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Overview
Background Community College Innovations > Investing in Encore Innovation |
Encore Career Grant Information
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Investing in Encore Innovations
The Encore Career Grants are awarded to 10 community colleges to develop a wide range of innovations designed to match boomers' experience, skills, and interests to careers in critical fields facing labor shortages. These community colleges include:
Baltimore City Community College's Prime 50+ Transition Pilot Initiative will enable African-American female Baltimore residents 50 and older to prepare for a "second" career in public school education, healthcare, or social services. The initiative will guide participants through life and work transitions by delivering a well-orchestrated, integrated range of support services, enabling them to connect to new opportunities in the designated social purpose fields. It will be innovative in that it will be modeled after a "full-service" comprehensive executive outplacement program normally costing many thousands of dollars per individual, and generally limited to senior level corporate executives. Broward Community College (BCC) will package a number of programs presently offered by the college and develop several new offerings into one brochure to provide opportunities for boomers. The opportunities will focus on career counseling, career change and civic engagement. BCC will work closely with Community Foundation of Broward on the civic engagement initiatives. Emphasis will be on extensive marketing to the boomer population in our community about this initiative. Central Piedmont Community College's (CPCC) Lifetime Learning Institute will design and pilot From Success to Significance, a training program that supports boomers in their transition to encore careers. This program will consist of four components: A Career Transitions Workshop, Individual Career Counseling and Assessment, Encore Careers in the Non-Profit Arena Workshops and "Mentor Triad" support teams. The training series will be developed and implemented by a partnership of employers, educators and career change experts concerned about the impact of the rapidly aging workforce. It will target boomers and nurture their transition into encore careers within the healthcare, social service and non-profit sectors. Coastline Community College will distill from the core disciplines of its existing gerontology curriculum a series of mastery skills courses that match identified competency requirements in the local job market. These courses will be publicized to local employers through Coastline's unique alliance with the Orange County One-Stop Center. Coastline will enroll boomers who are either employed adults needing continuing education units (CEUs) or retirees seeking skills that will enable them to find jobs serving the elderly. Collin County Community College (Collin) will offer adults 50+ the opportunity to participate in its innovative and successful program to prepare and certify individuals for the teaching profession. They will take fast-tracked day training classes along with a student teaching component designed to prepare them for secondary math certification. Collin provides mentoring support by retired teachers to help students transition into the classroom. Flexible course delivery and a unique student teaching experience will be combined to ensure adults 50+ greater opportunities to compete with certified teachers in the job market within one year's time. GateWay Community College will create a Workforce Transition Center for boomers and employers, and a program to re-career boomers into the caregiver profession. The Workforce Transition Center will work simultaneously with both employers and boomers to encourage workforce innovation and facilitate meaningful work experiences for both the baby boomer and the employer. GateWay will seek out boomers who are a good vocational fit with the job of caregiver and match them with employers who will offer employment with flex scheduling and an opportunity for professional growth and development. Owensboro Community and Technical College will train for adults who are retiring from the nursing profession as adjunct nursing faculty at the community college level. It will implement an Adjunct Boot Camp (ABC) Training Series, a corresponding on-line Adjunct Resource Center, and a faculty Mentoring Program. This project will be designed to help address the critical needs of the healthcare industry brought about by the aging of the workforce. It will provide opportunities to share the vast knowledge and experience of retiring nursing professionals to train future ones. Portland Community College will develop a pilot peer mentorship program to provide students aged 50+ with individualized support through their first year. Peer mentors will assist Gerontology Program faculty and advisors in guiding students through the Program's Career Management Model – from program entry, personal assessment and career exploration, completion of general education and core program courses, involvement in intentional internships and preparation for employment. In addition, peer mentors will assist students in navigating the college system, provide assistance with registration, help in course planning, and provide general academic and social support. The program will build upon PCC's leadership in addressing the needs of students age 50 and older. The Virginia Community College System will expand its existing Career Switcher Program through a targeted statewide recruitment effort to reach 50+ adults. The Career Switcher Program is a flexible, fast-track pathway to teacher licensure for career professionals with a bachelor's degree and work experience. Partners include Virginia's 23 community colleges, the K-12 school divisions, the Virginia Department of Education, and internal partnerships among academics, workforce development, and instructional technology. Washtenaw Community College, through its Small Business Technology and Development Center (SBTDC), will develop programs on entrepreneurial social engagement for older adults by promoting development of social entrepreneurs who can think creatively about solving societal problems through social ventures, and developing traditional entrepreneurs who use their businesses in socially beneficial ways. In addition, the SBTDC will develop a series of seminars designed to build awareness about the idea of encore careers and introduce participants to the community resources that can serve their personal training and capacity building needs according to their vision of what an encore career may mean for them.
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