Areas Of Work: Designing Shorter and Stackable Pathways

CUNY background

The City University of New York (CUNY) is the nation’s largest urban public university, consisting of seven open-access community colleges, 11 senior colleges, and seven graduate and professional schools. The colleges are distributed across the city and serve 243,000 degree-seeking students and approximately 200,000 noncredit/continuing education students annually. Recent system and state policy developments are positioned to offer additional support and completion momentum to current and future CUNY students. Three years ago, CUNY’s Board of Trustees established a policy that requires all CUNY colleges to have an official user-friendly process for applying Credit for Prior Learning to college credit degrees and certificates. This policy is now active at all CUNY institutions. In addition, the state of New York expanded eligibility for the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to part-time students effective immediately, enabling at least 30,000 more learners to receive aid. The program requires matriculation into a college credit program of study, something which micro-pathways accelerate since all are designed with credits that apply to higher learning. Final regulations are being established that include resources available to non-citizens who reside in the state. In addition to policy partners, CUNY schools also benefit from a partnership with the New York Jobs CEO Council, that connects colleges to corporations throughout the New York metropolitan area to enrich training programs and expedite job placement for completers.

CUNY colleges that were part of the Community College Growth Engine’s first cohort include Kingsborough, Queensborough, Borough of Manhattan, and LaGuardia community colleges.

College background

Queensborough Community College (QCC) was founded in 1971 and is currently led by Dr. Christine Mangino, who was appointed president in 2020. Serving the Queens community from its campus in Bayside, New York, the college enrolls over 12,000 credit students and nearly 5,000 continuing education students from 117 countries who speak more than 64 languages. Noted for the approximately equal representation of Black, Asian, Hispanic, and white learners, the campus prides itself on the relevance of its programs and the variety of learning modalities offered for local students beginning in high school and continuing through adulthood. Students at Queensborough can choose from over 70 areas of study, many of which are linked to stackable credentials with high workforce relevance.

What is a micro-pathway?

Co-designed with learners and employers, micro-pathways are defined as two or more stackable credentials, including a 21st century skill micro-credential, that are flexibly delivered to be achieved within less than a year and result in a job at or above the local median wage, and start learner-earners on the path to an associate degree.

CUNY Queensborough designed two micro-pathways in information technology (IT): Cloud Computing and Software Engineering, which are explained below.

CUNY Queensborough Community College’s Cloud Computing micro-pathway leads to a career as an entry-level Cloud Engineer. Download the PDF.

College website

CUNY Queensborough Community College’s Software Engineering micro-pathway leads to a career as an entry-level Software Engineer. Download the PDF.

College website

Transformation highlights

The college is applying the micro-pathway design framework across existing and new workforce programs. QCC is proactively analyzing job listings in 36 specific areas to ensure alignment with current micro-pathway training programs. This assists in continuing to build strong employer partnerships and to increase successful learner placement upon program completion.

Job placement is transforming from the traditional model of linking students with openings to a proactive model that engages employers continuously to ensure learners have the needed skills employers require.

An elevated Amazon Web Services (AWS) partnership is expanding awareness of workforce trends and helping college leaders and faculty micro-analyze curriculum to expedite placement in AWS-affiliated companies. This effort includes a talent fair where the top 50 Cloud Computing students present their skills via learner profiles to interested employers in a reverse job fair concept. The model has already expanded to other learner populations, including a Women in Technology Hack-a-Thon.

The intensive employer engagement has expanded to Google IT and YouTube, with a cadre of 150 employers in a program bridging noncredit and credit courses. Although outside the original scope of CCGE micro-pathways, this is an especially significant effort as Google and YouTube elevate their national profiles as providers of training and certifications in partnership with an accredited institution of higher education.

With enhanced regional visibility from the deep employer engagement, other sector partners are reaching out to QCC. For example, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority wants to co-develop a training program for transportation technicians, and partners in telecommunications want to create short-term and pre-apprenticeship programs for cable technicians and other skilled trades professions.

Obstacles + opportunities

The college’s new ways of deeply engaging employers are changing the very nature of QCC’s relationships with partner companies and employers. Rather than working to improve employer communications and program knowledge, the proactive, co-development model allows employers to collaborate with faculty on curriculum to ensure that needed skills are included which expedites placement into AWS-affiliated companies. This is a game-changer for completers and has significant implications for achieving more equitable outcomes for all learners.

Partnering with the Faculty Senate resulted in an approved process for recognizing the first group of five (noncredit) industry credentials into CUNYfirst (Fully Integrated Resources and Services Tool). This milestone opens the door to future system-changing collaborations for students.

The QCC-led CUNY Community College Collaborative is focused on expanding micro-credentials across CUNY and is partnering with the Department of Labor to create a universal student identification number that will create a more unified learning system for students. This opportunity is in the developmental stage but holds great potential.

