All In: Student Pathways Forward

In this episode in honor of Mother's Day, we revisit some clips from past All In podcast student guests who are moms. The host Marc Goldberg also interviews his own mom, Nancy Yelenik Goldberg, who describes her experience as a returning, parenting student at the local community college in the 1970's taking classes in the emerging field of computer science. She elaborates on the trailblazing career she had as as a programmer and eventual executive leader in the technology field and talks about the civic engagment she is involved in these days.

The first All In clip is from an early season one episode of the podcast during the pandemic with Nellisha Moore, a student from Chemeketa Community College. The next one is from a conversation with Cristina Cruz, an early childhood education career pathways student from Lane Community College. Following that are highlights from an interview with Shalease Williams from Portland Community College in season one. The next clip is from Emily Geise, a graduate of Klamath Community College and employee of Cascade Comprehensive Care. Lastly, there are highlights from an interview with Lynne Hamblin, a student at Rogue Communtiy College. Each of these All In moms share different thoughts about the intersections between their community college experiences and their own children and families.

The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon’s participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network and supported by the Lumina Foundation.

In this episode host Marc Goldberg interviews Lane Community College Culinary Commercial Cooking Certificate program graduate Barbara Graham-Adams, college president Dr. Stephanie Bulger and CEO and President of NACCE, the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, Dr. Rebecca Corbin.

Barbara talks about her experience as a returning student who enrolled in a culinary career pathways program to enhance her skills for her existing food cart business, Irie Jamaican Kitchen, which has now led to new opportunities through the college. She offers helpful insights to college faculty and staff on additional ways to meet the needs of parenting students and gives great advice to other community college students.

Dr. Bulger shares her reflections from Barbara’s interview and touches on different programs and supports the College provides for small and emerging businesses through the Small Business Development Center, entrepreneurial academic programs and even through the College’s procurement process.

Dr. Corbin describes how NACCE supports colleges across the country in developing an entrepreneurial mindset with students and through college programs and touches on the power of this national network to learn together, co-create and take innovative action.

The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon’s participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network and supported by the Lumina Foundation.

In this episode host Marc Goldberg interviews Clark State College nursing graduate Lemohang Mokhalinyane and then a follow up conversation with both Clark State College President Dr. Jo Blondin and Higher Learning Commission (HLC) President Dr. Barbara Gellman-Danley.

Lemoh describes her experience as a student in the nursing pathway at Clark State - first in the Licensed Practical Nursing program leading to employment and then the Registered Nursing program. She highlights the incredible support and guidance she received from college faculty and staff as a student and the culture of meeting students where they’re at. Lemoh also describes the benefit of enrolling in and completing a non-degree credential of value in her educational journey at Clark State.

Dr. Blondin and Dr. Gellman-Danley, both transformative, student-centered leaders with expertise advocating and shifting systems at the local, state and national level, share their reflections from the interview with Lemoh and elaborate on the topic of quality non-degree credentials.

Dr. Blondin describes how Clark State has established meaningful on-ramp and off-ramp credential programs to support student goals. Dr. Gellman-Danley offers expertise and insights from the lens of an accrediting board and how HLC has prioritized non-degree credential programs in their work with member institutions. Both Dr. Blondin and Dr. Gellman-Danley emphasize the importance of centering students and student intent when considering policies and practice at the institutional and national level.

The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon’s participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network and supported by the Lumina Foundation.

In this episode host Marc Goldberg interviews Treasure Valley Community College student Jessica Schooley, Treasure Valley Community College president Dr. Dana Young, and the head of design programs at Education Design Lab, Dr. Leslie Daugherty.

Jessica talks about the value of stackable credentials in her Natural Resources program along with the holistic supports provided by college staff and faculty and partner agencies like Worksource Oregon. She also describes the work-based learning internship that has led to a great employment opportunity in her field.

President Young shares her reflections from Jessica’s interview and emphasizes the importance of employer partnerships for the college, especially in a rural community to provide upskilling and reskilling training for residents, and how they support overall economic vitality of the region.

Leslie describes Education Design Lab’s work collaborating with colleges across the country focused on new majority learners, non-degree credentials of value and rural colleges grounded in their human centered design approach that generates new solutions for learners, employers and communities.

The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon’s participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network and supported by the Lumina Foundation.

This episode features interviews with Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) graduate Kwame Presley, GRCC President Dr. Charles Lepper and Melissa Goldberg, the Director of Competencies and Credentials at Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, a national non-profit development organization that partners with government, business, education and community leaders to connect workers with education and good jobs.

Kwame shares his experience as a parenting student in an accelerated quality non-degree credential program in the IT sector that has led to a fantastic career opportunity with a local employer. He provides important recommendations to college leaders and students towards student success.

President Lepper offers his reflections from Kwame’s interview and describes how GRCC has developed responsive non-degree credential programs in strong partnership with regional employers and workforce organizations.

