Vernon Hawkins
When I arrived at Brookhaven College in the fall of 2006, I began expressing three primary virtues that I would continue to emphasize during my first year at this institution. I collapsed these virtues into a moniker which I called the 3-S Holistic Approach.
This approach focuses on three issues:
1) Structure–reviewing and realignment of staff and duties within the divisional structure,
2) Service–improving customer and student services including a review of our technical training, and
3) Soul–increasing the emphasis on the fact that it will take the entire village to implement positive change and to have sustained success.
At my first Extended President’s Cabinet meeting, I stated that the 3-S Holistic Approach would guide and lead the turn-around and resurgence of the Workforce and Continuing Education Division of this institution. By focusing on these key issues this division has increased enrollments, gross revenue, the number and amount of corporate contracts, and contract revenue while minimizing costs. Overall, though not perfect, this was a good year for this division. In essence, we have turned around a ship that was off-course and are now ready to move forward, “full steam ahead.”
If you spend any time around our current chancellor, Dr. Wright L. Lassiter, you will become accustomed to a simple, yet poignant, saying which he often quotes. “The biggest room in any house is the room for improvement.” Using this quote as our mantra, the Workforce and Continuing Education Division has embarked on a mission of “continuous improvement.”
Additionally, though we will continue to espouse the 3-S Holistic Approach developed and employed last year, this year, the Workforce and Continuing Education Division will add a new paradigm to our lexicon: 3-C’s for Institutional Success. The three C’s are: collaboration, cooperation and communication.
With each of the preceding items in mind and in accordance with our “new” institutional vision statement, the following paragraphs contain just some of the projects, improvements and activities on which this division has worked or is currently working that will enrich the lives of our students, employees and our community:
Communication
In case you did not notice, the division was renamed Workforce and Continuing Education. The change was made to better reflect the variety of workforce program offerings and multiple employee constituent groups this department services.
In order to better service our business and industry constituents, we have added personnel in our corporate training solutions department. By December 2007, there will be two full-time coordinators employed to work with our business and industry sector. Additionally, earlier this year, our Corporate Training Solutions department was moved to Brookhaven College’s East campus in order to allow them to be in a location more suitable to supporting our business, industry and corporate constituents.
Collaboration
This spring, the Corporate Training Solutions team will launch a new partnership with the educational partner, AchieveGlobal, Inc. AchieveGlobal is the world’s largest provider of performance improvement skills training. With AchieveGlobal, we will help our clients translate their business strategies into results by improving the performance of their employees, successfully developing leaders, and acquiring and retaining profitable customer relationships.
Corporate Training Solutions is working with the nation’s third largest supermarket chain in acquiring accreditation for their Retail Leadership Development Program in Texas. Currently, this retailer’s Portland division has partnered with their local community college in Oregon. We are honored that they have chosen Brookhaven College as a possible partner for their Texas division. In Texas, they have 112 stores and 62 of these are in the Dallas area.
Alternative Certification for Teachers Graduates
Brookhaven College’s, fully-approved, SBEC-accredited, Alternative Certification for Teachers program began its 13th cohort this fall. With 16 students, this is one of the larger cohorts in recent semesters. Additionally, the graduation and placement rates in this program were 50 percent higher this year than in 2006.
Our English for Speakers of Other Languages program still rates as our most successful continuing education program. This multi-level, language program accounts for nearly
35 percent of the gross workforce development division revenue and can be considered a “gateway” program for the other workforce development programs.
This fall, in collaboration with the World Languages Division, an intensive English program for students scoring 44 or below on the COMPASS assessment exam was implemented. The curriculum for this unique, multi-level institute was developed and is taught by our credit ESOL faculty. The Multicultural Center handles student advising and registration, while all other support activities and funding are handled by continuing education.
Beginning this spring we will have an increased emphasis on concurrent credit/continuing education course offerings. It is our hope that every qualifying credit course will be listed in the continuing education online schedule. Some of the new credit courses that will be made available to our continuing education students are: RELI 1317, The History and Literature of the Bible, and BIOL 2416, Genetics.
In collaboration with the Communications Division, a summer bridge program was developed in order to increase the reading proficiency of our area high school students. This past summer, the program was piloted with the Brookhaven College Early College High School students and met with rousing success. This spring, we are expanding the program and developing components in mathematics and science.
In spring 2008, we will launch our new Women’s Institute with “Self Empowerment Workshops for Women,” including Life Skills for Women, Business Etiquette for Women, Leadership Skills for Women, Women and Diversity in the Workplace, Breaking the Superwoman Syndrome, Self-Esteem – Developing a Positive Self-Image, and Assertiveness for Women. Every quarter, the Women’s Institute will feature a variety of workshops under a different umbrella highlighting issues critical to women.
Summer 2008 will be year two for Brookhaven’s Youth Summer Program, offering courses for newborn through age 17 in languages (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French & Arabic); computer topics (Photoshop, Digital Photography, Video Game Making, Creating Web Pages, Animation using Flash); Lego® Robotics; Art Camp; Geoscience; “Mad” Science; Theater; CPR; Junior Chef; Navigation Skills to Move From Junior High to High School; Junior Entrepreneur; Creative Writing; and Musikgarten for preschool.
As a part of this institution’s “Southern Sector Initiative,” continuing education has undertaken a program of outreach to better serve the needs of Brookhaven College’s southernmost service area by developing a relationship and negotiating an agreement with Polk Recreation Center in the Dallas Love Field area. Polk Recreation Center will serve as a satellite campus for Brookhaven and courses designed specifically for that constituency could begin as early as Spring 2008. We are actively pursuing other similar opportunities, as well.
In fall 2007, we began a division reorganization that embraced a movement toward “Centers of Excellence.” COE requires that we evaluate program areas and develop courses and related programs in those areas that will more fully address the needs of the Brookhaven constituency. These courses also will lead to the development of a large number of certificate programs. The first priority is in the business program area and entails developing more face-to-face and hybrid course offerings and certificates for the entrepreneur, small business owner and corporate audiences.
Cooperation
During fall 2007, we began work to streamline and clarify our course schedule production cycle, design process and course layout. The main emphases were to provide more white space and to increase readability. Stage one of that project will be evident in the computer, business and Arts Academy sections of the summer 2008 schedule, with the remainder to be completed for the fall 2008 schedule.
Beginning in fall 2008, the Workforce and Continuing Education Division will produce four schedules per year, one each quarter. Moving to a quarterly continuing education schedule will provide greater opportunity for program additions and modifications and meet the ever-changing needs of our constituents.
As I stated, the preceding lists just a few of the highlights for the coming year. If you have any questions, comments or suggestion about the Workforce and Continuing Education Division or its program offerings, please don’t hesitate to call ext. 4600.
