SOUTH CAROLINA ACCELERATETAACCCT EVALUATION

In 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), through the Trade AdjustmentAssistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grantprogram, awarded a grant to Greenville Technical College (GTC) to implementthe South Carolina Adult College Completion through E-Learning Resourcesand Academic Tracks to Employment (SC ACCELERATE) program across aconsortium of six technical colleges in South Carolina.

GTC awarded a contract to IMPAQ International, LLC (IMPAQ) to conduct anevaluation of SC ACCELERATE. IMPAQ conducted a mixed-methodsevaluation of this program, including an evaluability assessment, a performanceassessment, and formative and summative implementation evaluations.

JUSTIFICATION OF NEEDSouth Carolina has experienced significant economic challenges as a result of the decline in its manufacturing sector and the recession of 2008. SC ACCELERATE was launched in October 2012 to address the gap between the skill levels of older workers who have been displaced from their jobs (including Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)-certified workers) and the higher skill levels needed for in-demand jobs–particularly within the advanced manufacturing industry sector.

The theory underlying SC ACCELERATE was that the program’s services would help participants to earn credentials and develop skills to enable them to transition their careers, gain employment in high-skill/high-wage, in-demand jobs, and/or increase their earnings.

IMPAQ International evaluates and enhances public programs and policies.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONSC ACCELERATE is a federally funded four-year grant designed to help olderadults, especially those whose jobs have been negatively affected byinternational trade, make the transition to more highly skilled jobs in advancedmanufacturing. The SC ACCELERATE consortium consists of six technical andcommunity colleges covering six local workforce investment areas in 17counties in South Carolina. SC ACCELERATE was built on a foundation of fivekey evidence-based strategies for success.

STRATEGY 1: OUTREACH, MARKETING & RECRUITMENTFor branding purposes, SC ACCELERATE designed a logo, and capitalizedthe acronym to enhance its name recognition. Although each college wasresponsible for its own outreach and recruitment activities, the consortiumhelped to coordinate these activities to ensure consistency among colleges.

Internal Strategies External Strategies

• SC ACCELERATE website• Classroom presentations• Targeted mailings• Attendance at on-campus events• Internal referrals

• SC ACCELERATE website• Coordination with workforce partners• Coordination with veterans’ organizations• Attendance at off-campus events• Community outreach/partnerships

Key Finding

SC ACCELERATE exceeded the number of participants itproposed to serve by 60 percent as a result of these outreach,marketing, and recruitment strategies. The program’s success inthese areas likely resulted from common key strategies, includingstaff taking advantage of good timing and recruiting participantswith a personal touch.

1

STRATEGY 2: ADULT POST-SECONDARY TRANSITION CENTERS (APTC)

Because adult learners tend to have more barriers to educational successthan traditional students, one of the key components of the program was toprovide an array of wraparound services. These services were tailoredtowards adult learners to support college enrollment, foster successfulschool-to-career transitions, and promote retention. APTCs wereestablished in each consortium college to house and coordinate theprovision of support services to participants. Participants most frequentlyidentified the following as key services: assessments, tutoring, advising,résumé writing, and workshops.

Key FindingSC ACCELERATE’s APTCs served participants successfully.The centers were accessible, offered participants flexibleoptions, provided guidance to participants who were also newstudents, functioned as a single point of contact, and deliveredpersonalized case management services.

The SC ACCELERATE consortium followed a rigorous curriculardevelopment process to create online, open source courses. The programleveraged the expertise of the Clemson University Center for WorkforceDevelopment (CUCWD) to review and redesign curricula according toUniversal Design for Learning and Open Learning Initiative criteria. Theconsortium colleges used grant funding to purchase upgraded, cutting edgeadvanced manufacturing equipment to incorporate into the revised curricula.

STRATEGY 3: CURRICULA DEVELOPMENT AND REDESIGN

Key FindingsA total of 110 modules were to be developed across all courses. The majority of modules (85 percent)have been fully developed. Over half of these modules have been approved, and the rest have beenreviewed and are near completion.

Among the six colleges, faculty and grant staff uniformly reported that they did not fully understand thescope of the curricular development strategy at the outset of the project. As the requirements andstandards became clearer over time with CUCWD’s technical assistance, faculty and staff realized thatthe level of effort and resources required to achieve project milestones and complete deliverables onschedule were much greater than anticipated. A key issue was the faculty’s and staff’s lack offamiliarity with UDL principles and how to incorporate them into the course redesign. Many instructorsalso did not realize the amount of original material they had to create.

