LCCC chosen for 'Unlocking Opportunity' student success project

The Aspen Institute and the Community College Research Center at Columbia University's Teacher College have selected Lorain County Community College and nine other community colleges across the country to take part in the "Unlocking Opportunity" initiative. This puts LCCC in a national network of 10 community colleges that have committed to making sure every student can earn a bachelor's degree or a high-quality workforce credential. The initiative was announced last fall, according to LCCC. The Ohio community colleges in the network are LCCC and Sinclair Community College in Dayton. The eight others are spread out from Florida to New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The 10 colleges are "committed to improving students' post-completion outcomes and proving that — by focusing on delivering credentials of value — colleges can strengthen the programs they offer and advising they provide," according to a news release. "Our community turns to Lorain County Community College to prepare for in-demand careers. By working with the Unlocking Opportunity network, LCCC will continue to enhance students' career outcomes that provide family sustaining wages," LCCC President Marcia Ballinger said. The end goal is to graduate students with credentials of value. This means setting up every student to earn a bachelor's degree or a high-quality workforce credential, including students of color and low-income students who are less likely to enroll in and complete the programs that result in strong outcomes, LCCC said. Tracy Green, LCCC's vice president for strategic and institutional development, said in a phone interview that the program complements what the college already has been doing: Helping students find the right educational and training programs for them. "We're striving for every student to connect their passion to a paycheck from an employer in our region," she said. "We're helping students find their passion and make a career out of it that meets local employers' needs." New careers in animation, manufacturing, cybersecurity and other fields that didn't exist five or 10 years ago are now emerging, Green said. She said the college is trying to connect students with education and training that is "going to land them a career with local employers that are hiring at wages that help support themselves and their families." Employers are likewise in need of talented employees, and "Unlocking Opportunity" is part of the college's strategic plan to build a bridge between talent and jobs, Green said. Another part of the plan is to connect workers with employers earlier, through not just classroom teaching but hands-on experience as early in the educational process as possible. The initiative aligns with LCCC's Vision 2025 plan and 10,000 Degrees of Impact, which aims to help 10,000 students earn credentials between 2019 and 2025. Progress on that goal is more than 70 percent complete, LCCC said. That had a positive impact on graduates and their families by promising good-paying careers and giving local employers a talent pool from which to draw. "More than 90 percent of LCCC graduates live and work in Northeast Ohio. By working with local employers and creating value-added programs, such as our earn and learn programs and holistic support services, LCCC is helping advance the economic mobility of our students and our community. By joining the Unlocking Opportunity network, our impact in these areas will continue to expand," Ballinger said in the news release. LCCC's University Partnership gives students the chance to continue their associate and bachelor's degree-level programs through more than 100 bachelor's and master's degree-level programs at 15 Ohio colleges — all on the LCCC campus and at a fraction of the cost. LCCC also has partnerships with more than 700 employers to make sure what's learned in the classroom aligns with what employers need on the job. Aspen College Excellence Program founder and Executive Director Josh Wyner said it is time to focus on increasing the value of the credentials delivered — "especially for the large numbers of Black, Hispanic, and low-income students who rely so heavily on community colleges to provide a path to a better life." "The colleges selected for this network have shown that they can make scaled and systemic change, and are ready to work together on this critical goal," he said in a news release. The network will run from 2023 through 2028. During the first three years, colleges will set goals, plan reform strategies and implement changes with the support of coaches and learning sessions. The final three years will include continued monitoring and research by CCRC and Aspen alongside the continuing release of publicly-accessible tools, case studies, and reports to share the lessons with the field. Throughout the process, colleges will focus on strengthening and rethinking existing programs and developing new program models that expand career and educational opportunity for all students, according to the news release. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaveOBrienCT.