Continuing Education & Workforce Development Committee - Annual Report for 2020-2021

Continuing Education and Workforce Development (CEWD) 2020-2021 Committee Members: Philip Nelan (Chairperson), Alison Cimino (Secretary),Gabriel Lataianu, Anuradha Srivastava, Humberto Morales, and Elaine Friedman.

President’s Liaison: Dean Hui-Yin Hsu

COC Liaison: OPEN

Steering Committee Liaison: Agnieszka Tuszynska

Student Representative: OPEN

Dates Met: September 30, 2020; December 9, 2020; February 17, 2021; and                                                                 May 12, 2021

• The committee met four times on Zoom, twice in Fall 2020 and twice in Spring 2021.
• Philip Nelan served as the committee chair and Alison Cimino served as secretary.
• Alison Cimino was elected committee chair for 2021 and the secretary position remains open.

• Committee Members and Terms 2020-21: Philip Nelan (Chair since Spring 2019) (Member since Fall 2018); Anuradha Srivastava (Member since Fall 2019); Alison Cimino (Member since Fall 2018, Secretary since Spring 2019); Gabriel Lataianu (Member since Fall 2019) & Humberto Morales (Member since Spring 2020); Elaine Friedman (Member since Spring 2021)

• Agnieszka Tuszynska (Steering Committee Liaison since Spring 2019).

Elections for 2021-2022: During our final meeting, May 12^th, the committee held elections for 2020-2021 year. The Committee discussed if anyone wanted to run for the office of Committee Chair and Secretary, as Philip Nelan’s term on the committee ends Spring 2021. Alison Cimino was voted as chair and the secretary position remains open. 

Dean Hsu and the committee thanks Chair Philip Nelan, for his leadership and service since 2018. Dean Hsu and the committee welcomes Alison Cimino as incoming chair and thanks her for her service as secretary since 2018.

Dean Hsu’s Update Report

For FY21 during Pandemic, CEWD served a total of 6,019 students- 4,566 students from grant-funded programs and 1,453 from tuition-based programs. During a time of uncertainty and economic downturn, QCC CEWD served thousands of people through our workforce training programs and place them into internships and or jobs. Despite the challenges caused by COVID, CEWD was able to bring in highly competitive and high-profile grants such as the $5 Million Department of Labor Strengthening Community College Grant, entitled “Co-Designing an Integrated Accelerated Pathways Model with Employers and the Workforce Development System: Driving System Changes through the CUNY Community Colleges Consortium” and $435,000 New York State Consolidated Funding supporting Certified Recovery Peer Advocate (CRPA) entitled, “Building Career Pathways for Talent Pipelines.” In addition, CEWD/CUNY along with 5 other community colleges were selected national winners by Education Design Lab (EDL) Community Colleges Engine Fund. This work allowed CEWD to work with faculty and subject matters experts from the employers to build the high value industry recognized credentials such as Software Engineering and Cloud Computing. With EDL funding, we have more than 400 people sign up for the Cloud Computing bootcamp program. With Perkins funding support, CEWD offered Cloud Computing to more than 500 students and many of them are CUNY and QCC students as well as staff and faculty. Because of the great work, QCC CEWD has been selected to receive funding and participate in the New York City Jobs CEO Council to further enhance Software Engineering micro credential and offer it to CUNY students 215 (85% 4-year students and 15% 2-year students) and facilitated the AAS apprenticeship design program with Amex and Citi Group. The model was also replicated to ACE Upskilling Program to server additional 150 people who are unemployed, underemployed, and dislocated. Many of them are CUNY graduates. I am very pleased to report that our CRPA and Tech Workforce Training programs had been recently publicly recognized by Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. The following listed updates shared at the meetings throughout the year:

• Far Rockaway learning site: Immersive Learning Program extending to Far Rockaway area. There is a new building. QCC Building in Far Rockaway. They want to move forward with the building and the committee members in Far Rockaway.
• We are funding six sections of employment that will include QCC alumni. We had many applications. We were able to screen out 50 and then select 25 students. We will continue to offer more sections next year and imbed 21^st century workplace skills.
• CEWD is now a NYS Eligible Training Provider
• CEO Council #1: Software Engineering Micro-Credential Career Track Boot Camp
• CEO Council #2: AAS Programs
  • Medical Assistant—Punita Bhansali (Biology)
  • Computer Information Systems— Roumen Vragov (Business)
  • Internet and Information Technology— Bob Kueper (ET)
• Education Design Lab: Software Engineering Micro-Credential Career Track Boot Camp and Clous Computing
• Headache & Art (NYU): Public Health
• College Justice Program and John Jay Institute: Formerly Incarcerated students and continuing education and workforce development opportunities
• Five-million-dollar award received from Department of Labor Strengthening Community (SSC) Grant—all six colleges will work together as a consortium, multiple exits and entry and accelerated path. Systemic changes, take it and expand it in area, with proposal for systemic changes.
• Micro level: Creating programs with tech force.
• Bringing employers to the table to persuade employers to connect with these programs.
• Students will receive credit for prior learning and credit transfer.
• Communicate with industry
• Financially sustainable for youth and adults
  • Data science machine learning
  • Cybersecurity
  • Health care sector, BMCC is working on EMT
  • La Guardia, Community Health workers
  • BCC Medical billing
• Path for Credit for Prior Learning Policy (CPL)—faculty should be part of it so we will hear about it more.
• CLEP (credits for prior learning) so that they can be in the program.
• AWS training course: Complete the program, pass certification program, and then take the exam to get into the course. Presently we are creating a process.
• TIAA and Tishman Speyer: Working with TIAA and Tishman on Speyer CEO Counsel. We are working on curriculum together. Local needs assessment. AAS degree.

