Project Overview
Short-term workforce programs provide faster, more flexible pathways into in-demand careers, but students in these programs do not always have access to internships or other traditional work-based learning opportunities to apply their skills with employers before graduation.
Internships and other work-based learning opportunities are often completed as additions to the normal coursework, and students, particularly community college students who often are working and have other life responsibilities, are then locked out of these critical career enhancing opportunities, for a variety of reasons including time, childcare, transportation, work responsibilities, and more.
The Workforce Futures Accelerator is a three-year national initiative that embeds virtual, employer-sponsored projects directly into the curriculum of short-term workforce programs. The project is designed to give students meaningful opportunities to apply their skills, build professional experience, connect with employers, and graduate with evidence of what they can do, not simply a credential.
This project is made possible thanks to the generous support from Google.org.
This project is also made possible by the following key partners.
ACCT, Center for Policy and Practice: leads the initiative and supports institutional implementation, peer learning, leadership engagement, and long-term sustainability.
Riipen: provides the experiential learning platform, employer marketplace, project matching, onboarding, and ongoing support for employer-sponsored projects.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute's (WPI) Center for Project-Based Learning: leads instructor development and provides faculty with training and support to integrate project-based learning into workforce curricula.
How the Project Works
Participating colleges identify short-term workforce programs where employer-sponsored projects can strengthen student learning and career preparation.
Throughout the project, colleges receive support in three key areas:
- Faculty Development: Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Center for Project-Based Learning provides workshops, peer learning, and resources to help instructors integrate employer projects into their courses, support student teams, and assess student learning.
- Employer Projects: Riipen connects instructors with employers and supports the development and delivery of virtual, real-world projects that students complete as part of their coursework.
- Institutional Implementation: ACCT supports participating colleges with peer learning, planning, leadership engagement, and strategies for sustaining and expanding work-based learning across additional courses and programs.
As the initiative progresses, colleges are expected to scale project-based learning with in their institutions in years two and three by adding additional instructors and programs and develop a network of faculty and staff who can support continued implementation. Participating institutions will also have opportunities to showcase student projects and the course model on campus, helping build broader faculty, leadership, and institutional support for experiential learning.
Lessons from the participating colleges will inform a publicly available collection of tools, templates, implementation guidance, learning materials, and promising practices that other community colleges can use to develop sustainable project-based work-based learning programs.
Congratulations to our 14 colleges participating in this project!
- Bergen Community College
- Central Louisiana Community College
- Clark State College
- Grayson College
- Great Basin College
- Heartland Community College
- Houston City College
- Hudson County Community College
- Lamar Institute of Technology
- Manchester Community College
- Mesa Community College
- Mohave College
- San Joaquin Delta Community College
- San Juan College
- West Virginia University Parkersburg
Explore the latest Workforce Futures Accelerator resource!
Closing the Gap: Why Community Colleges Are the Key to Accessible Work-Based Learning
View more additional resources, technical guides, and lessons from participating colleges in our resource repository
Have specific questions or want more information about this project? Feel free to reach out to either of the following
Michelle Callahan, Senior Project Associate, [email protected]
Steve Jurch, Associate Vice President, Center for Policy & Practice, [email protected].