Do you Hello.

From Alabama Public Television Studios in Montgomery.

I'm Todd Stacy, host of Capital Journal here on APD.

Welcome to our special higher education matters.

Over the next half hour, we're going to focus on the Alabama Communit College system and highlighting all they have to offer for the people and businesses of our state.

Here's a look of what we're going to be discussing.

Coming up in a few minutes I'll sit down with ACC is vice chancellor and executive director of the Alabama Technology Network.

Keith Phillips, and chief economic Development Officer Melody Whitten, to talk about how the system is helping prepare students for the workforce.

Shelton State Community College Director of enrollment Beverly Foster and State Senator Robert Stewart join me to talk about dual enrollment opportunities, and we'll take a closer look inside the new Workforce Training Center in Gadsden.

first Apts Jeff Sanders sits down with the chancellor of the community college system, Jimmy Baker, one on one.

Here's that interview.

Let's talk about the community college system for those.

Maybe you've heard of it.

They know the name, but they're not familiar with exactly your mission.

Talk about and give us an overview of kind of wha the community college system is and the role it has in serving the state.

Ever school is out located around the state in the busines of developing the communities, as well as developing a workforce, a workforce that is skilled and capable of walking into a business and becoming a productive employee for that business.

What are those key goals right now that you're laser focuse on getting achieved, developing a more adequate workforce?

We are in the business of recruiting people, helping them be educated, get an education, which is meaningful.

But beyond that in the business of teaching them the skills that are necessary to fulfill many of the job that exist in the communities.

Students these days, they hav a lot of options for education.

And I think so many people think I need to get a four year degree.

Talk about the community college system and kind of what sets it apart from those other higher education opportunities.

If they come through the community college system, they can satisfy their firs two years of college requirement at the same time, have a skill that could be marketed, and in the process they can continue on with their degree if they choose to do so.

With us, you have an option.

You can continue education or you can go to work are a combination thereof.

You've been in education.

Most of your entire adult life.

What excites you every day to get up and still come into this office and to work for these students and these teachers and the people of Alabama.

The people that I work with here in this office and scattered across the state, and all of our schools are have a common goal to prove to the state that we are better than we might think.

We are.

We are doing things that no one else is doing in this nation, and we are setting the pace for improving quality for the lives of our students at a leve that we all are excited about.

And that encourages me and that makes me feel good.

It's almost like I can't imagine what pastoring a church would be like, but it's almost like that.

It's a mission that we've identified an and we all enjoy moving forward.

Since 1997, Alabama Public Television has provided programs, services, and resources to childcare professionals, teachers and parents.

Visit AP tv.org/education to learn more.

Welcome back to higher education Matters here on Alabama Public Television.

Joining me next is Keith Phillips, executive director of the Alabama Technology Network and vice chancellor of economic and workforce development for the Alabama Community College System.

And Melody Whitten, chief economi development officer for access.

Thank you both for your time.

Thank you for having us.

We're talking about workforce development, a topic that is so important and has really grown i importance over the last several years.

People talking about the workforce participation rate, getting more folks off the sidelines and engaged in the workforce.

Keith, let me start wit you talk about the investments that X has been making towards workforce development and the partnerships you've been building in terms of getting folks, like you said, off the sidelines into those good paying jobs?

Sure.

Well, it's absolutely no secret that the Alabama Community College System has placed a great emphasis on workforce development.

It's, by design, is not accidental.

We know that strong and responsive workforce development programs are critical to the success of our communities and our economy.

And we've made major investments to make sure that we're offering programs that do just that.

We have invested in infrastructure, what we would call an infrastructure for training labs and facilities to make sure we have modern equipment, modern facilities, so that people are training on what they're going to see in industry.

By the way, that's driven by industry.

Industry would not support us if we weren't training with things that they're going to use when they go to the job.

The other thing is that we looked at not only improving the infrastructure, but how we deliver, the Alabama Community College Innovation Center, Alabama technology network.

We put mobility into training with training equipment, hybrid models with how you learn, plus labs to support the hands on learning to prove that you have mastered competencies.

Well, wanted to get into some of that, you know, facility talk, new construction, a lot of ne construction around the system over the last several years, but also kind of maybe repurposing existing facilities and things like that.

Talk about that melody in terms of how you utilize and, and, use your facilities to, you know, respond to that growth, respond to those needs of businesses.

And getting, in on the workforce development front.

Sure.

Well, it's critical that business and industry see that we are keeping up with modern technology and that we're teaching what they are using in their facilities.

And so the capital investment that occurs has made, has been impressive across the state.