Software Engineering Micro-Credential Update

• NYC Job Council –CEO met with chancellor to promise to provide 25K students in 10 years and then 100K job opportunities for New Yorkers. They put out programs that are needed and one is software engineering.
• We completed a five-week software engineering course with 21^st century soft skills to create a micro credential. After this program, participants can get into one of the 27 largest companies in the NYC CEO Jobs Council.
• The company is working with our faculty to co-design our curriculum with employers.
• By April we will have prepared 150 students in the micro credential, so they can see their micro credential when they apply for jobs.
• This initiative will be supported by the NYC CEO Jobs Council.

ACE Upskilling Pathways Initiative Opportunity

CEWD was awarded a new grant in spring of 2021, the ACE Upskilling Pathways Initiative Opportunity, to launch six Software Engineering Micro-Credential Career Track in Web Development Boot Camps in Software Development, between April 1, 2021 and March 31 2022 to train a total of 150 students. The targeted population includes CUNY degree and non-degree students, alumni and the larger NYC population, including middle-skilled workers, including degree holders, who have been displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and low-skilled/low-income workers. The training also included 12-hour, 21^st Century Skills Certification, encompassing Leadership, Networking & Collaboration and Critical Thinking/Problem Solving skills for all participants, facilitating their mastery of necessary workplace success competencies for today’s technology workplaces.

AWS Cloud Computing Workshops

CEWD offered AWS Cloud Computing Workshops to both QCC students and adult learners in need of upskilling and reskilling:

• The NYS Perkins Grant supported a semester long program of AWS Workshops, which offered students and adult learners the opportunity to master content for six potential AWS Certifications: AWS Cloud Computing Fundamentals, AWS Solutions Architect, AWS Developer Associate Certification, AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate Certification, AWS Big Data and AWS Machine Learning Specialty Certifications.
• The Capital One Foundation provided funding for CEWD to teach the AWS Cloud Computing Fundamentals Workshop to 50 New York City high school students in July of 2021.

AAS enhancement: Degree Plus Youth Apprenticeship

• AON company establishes relationship with companies and starting in high school junior year, people can work in the industry in high school and then come to college and work in the industry.
• Tuition will be paid, and they will be able to make income. Started in Chicago. BMCC business department is currently working on this to create this program.
• AON recruits the students for us.
• Non-Credit to Credit Pathways (Credit for Prior Learning)
• Update: working with Amex and Citi Group to create credit-bearing apprenticeship program

Create a pathway especially in nursing, healthcare and behavioral health

• CNA (Certified Nursing Apprenticeship).
  • How do you evaluate people’s competencies given their background?
  • Utilize Perkins grant. Provide workshops and leadership.
  • We received another grant that will be offered to people who are incumbent workers, who are underemployed. This is a free program with opportunities for them to enter the CEO council program that will open doors to employment.

Certified Recovery Peer Advocate (CRPA)Training Program—Co-curricular with healthcare. Addiction and dependency:

• CEWD is currently in the process of offering people who have recovered from substance use disorders the Certified Recovery Peer Advocate (CRPA) Training Program, where students experience a pedagogical model consisting of 56 hours of non-credit CRPA Certification Training and 45 hours of the three-credit Addictions & Dependencies course with Professor Ed Diller from the Department of Health, Physical Education & Dance. Funding has been provided by The New York Community Trust.
• CEWD has been awarded a $435,000 New York State Consolidated Funding Grant to establish a CRPA Workforce Development Training Institute, and continue to offer CRPA training to two additional cohorts through June of 2022.

• Community Health Worker Training Program: CEWD, in collaboration with other CUNY community and senior colleges, will be receiving a grant from the New York City Department of Small Business Services to provide a 120-hour Community Health Worker Training Program for former Vaccine for All staff members that were part of the New York City Test & Trace Unit. QCC will offer two, 120-hour online Community Health Worker (CHW) Training Programs to two cohorts of thirty students over a one-month time frame, September 2021, for a total of 60 participants. The CHW Training Program will also include a 12-hour, 21^st Century Skills Certification, encompassing Leadership, Networking & Collaboration and Critical Thinking/Problem Solving skills for all participants, facilitating their mastery of necessary workplace success competencies for today’s dynamic and complex Health Care environment. At the end of the training program, participants will receive a Community Health Worker (CHW) Certification and a 21^st Century Certification/Badges from QCC.

• GAMCO Corporation: CEWD is developing a collaborative partnership with GAMCO, a Flushing-based company which manufactures a wide variety of custom quality fenestration systems and architectural metal components for commercial, institutional and residential properties. GAMCO is eager to engage Technologically talented students from QCC who might be interested in a career in high-tech manufacturing.

New members

• The Committee welcomes Elaine C. Friedman, Lecturer Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts 

Addendum Recommendations from the Steering Committee: