American Council on Education

1
American Council on Education

• Focus on Adults Workshop 2002
• Developing Learning Alliances With Business and
  Industry

2
Assumptions

• College-level learning occurs outside the campus
  environment
• Non-collegiate learning can be identified and
  measured and awarded college credit
• Partnering with corporations, agencies,
  professional associations, etc. can significantly
  increase the relevancy and responsiveness of the
  college curriculum to the workforce.

3
The College/University Perspectives on
Establishing Learning Alliances

• Goal Setting
• Clarify Products and Services
• Evaluate Institutional Policies

4
Set Clear Goals

• Consistent with institutional mission
• Goals will influence the approach taken to
  establish the partnership

5
Identify Specific Academic Products

• Courses (credit or non-credit)
• Degrees (partial or complete degrees)
• Support Services
• Internship Opportunities
• Access to technology

6
Academic and Institutional Policies

• Determine the extent to which existing policies
  support or pose barriers to the goals of the
  alliance.
• Seek assistance of available resources outside of
  the institution itself (e.g. ACE Credit Program).

7
The Partnering Organization Perspective

• Increase motivation for employees to learn and
  earn degrees
• Establish recognition of quality and credibility
  of training programs when recognized as
  applicable to degree pursuits
• Improve employee participation in training
  programs for those recognized as applicable
  toward college degree programs

8
A MODELUnion Institute University Partnership
withHealthy Children 2000 Project

• Union Institute University regionally
  accredited university with distance learning
  degree completion programs designed for adults.
  Degree planning focus is on developing degree
  plans in individualized areas of concentration.

9
The Partner Organization

• Healthy Children 2000 Project - the nations
  largest provider of lactation management
  education for caregivers, the Healthy Children
  2000 Project is a non-profit research and
  educational institution dedicated to improving
  child health.

10
Strengths of Union Institute University

• Academic policies that include acceptance of ACE
  credit recommendations
• Individualized degree planning that permits
  customized application of transfer courses toward
  innovative, interdisciplinary fields
• Ability to identify faculty beyond our existing
  resources
• Ability to serve adult learners at a distance

11
Strengths of Healthy Children 2000 Project

• International reputation in delivering
  specialized training and education
• Investment in successful ACE CREDIT evaluation to
  validate college-level quality of their courses
• Curriculum recognized by relevant professional
  association for certification purposes

12
HC2K Strengths, Cont.

• Well credentialed team of faculty with prior
  experience teaching at college level
• National and international scope
• Network of 1,500 participants per year completing
  their courses

13
Outcomes

• Union Institute BA degree with concentration in
  Maternal Child Health
• Ability for health care practitioners to access
  the quality training opportunities they seek from
  recognized providers
• Acceptance and application of credit directly
  into an individualized plan of study

14
Barriers to Overcome

• TUI faculty buy-in of HC2K curriculum
• Communicating details of the project to internal
  and external public
• Registration issues for those enrolled at TUI and
  taking HC2K courses concurrently.

15
Other partnership opportunities

• Ford/GM degree program
• Two-year degree program with ACE credit
  recommendations
• Military
• Alcohol and Drug Counseling

16
Thank you

• Timothy E. Mott, Ph.D.
• Dean, Center for Distance Learning
• Union Institute University
• 440 E. McMillan Street
• Cincinnati, OH 45206
• Phone [phone]
• e-mail tmott_at_tui.edu
• www www.tui.edu

17
Challenge

• Describe or design partnership opportunities at
  your campus.
• Evaluate match to institutional mission and
  academic policies that support or impose barriers
  on the partnership.