“Amazon Web Services has always had a close working relationship with Queensborough Community College, but our collaboration has moved to a new level recently as an entire team from our program now partners with subject matter experts at QCC to continuously update training for maximum relevance and to bridge the gap between talented learners and our huge employer network.”
Rebecca Allyn, Head of U.S. Education to Workforce Division, Amazon Web Services

The Education Design Lab thanks the following CUNY Queensborough Community College leaders for their commitment to innovation in the service of student success, equity, and completion: Dr. Hui-Yin Hsu, Lori Conkling, Michael Lawrence, Haiying Xiao, Hamid Namdar, Yuliia Pylypenko, and John Burke.

CUNY background

The City University of New York (CUNY) is the nation’s largest urban public university, consisting of seven open-access community colleges, 11 senior colleges, and seven graduate and professional schools. The colleges are distributed across the city and serve 243,000 degree-seeking students and approximately 200,000 noncredit/continuing education students annually. Recent system and state policy developments are positioned to offer additional support and completion momentum to current and future CUNY students. Three years ago, CUNY’s Board of Trustees established a policy that requires all CUNY colleges to have an official user-friendly process for applying Credit for Prior Learning to college credit degrees and certificates. This policy is now active at all CUNY institutions. In addition, the state of New York expanded eligibility for the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to part-time students effective immediately, enabling at least 30,000 more learners to receive aid. The program requires matriculation into a college credit program of study, something which micro-pathways accelerate since all are designed with credits that apply to higher learning. Final regulations are being established that include resources available to non-citizens who reside in the state. In addition to policy partners, CUNY schools also benefit from a partnership with the New York Jobs CEO Council, that connects colleges to corporations throughout the New York metropolitan area to enrich training programs and expedite job placement for completers.

CUNY colleges that were part of the Community College Growth Engine’s first cohort include Kingsborough, Queensborough, Borough of Manhattan, and LaGuardia community colleges.

College background

Kingsborough Community College (KCC) was founded in 1964 and is the only public community college in Brooklyn, New York. The college is led by Dr. Claudia V. Schrader, who was appointed president in 2018. KCC offers over 50 programs for its nearly 8,500 degree-seeking students and hundreds of career-focused courses for its 9,800 continuing education students annually. The college serves an extremely diverse group of learners who are 37% Black, 29% White, 18% Hispanic, and 15% Asian. Bucking declining national enrollment trends, the Division of Workforce Development and Continuing Education has increased enrollment by over 2,000 students since 2018 and has substantially diversified course offerings to include on-site, hybrid, and fully online learning options.

What is a micro-pathway?

Co-designed with learners and employers, micro-pathways are defined as two or more stackable credentials, including a 21st century skill micro-credential, that are flexibly delivered to be achieved within less than a year and result in a job at or above the local median wage, and start learner-earners on the path to an associate degree.

CUNY Kingsborough Community College’s User Experience (UX) Designer Certificate leads to a career as a User Experience (UX) Designer. Download the PDF.

College micro-pathway website: https://cewdkbcc.com/ux-microcredential/

Transformation highlights

The Education Design Lab’s micro-pathway design process offered KCC a template for updating existing training programs and developing new ones. College leaders have adopted the CCGE design criteria (pictured above) and now use it across the division to facilitate program updates and standardize the workforce-centered program priorities. The Emergency Medical Technician program is an example of a new offering that is using the Lab’s design tools to train students for careers across the allied health field where knowledge of critical procedures is a prerequisite to providing patient care.

The Lab’s T-Profile tool has facilitated deep and continuous dialogue with employer partners to ensure the curriculum provides learners with the set of skills that are most relevant in specialized workplaces. The strong relationships KCC developed with employers before joining CCGE was taken to a new level as they used the T-Profile to reaffirm the most critical technical and 21st century skills the jobs require. Having a structured framework for engagement made it easy to maintain continuous communication with employers, enriching everything from the course curriculum to opportunities for work-based learning to off-ramps students could use to secure employment upon completion.

Co-developing pathways with employers has created a fresh synergy around workforce programs, energizing both faculty and employers. This work has included designing accelerated pathways for learners who are already in fields such as healthcare, allowing them to apply what they already know and complete micro-pathway certifications in half the time of incoming students new to the discipline.

KCC micro-pathways bridge the noncredit/credit divide by including units that completers can automatically apply to higher certifications in college credit programs. This is a strategic priority for both the college and CUNY. The micro-pathways are all designed as stackable training programs that simultaneously lead to higher learning opportunities and professional advancement. This adds momentum to student progress and increases the value proposition to students as they see all learning will count toward valuable credentials.

Micro-pathways will be featured as an example of instructional innovation as the college begins a self-evaluation process leading to the reaffirmation of accreditation through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Designing and activating training programs that are workforce relevant, equity-centered, and highly accessible to traditional and new majority learners is a goal of the college that has been achieved through micro-pathways and other accelerated programs. Through the activation of these model programs and documentation of the results achieved by students, KCC can demonstrate its power to catalyze economic mobility for students and its institutional effectiveness.

Obstacles + opportunities

Co-create from the beginning: It’s important to articulate the roles that partners have in the micro-pathway development process and to engage the strengths of employers, funders, community-based organizations, as well as college and university leaders. This will be accomplished by proactively engaging partners and stakeholders to drive program design rather than asking them to approve of an already developed program.

