…

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