Building Opportunity Through Partnering

Kim JohnsonVice PresidentContinuing Education & Training ServicesKirkwood Community CollegeCedar Rapids, Iowa

Our Mission• Identify community

needs• Provide accessible,

quality education and training

• Promote opportunities for lifelong learning

Who We Are• What our graduates have to say

• 97 percent were satisfied with their Kirkwood education.

• 92 percent believed their time at Kirkwood prepared them well for their careers.

• 90 percent are currently employed.

• 95 percent live or work in Iowa.

• Learner Success Agenda• Framework for improving economic strength,

workforce strength and quality of life for our region.

• By 2016, we will increase first-time, full-time degree seeking graduation and certificate completion rate (within 150% time frame) from 29 to 38 percent.

• Strengthen Kirkwood’s regional leadership role in workforce development.

• Adapt training programs and services to changing occupational and community needs.

Labor-Market Responsive Community College

Workforce Investment BoardA governor appointed regional workforce board that works to ensure the workforce system is aligned to regional workforce skill needs by:

•analyzing regional labor market data, •developing strategies, •ensuring funding streams align and support critical skill needs and regional occupations, and •oversees the regional workforce system (IowaWORKS and WIA).

• Serve as partner agency in the region’s integrated one-stop, IowaWORKS

• Locations in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids

• Service Provider for the Workforce Investment Act Program

• Liaison support for the Regional Workforce Investment Board

IowaWORKS

• Kirkwood Community College works to ensure that community college workforce tools align and support regional workforce needs from a labor market and targeted population perspective.

• To align education and training programs with the needs of the local economy several tools and methods are used:• Labor market data• Local employer data• Industry sector boards• Focus groups• Advisory committees• Regional service plan• Public policy work

Workforce Tools

• Audiences served include:• Kirkwood Community College Students

• Academic – one-year diploma, two-year degree

• Continuing Professional Education – Short term certificate and skills credential programs

• Employer Contracted Training – Incumbent worker training

• Targeted populations

• Supporting Tools (funding)• Job Training (260E/F)• GAP Tuition Assistance• Workforce Training Fund• Grants/Private Foundations

Workforce Tools

Community Initiatives and Sampling of Workforce

Training Programs

• Kirkwood develops programs in response to regional workforce and labor needs:

– Energy Production & Distribution Degree– Advanced Manufacturing Technology Degree– Logistics Certification– Pharmacy Tech Diploma– Customer Service Professional Certification– KICK STEM Camps– Jones Regional CNC and Welding Boot Camp– Industry Consortiums, Sector Boards, and Advisory Committees– CNC Machining / Introduction to Manufacturing Careers– Claims Management – the Business of Healthcare– Medical Laboratory Technologists

• Business partners hire program graduates to meet workforce needs

In-Demand Training Programs

• Kirkwood Pathways for Academic Career Education and Employment:

• A partnership between Kirkwood Community College, the United Way of East Central Iowa, community-based organizations and local employers.

• Comprehensive career pathway programs to facilitate low-skilled adults’ success in postsecondary education and training.

• Support individuals’ abilities to advance over time to successively higher levels of education and employment, helping them gain financial stability along the way.

• The program weaves together basic skills training, workplace readiness training, academic learning and credential attainment, preparing the students for work in local industries that have a shortage of qualified employees. (a blending of non-credit and credit programs)

• Pathway Navigator Role works with participants to navigate the educational environment and pathway. Provides public benefit access support services.

Supporting Community Initiatives

• Partner with state organizations and United Way to create and support public policy that ensures all Iowans have the skills to drive economic growth and security.

• Policy foundations:– GAP and PACE legislation to address the skills gap and help more adult

workers access the necessary education and training required by jobs in today’s labor market.

– Industry Sector coalitions support the development of regional industry partnerships that create opportunities to build customized just-in-time, in-demand training solutions for the industry.

– Accessing Public Benefits. The number one reason students drop out of college is for financial reasons. Colleges are developing models that are embedding benefits access activities into college processes to reduce financial constraints on students.

Public Policy Work – National Skills Coalition

Regional Education Centers• Provides hands-on workforce training education to High School Juniors and Seniors• Collaboration with over 40 school districts•Will serve over 1,250 students annually• Provides seamless transition to post-secondary education or work

• Linn County Regional CenterBoyson Road in Hiawatha (former PAETECH building). Set to open January 2013.

• Johnson County Regional CenterUniversity of Iowa Oakdale Campus. Set to open Fall 2015.

• Washington County Regional CenterSite TBA. Set to open Fall 2013.

• Kirkwood Continuing Education Training CenterNew transportation, environmental, fire and safety training center

COMING SOON

Nearly 70,000 futures have

started at Kirkwood.

Building Opportunity Through Partnering

For more information, contact Kim Johnson at

kim.johnson@kirkwood.edu.