So it's an easy sell when you can take a business or a prospect that's looking at Alabama, into one of these, new workforce training centers or even upgraded facilities to see new equipment, new facilities and for them to be able to say, oh, that's the type of equipment that we use in our plant.

Or while you've got even newer equipment than we have.

And so that they know tha what we're training is relevant based on what they're going to need in the workplace.

Well, sure.

Because, I mean, you can't just, you know, come to a community college, you sit in the classroom and expect to learn what you need to kno on the job to talk about that, how we all are constantly going back and forth between, you know, meeting the needs of businesses and meeting the needs of students.

Sure.

That's a great question.

I also add what what melody has said that, you know, the governor and the legislature have been very supportive in funding us to make those infrastructur improvements to our facilities.

But talking about how do we determine what the needs are?

You know, every day we meet with business and industry trying to understand what their needs are.

It's a constant relationship business where we're aligning what our training looks lik as it matches up to the skills that they need today and for the future.

So that's a big part of it.

Having industry at the table really helps us build those things.

If you're serving the students and students is a broad definition for us.

The community college system in itself is, unique in that the audiences that we serve from, we serve those who might have stopped out in high school together go through a door that we serve incarcerated individuals, dual enrollment students who might be looking at dual, career technical education.

And they graduate high school and a two year degree o the same day academic transfer.

Those are all workforce development career technical programs, incumbent worker upskilling.

So it's a when you say student, it's broad.

But all of that is driven by what industry tells us they need.

We look at data and obviously the voice of the customer which is industry, to make sure we're building training programs that align to that.

That may be short term certificates.

It might be an upskilling customized program for upskilling existing employees.

You have your traditiona CTE programs that are driven by, accreditation bodies like Board of Nursing.

And that's what industry needs.

The hospitals not going to hire someone who's trained in health care unless it meets certain credentialing.

As established by the Board of nursing.

You don' you know, the Innovation Center has been a game changer.

If you look at the number of students in Alabama who complete high school but don't seek post-secondary education.

Innovation Center has been able to reach those individuals, to give them a credential so that they can immediately become employed with a skill that industry is willing to pay for.

I think you can go back to all that were really very intentional on how we stack credentials, how we build pathways for individuals to come to us for training that's relevant, it's affordable, it's accessible and most importantly, it's fast.

Well talk about economic development, cause I've heard it said before that workforce development is economic development.

And vice versa.

Is that kind of how you see your rol in the community college system?

Yes.

So, I'm fairly new to the system.

I've only been in this role for two years.

So when I came into this position, I came from an economic development position.

And so what I'm trying to d is help our community colleges and help our system, understand their role in the economic development process.

And so instead of a company coming in and just looking at the, data that's coming out of that one college, but looking at the labor shed as a whole.

So if a company is looking to put a new facility in XYZ community, we probably have multiple colleges that feed into that labor shed.

And so we have so many more assets that they can call upon to retain talent an to train talent for a lifetime.

And it's not just the talent that's coming ou of those community colleges now, but the wraparound services, too, like the Alabama Technology Network, the skills for success programing justice involved dual enrollment.

When I'm giving a presentation to a company that's considering Alabama, I have a lot of tools in my toolbox that I can pull out and speak to from an economic development perspective to show them that within their labor shed, which is typically a 45 to 60 minute drive time.

Not only are these colleges feeding into that labor shed, but then the system as a whole has programing that we can come in with and assist you with it.

You mentioned at the end we haven't really talked about the can you kind of give an overview of, of ATN and kind of explain its role in the workforc and economic development?

Sure.

So Alabama Technology Network, we've existed since 1987.

And really our core specialty is assisting manufacturers with upskilling their existing workforce, bu also helping them with technical assistance, continuou improvement, helping productive.

You know, we, we typically work with 250 to 300 unique to state companies every year around the state.

Our delivery model, I like to say, is anything from four hours to five days.

Usually industry if you're doing incumbent worker training, they can't they're not going to enroll for semester based programs.

So we get and provide th upskill training that they need and then get out because production takes kind of takes priority over everything.

Well I could add to that a little bit from the standpoint o I make the analogy all the time that 25 years ago in Alabama we really weren't building cars.

And so what I'm trying to do is figure out what are we going to be building in the next 10 to 20 years that we aren't currently doing?

And so by staying involve in economic development projects alongside the Department of Commerce, and our partners, utility partners that are chasing business all day long, is what are they chasin that we aren't prepared for yet?

And what do we need to be looking at?

What's coming next?

So I've been able to participate, in some trade shows recently where I was able to have conversations specifically with companies, that are looking in an emerging, you know, technology and saying, okay, what are we not teaching that we need to be teaching?

And in some cases, I'm pleasantly surprised.

And those skills are transferable.

They're calling it something different.

