Purpose of Document- A discussion draft to facilitate development of a new workforce and economic development strategy that improves our system’s capacity to respond to workforce needs with greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Intended Audience - Members of the Community College system such as CTE and EWD practitioners, advisory committees, Regional Consortia and other stakeholders.

California is characterized by economic regions, with powerful regional economic clusters and regional workforces, creating workforce education and training challenges that often are greater than any single college can meet.  The looming workforce shortage and the continuous volatility of changing economic conditions requires strategic approaches that will increase the number of college graduates to fill projected new jobs and replace the hundreds of thousands of employees who will retire or change occupations.  Seventy-five percent of the State's new and replacement jobs will require more than a high school education; of these, 43% will require a less than a four year degree.  Workforce preparation will be far more effective if colleges can leverage efficiencies and scale via a collaborative approach in working with employers and other entities that comprise California's workforce development system. 

THE VISION
The State of California will have a regional structure that supports the California Community Colleges in effectively delivering community college education and training programs, economic and workforce development services, and related functions. The proposed approach optimizes the state’s goals of 1) workforce preparation that meets labor market demands, and 2) community economic vitality by addressing future workforce and economic development needs.

To that end, California Community Colleges will bring together their combined workforce training assets within a region through enhanced coordination of course offerings, services to employers, resource development efforts, and partnerships with business and industry.  Guided by data that identifies occupations and industries that are economically critical within the region, colleges will equip students, job seekers, and incumbent workers with the skills required for jobs providing sustainable wages and career pathways. In addition to enhancing effectiveness at the regional level, opportunities for collaboration across regions/statewide to address sector needs and strategically deploy resources will be enhanced.

THE  RESPONSE:  A NEW REGIONAL MODEL

Colleges in a region will organize, coordinate and leverage the combined assets of CTE programs, EWD Centers/Initiatives, and basic skills to effectively meet the needs of employers and labor pools within the region. The construct of the region will be flexible, based on the individual needs of the region and the defined region itself may be “elastic” in order to address sector strategies and maximize resources. The supporting infrastructure will be customized by the region, based on assets that are most available and appropriate to respond to regional needs. The model will facilitate activity with external stakeholders: partners along the educational continuum, employers, related governmental agencies (economic development agencies, Workforce Boards) and others who share a common interest in the preparation of the workforce.

REGIONAL MODEL GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

1. The response to identified workforce development needs will utilize and coordinate available delivery mechanisms: credit based (FTES supported) CTE, basic skills, and career-focused transfer instruction; contract education and fee-based instruction;  skill and competency analysis, workforce studies, labor market forecasting; and consultation services such as technology transfer and industry incubation.
2.  Workforce demand, informed by industry, will guide planning, curriculum development, and the selection of the most appropriate mechanism for delivery of training and education.  
3. Collaboration is most effective when it serves the interests of all of the partners.
4. Metrics of accountability and systems of evaluation are crucial to evaluating effectiveness.

Essential Tenets for a Regional Approach

1. A regional infrastructure that increases the capacity of community colleges to partner with each other and other workforce & economic development stakeholders to effectively meet regional workforce needs
2. Support for flexible, on-going regional industry sector-based collaboration that provides efficient response to emerging workforce needs; may include curriculum development, consultation with industry and district/college leadership and resource distribution
3. Accurate and timely regional data, research, and environmental scanning used to develop strategic regional workforce development decisions
4. A clearinghouse for grants that reconciles different sources of funding, fosters collaboration over competition, and leverages economies of scale to maximize/optimize resources and efficiencies
5. Support for regional grant applications
6. Evaluation/benchmarking of programs across colleges; creating “communities of practice” to support program improvement efforts
7. A convening and communication infrastructure and services that support timely and strategic responses to regional workforce needs and initiatives; including program approvals and review of existing programs.  Provides contact for, and referral to, the community colleges in the region, including the possibility of a single point of contact with the goal of improving the interface with regional partners, including Local Workforce Investment Boards on sector-based strategy approaches
8. A resource repository that increases access to/consistency of existing curriculum, training materials, research, etc.
9. Professional development in support of emerging sectors, workforce partnerships, and improved teaching and learning, among others.
10. Regional marketing, public relations and advocacy for workforce and economic development
11. Formal linkages to the other regions, the Chancellor’s Office and state-level workforce and economic development organizations.

Governance

The complexity of California Community College governance, in part due to a “system” comprised of a loose confederacy of 112 individual colleges is well known.  Notwithstanding, this “system” has served the State well as a result of unifying themes and missions. It is this commonality of purpose that reinforces the need to effectively and efficiently serve our communities and regions, and inspires us to work toward an accountable and results-oriented regional governance system that facilitates greater convergence and streamlining.

Drafted under the stewardship of the CCCAOE Board, Regional Consortia and the Chancellor’s Office
Date: May 28, 2010

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