2017 Alliance Annual Meeting

Program

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22

Location: The Westin, Long Beach, CA

Noon – 4:30 pm
Registration

1:00 – 4:30 pm
Executive Committee Meeting
(executive committee members only)

5:00 – 6:00 pm
Reception: Welcome to California!
Unwind from the busy day as you catch up with old friends and make new ones!

6:15 pm
Networking Dinners
​Join your colleagues for some lively conversation about a topic that concerns you. We will reserve tables for dinner at several nearby restaurants to be hosted by members of the Alliance Executive Committee. You can sign up for your preference when you register. Attendees are responsible for the cost of their dinner.

Speakers:

• Barbara Buchanan, Truckee Meadows Community College (NV)
• Lita Burns, North Idaho College
• John Cech, Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education
• Jose Fierro, Cerritos College
• Peter Quigley, University of Hawai’i System
• Joe Schaffer, Laramie County Community College (WY)

THURSDAY, MARCH 23

7:30 – 5:00 pm
Registration

7:30 – 8:15 am
Breakfast

8:15 – 8:30 am
Welcome to the Alliance Annual Meeting!
Jose Fierro, Cerritos College and representing the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office as Alliance Chair

8:30 – 9:15 am
Policy, Philanthropy, and You: A Practical Dialogue with Funders
Funders have a unique view of the higher education policy and practice landscape. They are privy to many visionary ideas and national trends that could make a real difference for students and have real implications and opportunities for your work and voice. What are the major policy trends coming in 2017-2018? And where did they come from? What opportunities do you have to be part of the development and/or implementation of those policies? What should you be thinking about and preparing for related to those policy trends? How can you, as leaders, navigate and lead through policy challenges as they arise? What puzzles you the most about the intersection between policy and practice and your role? The moderator will create a conversation between the two panelists and the audience to cover the above questions so that you can begin to identify how you will engage in the development and/or implementation of those policies at a state and campus level. Please bring your own thorny policy and practice questions to help make this a dynamic discussion.

Moderator:
John Cech, Montana University System

Speakers:

9:15 – 9:30 am
Break

9:30 – 10:15 am

The Great Unbundling of Higher Education 
Ryan Craig, author of College Disrupted, will present a market-driven view of the past, present and future of higher education, including the emergence of the competency marketplace and the resulting “Great Unbundling” of higher education.

​Introducer:
Lita Burns, North Idaho College

Speaker:
Ryan Craig, University Ventures

SLIDES

10:15 – 10:30 am
Break

10:30 – 11:30 am
Concurrent Sessions: Making Strides in Competency-Based Learning for Positive Impact Student Access and Completion 
Students engaged in competency-based learning progress as they demonstrate mastery of academic content, regardless of time, place, or pace of learning. Are some models more successful with certain types of students? How do these models interface with some of higher education’s more traditional processes such as accreditation, financial aid, and transfer pathways? Hear what these trailblazers have to say about their experiences and lessons learned and where they see this innovation going in the future.

Moderator:
Rhonda Epper, Community College of Denver

Speakers:

• Eric Heiser, Salt Lake Community College Mark Jenkins, Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
• Sally Johnstone, NCHEMS

What’s the Marketplace View?
In recent years there has been a proliferation of alternative credentials awarded by institutions and by the business community. What are some of the advantages to industry for awarding their own badges and certificates and/or hiring employees with these credentials in addition to or instead of a degree? Our panel will share their perspectives and experiences and entertain your questions about this changing world.

Moderator:
William Tammone, Colorado Community College System

Speakers: 

• Zhalisa Clarke, Udacity
• David Leaser, IBM
• Matthew Sigelman, Burning Glass Technologies

11:15 – 11:30 am
Break

11:30 am – 12:15 pm
Concurrent Session: Making Sense of the Mind Boggling Credential Explosion 
With so many types of credentials – degrees, certificates, badges, apprenticeships, and licenses – it’s easy to get confused about what they mean and how they fit together. Find out about the effort of some community colleges in The Right Signals Initiative to develop a system for recognizable credentials across all sectors and users. And, learn how colleges and universities are using Credly’s badge management system to recognize the achievements of their students and staff with digital badges.