But basically what we're teaching is what they're going to need.

But in some cases it is new.

And we need to be identifying what's coming that we're not teaching currently.

Or what are we teachin maybe in one area of the state that needs to be deployed statewide because, the activity, the economic developmen activity is going to justify it.

So that's kind of the exciting part of what I'm doing is figuring out what's on the horizon and what do we need to be training student and adults for, for industries that we haven't really landed in Alabama yet so that we can be on the forefront of having that pipeline already in place by the time they announced, I think Alabama Community College System is the engine that's leading workforce development in the state.

We're doing those things that Melody's talked about.

We're investing in facilities we're at.

We have relationships with business and industry, new and existing in new.

To understand what the needs are.

We're aligning trainin and programs to match that up.

And then something we haven' really talked about is how do we how do we, successfully connect students to employment?

We're making that a much seamless, more seamless process through work based learning.

If I'm an employer in the state, that's my new recruiting tool is I go recruit while we're training them so that I know who they are and their skill sets.

And I have an opportunity for them to become loyal employees while they're still getting their education.

Federal of Advanced Manufacturing, excellence is a program that we've launched, and those students are actually, part of a unique group that train together, but they're sponsored by companies.

It's like recruiting day.

We just had the NFL draft.

I actually companies when those are Fame cohort, those companies will kind of recruit or draft those individuals to be on their team, to be employed while they're in the same program going through training.

So I think overall, like I said, we're driving workforce development in the state and we're doing the things and the relationships with trade associations, understanding what the needs of their membership are, but also that one on one relationship with the industry in our communities, meeting with the and making sure it's all aligned and that we're giving the students the opportunities to succeed based on the skills and credentials that's needed in their community.

Such important work.

Thank you both for your time and for coming on.

Higher education matters.

Thank you.

Thank you John.

Thanks.

Since 1997, Alabam Public Television has provided programs, services, and resources to childcare professionals, teachers and parents.

Visit AP tv.org/education to learn more.

Welcome back to Higher Education Matters here on APT.

Joining me next is Beverly Foster, dean of enrollment at Shelton State Community College and state Senator Robert Stewart from Selma.

Thank you both for coming on.

Thank you for having us.

Honor to be here.

Well, we're talking about dual enrollment and all that.

That means in the state of Alabama.

And so you two have interesting perspectives on this.

Dean, there, Shelton State I was hoping to start with you to talk about dual enrollment and just explain the basics.

How the process works.

Maybe what parents need to know.

Students need to know about how to get started in that process of pursuing classe and courses and dual enrollment.

Absolutely.

So dual enrollment is an amazing opportunity, especially here in the state of Alabama for the Alabama Community College system.

So dual enrollment is an opportunity for students to earn, college credit, both on their high school transcript and their college transcript.

So the eligibility, it varies slightly, depending on the institution that the students are enrolling in.

I will say that students to be eligible, you're looking at your 10th, 11th and 12th graders who are eligible for dual enrollment.

The GPA requirement can also vary.

If it's academic courses, students are looking at a 2.5 GPA.

If it's technical as a 2.0.

But again, it goes back to their, perspective institution that they're enrolling in.

But we always encourage students and families to start with their high school counselor.

High school counselors have those requirements.

They have a separate approval process.

And also they're going to provide that guidance for the students so they know exactly what are their next steps to enroll.

But we are grateful to sa that students are able to take anywhere from academic courses to career technical pathways.

So the most important thing is that students explore their options.

The families with the counselors, and then they will help the with transitioning over to the, prospective high school or college.

I'm sorry, Senator.

I understand that you yoursel benefited from dual enrollment as a student, so I was hoping to get tha perspective from you both in how how you benefited and how maybe that informs your perspective now that you're a lawmaker because you're voting on some of these issues and supporting the program.

Well, for me, I went to it was like dual enrollment on steroids.

It was the early college program.

So I graduated from high school, with my high school diploma at Selma High School as well as my associate's degree from Wallace Community College.

At the same time.

At the same time.

And so for me, it was a game changer.

I learned a lot of intrinsic skills, like time management, the academic rigor, because back then they had what was called, mini sessions.

And so there was a lo of content that you had to learn and conceptualize in a short amount of time.

And we also kicked off online.

I was like one of the pioneers of online learning back in 2007, 2008.

And so having to have the important time management skills, because you don't have a high school teacher or your mom staying on you.

So to have that self discipline that served me well and that I was able to parlay that into, skills to be a successful college student.

Yeah.

At Tuskegee.

And now that informs your perspective as a state lawmaker, right.

And you're voting and makin decisions about dual enrollment.

And, from a very informed perspective.

Yes.

