Paul LeBlancPresident, Southern New Hampshire University

College for America

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A new approach to college for a new American workforce: accessible, affordable, relevant.

http://bloom.bg/Wfahdg

• Private, non-profit, fully accredited institution

• #12 Fast Company’s The World’s Most Innovative Companies List

• Tier 1 Regional in US News and World Report

• Largest nonprofit provider of online higher education in New England and 4th largest in U.S.

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Southern New Hampshire University

• The high cost and price of higher education to students and employers…

• Access to higher education for tens of millions of workers…

• Low rates of persistence leading to completion once students do enroll…

• Misalignment between what colleges teach and what employers say they need…

• Lack of clear evidence about what college graduates can actually do…

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The Five Challenges…

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Current State How We Changed

• Time Fixed, Learning Undefined

• Faculty Centered

• Expert Teaching Model

• High Cost/Price

• Transcript Black Box

• “Big Chunk” Courses

• Learners come to Institution

• Time Variable, Learning Defined

• Student Centered

• Mentor Model

• Drive costs out of model

• Proof of Learning

• Granular Competencies

• Learning comes to Students

• First 500 students are enrolled • Associates Degree in General

Studies/Business emphasis– Low Cost: $2,500/year, all-inclusive– Online and Employer Supported– Flexible: Self-Paced and Self-Directed– Organized around 120 competencies,

not courses– Mastery: no grades/seat time

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Where We Are

Foundational SkillsCommunication Skills

Critical & Creative ThinkingQuantitative Skills

Digital Fluency & Information Literacy

Personal and Social SkillsPersonal Effectiveness

Ethics and Social ResponsibilityTeamwork and Collaboration

Content KnowledgeBusiness Essentials

Science, Society & Culture

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Competency Clusters

• Humans where they matter most

• Bring learning to where people work and live

• Automated workflows with coaches, evaluators, help desk

• Lots of data collected about each student’s learning

• User interface shows progress, pace and community

– Dashboard of task & competency achievement

– Certificates and micro-credentials

– Chat, discussion boards

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Personalized Learning at Scale

• Employer Partners– Most offer some tuition assistance

– Some have payroll deduction, loans, or direct billing

• $1,250/six month term or $2,500/year

• All-You-Can-Learn

• Title IV Financial Aid Approval – Making History in Higher Ed

• Account Manager for each partner for support

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How CfA Works

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Employer Partners

A.A. in General Studies

• Online• Self-paced• Low-cost• Competency-based– Organized around 120 competencies– No traditional courses

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What do we mean by a “Competency”?

• “Can do” statement representing observable and measurable behavior• Claim we would like to make about what a student knows and can do• Examples:

Can negotiate with others to resolve conflicts and settle disputes Can work with others to accomplish a task Can speak effectively in order to persuade or motivate Can define and use marketing terminology and concepts Can generate a variety of approaches to addressing a problem Can distinguish fact from opinion Can convey information by creating charts and graphs Can recognize and articulate the ethical and moral implications of an issue Can support interpretations and analyses of literary texts with textual

evidence Can represent practical problems as mathematical expressions

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How do we assess mastery?

• Assessment at the core of College for America program• Students demonstrate mastery of competencies by

completing Tasks• Project-based learning• Authentic, engaging and relevant• 3 Different Levels

• Students can revise and resubmit until they demonstrate mastery

• Students will also take third-party, nationally normed assessments

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CfA Competency FrameworkBuilds on Lumina Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP)

INTELLECTUAL SKILLS CIVIC LEARNING APPLIED LEARNING SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE

BROAD, INTEGRATIVE KNOWLEDGE

FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS PERSONAL AND SOCIAL SKILLS CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

COMM. SKILLS CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING

DIGITAL FLUENCY AND INFO. LITERACY

QUANT.SKILLS

PERSONALEFFECTIVENESS

ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

TEAMWORK AND COLLABORATION

[INTEGRATION AND REFLECTION EMBEDDED IN TASKS]

ELECTIVE (BUSINESS ESSENTIALS)

SCIENCE, SOCIETY AND CULTURE

DQP Categories

COMM. SKILLS CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING PERSONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

COLLABORATION INTEGRATION, APPLICATION AND REFLECTION

KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN CULTURES AND THE PHYSICAL AND NATURAL WORLD

SNHU General Education Goals

CfA Competency Clusters

CfA Mastery Triad

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Task Families -> Tasks

Task Family5-8 Competencies

Level 1 Task(s)1-2 Competencies

Level 2 Task(s)3-4 Competencies

Level 3 Task5-8 Competencies

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Task “Package”

• Each Task comes complete with:• Overview• Instructions• Resources• Task • Skill-Building

• Rubric• Additional Guidance for Evaluator

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Sample Level 1 TaskDemonstrates Mastery of 1-2 Competencies

CRITERIA YES NOT YET

Relevant information from the business document has been identified and entered into spreadsheet

Figures have been entered accurately into the spreadsheet

Spreadsheet includes correct formulas

All calculations are correct

COMPETENCIES• Can use a spreadsheet to perform a variety of

calculations• Can locate and use information in basic

business documents, such as manuals and reports

OVERVIEWFor this task, you will locate information in a business report and transfer it into a spreadsheet. Then you will use the spreadsheet to perform calculations. But you will need to be careful – some of the information is missing from the spreadsheet and some of the calculations are inaccurate.

