By Anvi Goyal
SACSCOC Workforce Communications Intern
Colleges and universities across the country are working to align academic programs with workforce needs, but many are still figuring out how best to do so. Results from SACSCOC’s Workforce Initiative Survey provide a clear snapshot of where institutions are making progress, and where they face challenges.
The Workforce Initiative survey responses can tell us a great deal about the higher education institutes’ endeavors and challenges in bridging the gap between education and workforce needs. This is the first step in the Workforce Initiative’s aim in addressing gaps between education and labor market needs. Earlier this year, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) launched an initiative—in partnership with Lumina Foundation—to reconcile college and university education and the evolving workforce requirements. The Workforce Initiative brings together member universities and university systems to collaboratively find solutions and align academic programs across the nation. The survey initiates in
identifying education and labor market needs by gathering data from member higher education systems and institutions.
The Workforce Initiative Survey saw a phenomenal response rate with responses from more than over 111 institutions and 9 Systems across the United States. Out of these institutes, 80% are public institutes with 42% of the institutes being Level I or Associate level institutes, and 39% are Level V and VI institutes offering doctorate degrees. Some of the most striking findings show that only half of these institutes identify their current approach in aligning workforce programs with national, regional, state, and/or local workforce needs as moderately structured. While institutes express the need for more data driven and innovative ways to align workforce programs with needs, out of 109, only 24 institutes indicate their approach as highly systematic and data-driven.
Many institutions – about 80% – have already begun implementing workforce-focused initiatives such as stackable certificates, short-term credentials, and industry certifications. However, fewer are routinely conducting workforce gap analyses to help determine whether these programs align with labor market demand. The survey responses highlight that only half of both the member systems and institutes are conducting gap analyses comparing workforce needs with program offerings. The survey also reveals the current initiatives that tackle workforce development. All of the systems and about 80% of the institutes claim that they are currently developing short-term workforce-focused credentials. However, very few are conducting regular, annual gap analyses which are required to identify and align offerings with national and regional needs. The current initiatives focus on industry-based certifications embedded in academic curriculum, academic certificates, stackable credentials, and micro-credentials.
What challenges do these institutions face in effectively addressing workforce needs? We find that 73% of the institutes and more than over 50% of the university systems recognize resource or staffing constraints as the major challenge that they currently face in responding to national, regional, state, and/or local workforce needs. These are followed by other potential roadblocks such as long program approval timelines, limited capacity for data analysis and limited employer partnerships.
A key component of the Initiative is the creation of a Workforce Coordinator Network, with member institutions to address the above mentioned challenges. This Network will allow the coordinators to participate and work collaboratively to develop useful tools and program design strategies. When asked about the kinds of support that the institutes would find the most valuable, a high percentage suggest aid in creating program templates and toolkits and employer engagement models. These findings give us a picture about institutes’ current challenges and needs, thus allowing us to better develop and strengthen workforce pathways for the future.