Raritan Valley Community College is partnering with 13 community colleges on a new Center for Workforce Innovation, supported by the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, that is designed to help students with the “soft skills” valued by employers in today’s job market.
The Essential Learning, General Education, and Career Readiness Center for Workforce Innovation (CWI) was launched at a recent event at RVCC attended by 113 faculty and staff from 14 community colleges throughout New Jersey. Niesha Taylor, Ph.D., director of Career Readiness at the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), was keynote speaker.
The Nov. 8 event featured workshops highlighting NACE’s Career Competency Approach, as well as sessions on such topics as “Integrating Career Competencies into the Curriculum” and “Connecting Career Competencies into Assignments and the Student Experience.”
RVCC Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Karen H. Bearce, Ph.D., explained the impetus for creating the new Pathways to Career Initiative.
“Colleges are hearing over and over again from employers and industry partners that in addition to job-related skills, employees need to possess ‘soft skills’ or ‘durable skills,’” Bearce said. “And while students may understand how General Education courses connect to their majors, they rarely recognize how these courses connect to career-readiness, career-preparation, and lifelong learning.”
During the RVCC event, the state’s community college faculty members, with the assistance of Dr. Taylor, were given the opportunity to examine General Education courses through a career competency lens. They also reviewed the assessment process of their syllabi to help their students succeed in career competency learning.
The goals of the new CWI Pathways to Career Initiative include:
- Aligning learning outcomes of General Education courses to career-readiness learning to demonstrate how career-readiness skills are embedded into essential learning;
- Giving students the tools to develop career-readiness skills across their General Education (essential learning) experience, as well as the ability to implement these career-readiness skills; and
- Engaging faculty in workshops to create valuable learning experiences (including experiential learning) that will align General Education learning outcomes with career competencies.
About NJCCC
Governed by the presidents and trustees of the state’s 18 community colleges and enshrined in state law, the New Jersey Council of County Colleges supports New Jersey’s community colleges and the more than 230,000 students they serve annually across 49 locations. NJCCC fosters collaboration and develops solutions that expand access to college, promote equity and student success, and create a skilled workforce to drive economic growth.
About RVCC
Raritan Valley Community College, located in Branchburg, has been serving as an academic and cultural center for Somerset and Hunterdon County residents for over 50 years. The College has been nationally recognized for its service to the community, environmental stewardship, and commitment to diversity. RVCC offers approximately 90 associate degrees and certificates, as well as career training and professional development courses.
Photo Caption: RVCC Provost and VP of Academic Affairs Karen H. Bearce, left, with Niesha Taylor, Director of Career Readiness at the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), at the kickoff for the new Essential Learning, General Education, and Career Readiness Center for Workforce Innovation. – Photo courtesy of RVCC.