And I understood at an early age that the community college system, which could really help catapult families into upward mobility.

Yeah.

And so and they expose you to different careers.

It was very transformative and not to mention the money you saved in college, being able to transfer a lot of the courses.

Dean, I wanted to ask you about, support services because I'm a parent out there or a student out there.

Maybe I have some doubts.

Maybe I have, you know, questions about, being able to afford it financially.

Being able to qualify academically or be prepared academically.

Talk about their Shelton State, specifically, what kind of support services?

Wraparound services y'all offer to take care of some of those concerns?

Absolutely.

I will say that becoming a college student, while you're yet still in high school is a big transition.

So one of the things that we're so excite and grateful to be the flagship of offering this support service to our dual enrollment students is the dedicated dual enrollment facilitators.

So we are the first institution who has been able to support, offer that model.

So the facilitators are housed at the high schools that we serve, and they are support service for our students.

So many of our first time dual enrollment students who are trying to get acclimated to being a college student.

The facilitators are there to support them, making sure that they know how to adjust to being a college student at Shelton State.

So we have dedicated facilitators.

We have dual enrollment ambassadors who are also available at each high school.

And those student are supporting them as a peer.

So we refer to that a being our peer to peer mentors.

And also we offer tutorial services.

So tutoring is free.

We have in-person tutoring.

We have online tutoring servic that are available for students because again these student are often at their high school.

They're not coming to Shelton State, but they're at their high school with their facilitator.

And if we see that students are struggling and this would definitely help the parents to know that we're offering support for them, we're going to refer the over to our tutorial services.

We have our library service that's available as well.

So everythin that's at a resource at Shelton State is also availabl to our dual enrollment students.

We'll have a little bit of time, but I wanted to get the perspective on the workforce.

It's obviously, you know, doing relevant can kickstart your caree as a student, you know, getting a job and all that.

But think about it from the kind of zoom out from the state, because we talk a lot about workforce development, we talk a lot about the workforce participation rat in the state House quite a bit.

Talk about how dual enrollment and the evolution of dual enrollment and the modernization can contribute to our state, succeeding in workforce development and recruiting companies and things like that, which is such a big par of the community college system, as well as Dean foster so eloquently stated.

With the workforce development efforts of the community college system, it creates a pipeline for our students, creates an exposure, connecting employer for years with, the students to create a right workforce.

And people are able to stay in their communities if they so choose to.

And they are so prepare and they're strongly equipped, with the high quality staff, instructors, support staff, they're all they're committed to ensure that the students reach their full potential and are able to be the best employees possible for the employers.

I hate that we're out of time.

It's such a great conversation.

But thank you both again for coming on.

Higher education matters.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll be right back.

Since 1997, Alabam Public Television has provided programs, services, and resources to childcare professionals, teachers and parents.

Visit AP tv.org/education to learn more.

The Alabama Community Colleg system has a brand new workforce training center in Gadsden that is helping students get a step ahead on their career path.

Here's a closer look at that state of the art facility.

The building itself ha a footprint of over 50,000ft.

We have six well defined lab spaces, and we have around ten area that we can use for classrooms.

We start training inside thi building at seven in the morning and we go to nine at night.

This building is is really a hub, a center for workforce training.

This is a gold mine.

They come in and expec what traditional trade schools or what traditional community colleges tend to offer.

And instead wal into state of the art high tech.

You know, sometimes even beyond what industry has this building is giving them a sense that this is the type of career they might want.

It's not dingy, it's not old, it's brand new equipment.

It's state of the art stuff.

That industry has, recommended that they use.

It was an advanced facility, so I can be more prepared for it, more advanced charts.

If you go into a place that's, not, like, not in good shape, good conditions or very good stress, you out, not you won't be able to learn as much.

You come in here and a place like this will open and big.

You got a clean space, you know, you new stuff.

It makes you a lot easier to learn.

This building has really brought, full attention to the high wage, high demand programs that we do a very good job of preparing students for.

The modern training that our students get makes them read to go to work in the industry.

That ensures that students leave us and go straight to work in an environment where they're working with the equipment that they'v already gotten their education.

I can't speak highly enoug about the quality of the student that's coming out of this program.

We have hired, pretty much everybody that' gone through it with us so far.

This building demonstrates the investment that the community college syste has made into training workforce in our communities.

There are no other, facilities like these that are out there that are solely dedicated to providing opportunities for students to get an education and students to learn.

And that's it for this edition of Higher Education Matters.

We'll have additional programs each quarter here on APT.

If you're interested in seein what opportunities are offered at your local community college, just visit.alabama.edu.

To learn more from Montgomery I'm Todd Stacey.

Thanks for watching.

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