Moderator:
Joe Schaffer, Laramie County Community College (WY)

Speakers:

• Jonathan Finkelstein, Credly
• Rick Kemp, Rio Salado College (AZ)
• Jen Worth, American Association of Community Colleges

Skillful: Connecting Middle-Skill Job Seekers with Employers & Educators
Skillful is a new skills-based labor market platform for middle-skill job seekers. Developed by the Markle Foundation, Linkedin, EdX, Arizona State University, Colorado Community Colleges, and Maricopa Community Colleges, it focuses on Americans without college degrees and creates transparency around skills needed for fast growing and good paying jobs, access to training and insight into career paths that value people’s skills rather than degrees. Skillful includes online and offline tools to connect job seekers with employers and educators so they can find ways to continuously succeed in this rapidly changing economy.

Moderator: Barbara Buchanon, Truckee Meadows Community College (NV)

Speakers:

• Sarah Heath, Colorado Community College System
• Randall Kimmens, Maricopa Community College District (AZ)
• Laura Williams, LinkedIn

12:15 – 1:15 pm
Awards Luncheon
Join us in congratulating the winner of this year’s Bernice Joseph Award!

Presenter:
Peter Pinney, University of Alaska Fairbanks

1:15 – 1:30 am
Break

1:30 – 2:15 pm
A Revolution in Higher Education: Tales from Unlikely Allies 
There is a consensus that higher education is not on a sustainable path. There are no simple solutions to the problems plaguing colleges and universities. A small band of innovators has launched a revolution to remake higher education. The result will be a new, more sustainable ecosystem. DeMillo will describe the world they are building, using as examples innovations powered by technology, unexpected partnerships, business reinvention and a willingness to disrupt the status quo.

Introducer:
Peter Quigley, University of Hawai’i System

Speaker: 
Richard DeMillo, Georgia Tech

2:15 – 2:30 am
Break

2:30 – 3:15 pm
Concurrent Sessions: Affordable Course Materials: Open Educational Resources (OER) and Other Options
We are all aware of efforts to reduce the cost of a college education through limiting, or even eliminating tuition costs, but what is being done to address the high cost of college textbooks and course materials? The use of open educational resources (OER) is one popular strategy, yet there are others as well. In this session, panelists from both colleges and publishers will share a variety of strategies on how to reduce textbook costs.

Moderator:
Clifton Sanders, Salt Lake Community College (UT)

Speakers:

• Boyoung Chae, Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges
• Catrina Poe, Pearson
• Tim Rogers, Chemeketa Community College (OR)

Guided Pathways: Steering Students through College and Beyond
Panelists will discuss how their programs utilize a career pathways approach to increase successful student engagement in postsecondary education options. Each presenter will describe his/her program’s approach to ensuring that participants are career aware and college-ready, without remediation; have knowledge of high wage, high demand careers that align with their interests, aptitudes, and industry needs; and have incorporated value-added/accelerated
learning options such as dual enrollment, work-based learning, and student
leadership/entrepreneurship organizations.

Moderator:
Paul Dale, Maricopa Community Colleges (AZ)

Speakers:   

• Andy Dorsey, Front Range Community College (CO)
• James Goodman, Leeward Community College (HI)
• Amy Williams, Montana University System

3:15 – 3:30 am
Break

3:30 – 4:15 pm

Concurrent Sessions: Improving Student Retention the iPass Way                                       

Integrated Planning and Advising for Student Success (iPASS) helps students navigate the path to a certificate or degree. It combines advising, degree planning, alerts, and interventions. The tool draws on predictive analytics to help counselors and academic advisors determine in advance whether a student is at risk of dropping or failing out, and it can help assist students on what courses they should select. Find out how it is working and what differences it is making for students and staff.

Moderator:
Suzette Robinson, University of Hawai’i System

Speakers:

• Christina Choi, Whatcom Community College (WA)
• Victor Kuo, Seattle Colleges (WA)

Next Generation Information Services for Students

Join us to learn about two exciting initiatives that will expand the information available to students, higher education institutions, employers, and others to more fully demonstrate student learning and achievement, inside and outside the classroom. We’ll hear about some next generation models for the comprehensive student record and about the information and functionality to be available to students through the National Student Clearinghouse’s
new student portal.

Moderator:
John Miller, Williston State College (ND)

Speakers:

• Vanessa Brown, National Student Clearinghouse
• Tom Green, Association of American Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
• Jonell Sanchez, National Student Clearinghouse

4:15 – 4:30 pm
Break

4:30 – 5:15 pm
Aligning Expectations across the Generations in Education and the Workforce
From the Boomer generation to the Millennials, we have different understandings about our responsibilities, and different attitudes about how we use our time and what we value, and how we treat one another. And with those understandings and attitudes come our expectations of others. Find out how the panelists view their world and what they think can be done to align expectations on campus and in the workplace.