Funding for faculty stipends should be deployed as early as possible so noncredit/credit faculty teams can be involved in the design process from the beginning.

Inclusion in the strategic plan: By spotlighting the contributions of micro-pathways in the college’s strategic plan, KCC highlights their value as a distinctive accelerated training opportunity for students as well as an on-ramp to credit programs.

“Our expanding partnerships with discipline experts in Academic Affairs and regional employers have allowed us to adapt the Lab’s design process to co-create high-demand training programs leading to jobs that offer career advancement and a living wage for our talented students.”

Dr. Simone Rodriguez, Vice President, Workforce Development, Continuing Education and Strategic Partnerships, Kingsborough Community College

The Education Design Lab thanks the following leaders at Kingsborough Community College for their commitment to innovation, student completion, success, and equity: Dr. Simone Rodriguez, Christine Zagari, Alissa Levine, and Jessica Cinelli.

‘Year to Career Through Micro-pathways’ will grow accelerated career pathways in healthcare and IT sectors

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 8, 2023) — Education Design Lab, a national nonprofit that designs new learning models for higher education and the future of work, today announced its project with a consortium of Colorado community colleges has been awarded more than $4.9 million by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

The Lab’s micro-pathways are central to the grant project, “Year to Career Through Micro-pathways” (Year to Career), which will design accelerated, stackable credentials that align with labor market needs across Colorado.

Why it matters

Community colleges are in a unique position to improve social mobility and reduce economic disparities. The future demands a system of higher education that is more flexible, affordable, and inclusive for new majority learner-earners. Year to Career will center the design efforts on historically excluded populations, increase workforce equity, and strengthen economic efficiency. Instead of taking two or more years to earn a degree, learners will take accelerated micro-pathways that will place them directly into the workforce with industry-recognized skills and credentials.

Over the last three years, the Lab’s Community College Growth Engine (CCGE) has supported nearly 25 colleges to design over 50 micro-pathways to connect low-wage and entry-level workers to in-demand jobs that pay at-or-above median wage and put them on a path toward a degree.

Year to Career, a consortium comprising Arapahoe Community College (ACC), Community College of Denver (CCD), Pueblo Community College (PCC) and the Lab will create six micro-pathways in the healthcare and IT sectors. This newly formed partnership will build upon the strong foundation of existing collaboration between the Lab and the Colorado Community College System (CCCS) to expand occupational pathways in the industries that are vital for Colorado’s economy. Its primary population of focus will be learners of color, and those identifying as ethnically Hispanic or Latinx, the largest underserved population in Colorado.

“We are excited to continue our partnership with the Education Design Lab and build out additional micro-pathways in healthcare and information technology at several of our colleges,” said Joe Garcia, Chancellor of the Colorado Community College System. “This model will help us better meet the needs of today’s learners and foster a skilled workforce for these two critical industries.”

“ACC is thrilled to partner with CCD, PCC, and the Lab to co-create innovative micro-pathways into healthcare and IT,” said Dr. Eric Dunker, ACC Vice President for Workforce and Economic Development, in ACC’s news release about the award. “Year to Career will address our region’s largest talent shortages and provide more economic mobility for our students.”

Bill Hughes, President + CEO of Education Design Lab: “The SCC3 grant has enabled the Lab to bring together an innovative, regional cohort of institutions focused on unlocking opportunity for learners and strengthening talent pipelines for employers and industries in need of skilled workers. We are delighted to enable this important consortium serving needs across Colorado.”

Grant details

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) awarded Arapahoe Community College (ACC) $4,989,434 in the third round of the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants Program (SCC3). In addition to ACC and the Lab, the other consortium partners include Community College of Denver (CCD) and Pueblo Community College (PCC). The SCC3 program is a commitment to investing in education programs that connect people to quality jobs while creating a more inclusive and equitable workforce. In the SCC3’s third round (February 2023), the DOL awarded $50 million to a total of 15 community colleges across 14 states to expand access to education and training.

Year to Career Through Micro-pathways will provide scalable, stackable credentialing in the career pathways of Health Information Technology, Behavioral Healthcare, Emergency Healthcare, Allied Health, IT Support, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, and Data Analytics.

What are micro-pathways?

Co-designed with learners and employers, micro-pathways are defined as two or more stackable credentials, including a 21st century skill micro-credential, that are flexibly delivered to be achieved within less than a year and result in a job at or above the local median wage, and start (l)earners on the path to an associate degree.

Go deeper

Learn more about the Community College Growth Engine here, and download our Design Insights Brief, which features learnings from our first cohort.

About Education Design Lab: The Lab is a national nonprofit that co-designs, tests, and builds new education-to-workforce models where skills matter. The Lab’s human-centered design process focuses on understanding learner experiences, addressing equity gaps in higher education, and connecting new majority learners to economic mobility. The Community College Growth Engine, led by Dr. Lisa Larson, is a design accelerator set up just before the pandemic to help community colleges lean into a future role as regional talent agents. Learn more: www.eddesignlab.org.