Washington State Centers of Excellence: A Vital Strategic Asset A Centralia College Partnership Washington State Centers of Excellence: A Vital Strategic Asset U.S. Department of Labor TAACCCT Round 4 Convening September 26, 2017

Panelists Barbara Hins-Turner, Executive Director, Center of Excellence for Clean Energy, Centralia College Maria Gingerich, Senior Manager, Third Sector Intelligence, Inc. A Centralia College Partnership

Session Description The sector based Centers of Excellence model in Washington State has helped land nearly $75,000,000 in grants including two DOL TAACCCT statewide consortium grants. The model has brought together a multi-sector cluster approach that supports employer engagement, preparation for jobs of the future and economic development for our state.  We will demonstrate the toolkit developed through WISE grant evaluation to measure the impact of the grant on participant employment and how this contributes to sustainability of grant investments.   

Centers of Excellence History Each Center focuses on a targeted industry that drives the state’s economy Codified into state legislation - 2008 State Board for Community and Technical Colleges selected 10 colleges to serve as Centers of Excellence - 2004

Celebrating 12 Years Vision Mission Become national model to develop partnerships: Business Industry Education Organized labor Workforce system Economic development Liaison between partners and the state’s education system to: Drive the economy Create highly skilled workforce Provide consistent curriculum Meet industry needs Provide state-wide coordination

Washington’s Centers of Excellence Aerospace & Advanced Materials Manufacturing Agriculture Allied Health Careers in Education Clean Energy Construction Global Trade & Supply Chain Management Homeland Security & Emergency Mgmt. Information & Computing Technology Marine Manufacturing & Technology

Core Expectation #3: Education, Innovation, and Efficiency: Leverage resources and educational partnerships to create efficiencies and support development of curriculum and innovative delivery of educational strategies to build a diverse and competitive workforce.

Provides for Sustainability Beyond the Life of the Grant WA Centers of Excellence – Industry Engagement Model Platform for Attracting/Managing Grant Funding Provides for Sustainability Beyond the Life of the Grant WISE (Washington Integrated Sector Employment) TAACCCT Round 4 This $9,994,854 project brings together the clean energy, advanced manufacturing and construction sectors to prepare participants for employment in entry level, pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship occupations. It addresses the unique needs of unemployed, or under-employed dislocated workers, using innovative and sophisticated strategies. A Centralia College Partnership

Core Expectation #4: Workforce Supply and Demand Focus: Research, analyze, and disseminate information related to training capacity, skill gaps, trends, and best practices within each industry sector to support a viable new and incumbent workforce.

The goal of the evaluation is to develop a consistent, meaningful way to assess program effectiveness Program evaluation is designed and executed in partnership with a program’s leadership A strong evaluation will be formative as well as summative – i.e., will influence program leadership throughout the grant as well as report on outcomes The WISE evaluation has two key components: process evaluation and outcomes evaluation The evaluation will help WISE leaders better serve participants and support employers with prepared employees

The evaluation is conducted using a set of tools 2015 2016 2017 2018 Process Evaluation Goal Measure program implementation Outcomes Evaluation Measure program impact Key tools Annual target setting process Quarterly dashboard Employment predictive modeling Survey results Navigator impact analysis Comparison cohort quasi- experimental impact analysis

Evaluation Tools: Annual target setting process 1 Renton Technical College Cumulative Participants Actuals vs. Targets (Q5) Targets also allow us to: Provide input to grant leadership on whether the grant is on-track to meet DOL goals Benchmark performance at various levels of granularity (program, college, grant) Identify opportunities to provide support or shift resources to improve performance

Evaluation Tools: Quarterly Dashboard 2 A quarterly Tableau dashboard is our on- going and primary measurement tool

Evaluation Tools: Employment Prediction 3 Significant Explanatory Variables Total Credentials Quarters in WISE Race – White, Asian Gender – Male College – Walla Walla Program (Com Building Eng, Major Appliance, Energy Systems Program)

Evaluation Tools: Surveys 4 **ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY** Student, Employer and Faculty surveys will allow us to triangulate on outcomes and better understand employer perception of how WISE is contributing to hiring and retaining qualified workers

Evaluation Tools: Comparison Groups 6 DOL requires a quasi-experimental design to better understand the TAACCCT program impact, by using two similar groups we can attribute a difference in outcomes to the one thing that is different between them – the WISE program Treatment Group Comparison Group South Seattle Community College Manufacturing Academy Participated in WISE Dedicated Navigator Other WISE contributions Bates Technical College Manufacturing Academy did not participate in WISE but is similar to the treatment group in other meaningful ways (curriculum, student recruitment and background) Some general college navigation but no dedicated Navigator

21st Century Skilled Workforce How do we recruit, train, and retain them?

Thank you! WISE http://cleanenergyexcellence.org/projects Washington Centers of Excellence http://www.coewa.com Thank you! This workforce product was funded by a grant in the amount of $9,994,854, representing approximately 56% of program costs, awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. This product was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor make no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. WISE is led by Centralia College and the Center of Excellence for Clean Energy in partnership with the Centers of Excellence for Aerospace & Advanced Manufacturing and Construction. Centralia College is an equal opportunity employer/program and auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.