Melissa shares more on the work Corporation for a Skilled Workforce leads on quality non-degree credential programs across the country including the ACE-UP grant that Grand Rapids is a part of focused on strategies colleges can employ to help their industry partners create more inclusive workplace environments.

The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon’s participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network and supported by the Lumina Foundation.

In this introductory episode for season three, host Marc Goldberg interviews Dr. Michelle Van Noy, the Director of the Education and Employment Research Center (EERC) at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations. As a leading scholar in the world of quality non-degree credentials, Dr. Van Noy provides important context on this topic to ground us in this season’s podcast theme. She shares research she has led at EERC on the quality non-degree credentials ecosystem and growing interest and investments by states and institutions. This includes the recent publication Making Sense of Quality in the Non-Degree Credential (NDC) Marketplace- Implications for Policymakers and Practitioners.

Dr. Van Noy elaborates on the elements of quality non-degree credentials, highlights additional research and resources on this topic, including states that are leading the way and offers insights on questions to explore with upcoming guests - students, college leaders and policymakers on non-degree credentials of value.

The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon’s participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network.

In this season finale episode, host Marc Goldberg moderates a panel discussion with four key workforce development and higher education leaders in Oregon discussing the topics of job quality, college and industry partnerships and the Future Ready Oregon legislation– the most significant state investment in workforce training in the state’s history. The panelists include Oregon State Senator Michael Dembrow, Chemeketa Community College President, Dr. Jessica Howard, Advanced Economic Solutions, Inc. Owner, Marin Arreola III, and the Director of the Oregon Workforce Talent & Development Board, Todd Nell.

The panelists offer great insights on how Future Ready Oregon came together with support from multiple stakeholder groups and how these investments have centered equity and encouraged and incentivized partnerships to increase Oregonian’s access to skills training that results in careers with economic mobility. They also share examples of how the Future Ready funds have prioritized equity and integrated holistic supports. This all ties in with our conversation on the topics of job quality and college and industry partnerships.

The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon’s participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network.

In this episode, host Marc Goldberg interviews Tillamook Bay Community College graduate and current college Success Coach and adjunct welding faculty Jude Schlotzhauer, college President Dr. Ross Tomlin and Laura Dresser, associate diirector at COWS, a research center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Jude discusses how transformative her college experience was as a student and how she is now able to reciprocate the same culture of care with other students in her roles as a success coach and faculty member. She describes how her work at the college is the best quality job she’s had before and offers really interesting ideas on how employers and colleges can listen to students and workers in authentic ways. 

President Tomlin elaborates further on how the college supports job quality for its employees with different strategies connecting it all back to student success. He also shares the importance of external partnerships for the college with employers and economic development organizations to support economic equity and vitality in their region of the state.  

Laura offers insights on the COWS definition of high road employers with good job quality and how colleges can collaborate with employers to promote job quality and employee retention through benchmarking effective strategies from these high road employers. She emphasizes the critical role community and technical college career pathways programs play in creating access and support for students and workers towards careers with economic mobility. 

The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon’s participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network.

In this episode, host Marc Goldberg interviews Clatsop Community College student Taylor Falconer, Astoria Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Reid and Clatsop Community College President Chris Breitmeyer.

Taylor is a working student who participated in the college’s Clatsop Works internship program last summer gaining invaluable experience towards her Business degree. She offers great insights on her own definition of job quality having worked in the restaurant industry for many years and discusses the impact of her education and training at the College.

David shares more on the key role the Chamber of Commerce plays in regional economic and workforce development and highlights the important partnership with Clatsop Community College including the Clatsop Works program.

President Breitmeyer reflects on the interview with Taylor emphasizing the critical role faculty and staff play at the College in supporting students holistically to achieve their academic and career goals. He elaborates further on the Clatsop Works program which creates more access and opportunity to quality jobs for students while supporting regional employers in developing a future workforce.

The All In: Student Pathways Forward podcast is a part of Oregon’s participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network.

This special episode features an interview with Steve Jurch, Director of Center for Policy and Practice at the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) and continues the dialogue with workforce development leaders aiming to transform policies and practice to improve job quality, equity and college and industry partnerships.

Steve highlights a number of initiatives ACCT has in place under the Center for Policy and Practice providing technical assistance to ACCT college members including a Non-credit/Credit Alignment Lab project, another assisting rural colleges and state systems in becoming SNAP E & T third-party providers to support students in completing college, and a skills based hiring initiative. 

Steve elaborates on ways ACCT supports job quality with its member institutions as well as how the organization integrates student voice into their policy work. He provides additional insights from his experience as a workforce development practitioner at Community College of Baltimore County prior to joining ACCT. 

The All In: Student Pathways Forwardpodcast is a part of Oregon’s participation in the National Skills Coalition SkillSPAN network.