Moderator:
Diane Stiles, Lake Area Technical Institute (SD)

Speakers:

• Dawn Kazoleas, Weber Metals Inc.
• Michelle Mancilla, Student at Northwood University on Cerritos College Campus (CA)
• Susan Stevenson, Marion Military Institute (GA)

5:30 – 7:00 pm
Reception by Pearson

Dinner on your own

FRIDAY, MARCH 24

7:45 – 9:00 am
Breakfast and Alliance Membership Meeting

9:00 – 9:15 am
Break

9:15 – 10:15 am
Perspective Matters: Measuring Student and Institutional Success
Contrary to widely held beliefs, data rarely speak for themselves. This session will explore the influence of perspective on questions posed and answers obtained from data collected in the complex educational environment of community colleges, using research on “skills-builder students” for illustration

Introducer:
Doug Murray, New Mexico Military Institute

Speaker:
Peter Bahr, University of Michigan

10:15 – 10:30 am
Break

10:30 – 11:00 am
Academic and Economic Alignment: A Web-Based Tool for a Real-Time Look

University of Hawai‘i Community College System’s new web-based sector mapping tool provides an organized real-time look into the relationship between academic and economic alignment. Drawing from EMSI’s database but filtered through UHCC’s custom portal, this site looks at all the major sectors of the economy and details of every job inside those sectors with crucial data on current and projected demand data as well as whether the academic units are over or under producing and more. With one click, you can see our heat mapped economy with an overlay of where the system has programs and where opportunities exist that are unaddressed. Don’t miss this fascinating demo of a tool you could replicate in your state!

Introducer:
LeBaron Woodyard, Chancellor’s Office, California Community Colleges

Speakers:

• Peter Quigley, University of Hawai‘i System
• Paul Sakamoto, University of Hawai‘i System

11:00 – 11:.30 am
We’re All About Change
Throughout this meeting, we’ve heard about all kinds of changes in higher education and especially in community colleges. But change is not new to us; that is the business we’re in! Come hear from a former community college president and executive director of a state department of higher education about the lessons he’s learned and the changes we’ve all seen as we do our best to ensure that all students benefit from their experiences in our institutions. In his new role as president of WICHE, he will also address the changes we are seeing in our region and the challenges and opportunities those changes will bring to community colleges. And bring your questions – he wants to hear from you, too!

Introducer:
Louise Pagotto, Kapi’olani Community College (HI)

Speaker:
Joe Garcia, WICHE

11:30 – 11:45 am
Wrap Up/Adjournment

Advanced Reading

There is Life After College
by Jeffrey Selingo

There Is Life After College offers students, parents, and even recent graduates the practical advice and insight they need to jumpstart their careers. Education expert Jeffrey Selingo answers key questions—Why is the transition to post-college life so difficult for many recent graduates? How can graduates market themselves to employers that are reluctant to provide on-the-job training? What can institutions and individuals do to end the current educational and economic stalemate?—and offers a practical step-by-step plan every young professional can follow. From the end of high school through college graduation, he lays out exactly what students need to do to acquire the skills companies want.

The Rights and Responsibilities of the Modern University: The Rise of the Facilitator University
by Peter Lake

This book includes discussion of recent judicial, legislative and regulatory college safety mandates, modern risk management and prevention practices, and the explosion in college safety and wellness issues (suicide, active shooter violence, sexual assault, etc.) while remaining faithful to the core vision of the first edition. The second edition also addresses the disturbing rise of a new nemesis of the facilitator university — ”Compliance U.” Crushing new regulatory burdens significantly impact academic freedom and autonomy, and may interfere with the facilitator’s chief goal of creating a sustainable, reasonably safe and responsible college environment.

Thank You for Being Late
by Thomas Friedman

In Thank You for Being Late, Thomas L. Friedman exposes the tectonic movements that are reshaping the world today and explains how to get the most out of them and cushion their worst impacts. You will never look at the world the same way again after you read this book: how you understand the news, the work you do, the education your kids need, the investments your employer has to make, and the moral and geopolitical choices our country has to navigate will all be refashioned by Friedman’s original analysis.