DIRECTIONSYou are a new employee at Johnson Landscaping Contractors and Laura, the office manager, needs your help. Barry, the person who had your job before you, quit suddenly – right in the middle of putting together an Excel spreadsheet. Laura would like you to check Barry’s work and complete the spreadsheet he started. You will find the relevant and correct information in the Quarterly Comparison Report. Be sure to look at all the tabs in the spreadsheet.

RUBRIC

Multiple criteria

Binary

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Sample Level 2 Task (for Team)Demonstrates Mastery of 3-4 Competencies

COMPETENCIES• Can plan and organize work, including setting and meeting deadlines• Can negotiate with others to resolve conflicts and settle disputes• Can provide constructive criticism on peer writing

OVERVIEWIn work (and in life), getting things accomplished usually takes collaboration, planning, and being able to resolve conflicts. For this Task, mastering these skills is a matter of life and death – you and your team have been stranded on the top of a mountain and your only way to survive will be to work together.

DIRECTIONSUh, oh. Shortly after you and your team successfully made it to the top of Mount Rubric, heavy wind and rain weather set in, stranding you on the top of the mountain. No rescue party will be able to get to you for at least two weeks. Fortunately, if you share your resources and plan well, you will have enough supplies to keep you going for one week. In another stroke of good luck, an eccentric billionaire has heard of your situation and agreed to consider one written request for three additional supplies (in ranked order of importance), which he will then airlift to you within 48 hours of receiving the request. Choose your items from the provided list.

As a team, you need to decide how you will use the items you have and what additional items you will ask for. You also need to create a schedule for surviving on the mountain and for drafting and reviewing the written requests. By the way, the billionaire is a stickler for clear, well-edited writing and has been known to turn down similar requests on the grounds that the request was not carefully edited and proofread. See Rules before starting the Task.

CRITERIA YES NOT YET

Team schedule shows planning and organization

Individual “field notes” show that team member negotiated to resolve conflicts and settle disputes

Individual request and final request to billionaire are clear, persuasive and without significant errors in spelling and punctuationFeedback on another team member’s request is thoughtful, specific and helpful, including constructive criticism

1. Draft of your original request to billionaire2. Final team request to billionaire3. Feedback to another team member on his/her request to billionaire4. Members of team and what role each played5. Schedule for sharing and distributing supplies and editing and sending request to

billionaire6. “Field notes” (Reflections on teamwork experience – 1-2 paragraphs)

DELIVERABLES

RUBRIC

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Sample Level 3 taskDemonstrates Mastery of Multiple Competencies

COMPETENCIES• Can use logic, reasoning and analysis to address a basic business problem• Can write a business memo• Can use a spreadsheet to perform calculations• Can synthesize material from multiple sources• Can evaluate information and its sources critically

OVERVIEWFor this task, you will use your critical thinking skills to weigh two options and recommend one. You will summarize your thinking in a formal memo.

DIRECTIONSYour boss has asked you to write a formal memo evaluating two potential vendors for a new vending machine for the employee lounge. Recommend one vendor to your boss and justify your reasoning. Read and analyze the relevant material and perform any necessary calculations. Use correct spelling and grammar and spellcheck your work before submitting it.

RESOURCESProposals from the potential vendors, as well as advertising brochures and the results of an employee opinion survey, are here. Resources to help you with writing business memos and using spreadsheets are here.

Criteria YES NOT YET

Calculations are accurate

Tone and word choice are appropriate for audience

Options are effectively compared and contrasted

Writing is clear and easy to understand

Writing contains few or no errors in spelling punctuation

Sentences and paragraphs are connected logically

Sounds reasoning is used to analyze problem and offer solution

Reasoning is supported by evidence

Uses only relevant information

Distinguishes between fact and opinion

RUBRIC

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Who evaluates the Tasks?

• Part-time Evaluators• All have college-level teaching experience• Most have experience teaching online and working with “non-traditional” students• All have experience using rubrics • 9 have advanced degrees

• 3 doctorates• 6 master’s degrees

• 1 specialist in constructed response scoring• Training

• Background on competency based education and CfA model• Task-specific• As-needed• Continual supervision• Evaluators have access to both content-specific and tech help

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Student Support: Surround Sound

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Goal Setting, Planning, and Pace

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Snap Shot of Student Learning Activity

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And, backend, reporting….

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• Keep Costs Down– $12.00 per student per year

• Become Frictionless– Fewer Systems and Applications

• Rapid Development– Platform has covered common problems.

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• Keep Costs Down– $12.00 per student per year

• Become Frictionless– Fewer Systems and Applications

• Rapid Development– Platform has covered common problems.

Workforce Development Challenges• Ensure connection to the workforce

– Competencies have value to the worker and industry

• Focus on industries and occupations that provide on-ramps to a career– Portable within a company

– Across occupations and industries

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Workforce Solutions

• Conduct labor market analysis– Identify appropriate industries of focus and occupations

within those industries

• Target employers in the identified industries– Explore competencies and understand employer interest

• Understand competencies and integrate into CfA offerings – Analyze job families to fully understand competencies

required to enter and advance in the occupational areas

– Determine ways to weave competencies into more industry-focused degrees

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QUESTIONS?