The SC ACCELERATE consortium proposed to develop a consortium-wide PLA plan to standardize, streamline, anddevelop common definitions for the PLA process among the colleges to increase current and potential adult students’awareness and understanding of PLA options, processes, and procedures through consistent marketing andmessaging. The consortium brought in the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) as a facilitator.

STRATEGY 4: PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT (PLA)

Key FindingThrough PLA-awareness sessions, ongoing training workshops, and a thorough “self-assessment”process, colleges began to identify potential deficiencies in their PLA processes and opportunities forimprovement. The colleges outlined PLA responsibilities and incorporated visible, clear, and consistentPLA communication strategies in their student outreach and marketing activities. The consortium alsoestablished a PLA Charter Group, consisting of three participating colleges (GTC, SCC, and TCTC), tosustain PLA efforts beyond the life of the grant.

2

Final AcademicAssessment

APTCServices

Enrollment

FinancialAid

Orientation

StartClasses

SuccessProgramEligibility

AcademicTutoring

WorkshopAttendance

EmployerTours

InternshipOpportunities

ResumeBuilding

MockInterviewing

FinalAcademic

Advisement

CareerCounseling

PersonalFinance

Workshops

To promote development of South Carolina’s smallbusiness sector, the consortium developed a curriculumfor entrepreneurship training geared to the advancedmanufacturing sector that could be shared with theconsortium colleges and potentially all of the state’s 16technical colleges. CUCWD developed a massive onlineopen course (MOOC), a curriculum consisting of sevenmodules that will educate students about therequirements and realities of self-employment in generaland in the advanced manufacturing sector.

Key FindingThe entrepreneurship training MOOC will be utilized beyond the life of the grant after it is fully developedand uploaded to EducateWorkforce. Any instructor (within or outside the consortium) who is grantedaccess to the portal will have the ability to access the modules and incorporate them into his or her lessonplans. Alternatively, colleges will be able to use the full series of modules to offer a completeentrepreneurship training course.

No. External Strategies

1 Introduction to Building a Technology Company

2 Understanding Intellectual Property

3 Market Analysis and Competitor Research

4 Manufacturing Cost Models and Pricing

5 Developing a Business Strategy

6 Business Plan Development

7 How to Finance the Company

STRATEGY 5: ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING

SC ACCELERATE served a broad community of adultlearners in South Carolina. The consortium classified allindividuals served at APTCs in two categories:participant and individuals served. If an individual metSC ACCELERATE’s eligibility requirements (≥25 years,and/or TAA-eligible, and/or a veteran, and a student), heor she became a participant after he or she completedthe required intake forms.* The individual wasconsidered enrolled as of that date. Total participantswas the number of enrolled participants.

Eligible Participants per Year

FY02261

FY03166

FY046

TOTA

L: 43

3

Individuals Served per Year

FY021,265

FY031,610

FY04187

TOTA

L: 3,

062

303

103 11439

146

Men Women Veterans TAA Incumbent

Participant Demographics (N=433)

PARTICIPANT CHARACTERISTICS

Individuals served were those clients who did not meeteligibility criteria to be a participant in the program. SCACCELERATE did not turn away any individual whorequested services. Accordingly, individuals who wereineligible for the program received referrals tocommunity resources and were allowed to participate inany APTC service such as résumé workshops, softskills training, etc. Anyone could receive servicesthrough the APTCs, and the consortium maintained arecord of total clients served even if an individual wasineligible for SC ACCELERATE.

3

The demographics of the participants varied between the colleges. Overall, the program served more men thanwomen (70 percent men as compared to 30 percent women). YTC had more women than men, but the rest of thecolleges enrolled men at dramatically higher rates than women. Veterans’ rates of participation were quite high: morethan one-quarter of all participants qualified under the veterans’ eligibility category. In most colleges, the share of TAAparticipants was substantially lower than that of veterans with the exception of TCL and YTC. Out of 437 participantsin the program, 146 (33.4 percent) were incumbent workers.

OUTCOMESThe table below shows that the SC ACCELERATE program exceeded its targets in terms of the total number ofparticipants, participants retained in their program of study, participants completing credit hours, number of credentialsearned, participants that retained employment after the program, and participants who received a wage increase post-enrollment. Participants who completed a TAACCCT-funded program, 70, is very close to the cumulative goal of 84.The number of participants enrolled in further education, and employed after program completion is expected toincrease and will be reported as more students complete their program of study.

Outcome Measure GoalStatus as of March 2016

Total unique APTC participants* 270 433

Total number of participants who completed a TAACCCT-funded program of study 84 70

Total number of participants still retained in their program of study or other TAACCCT-funded program 134 552

Total number of participants completing credit hours 200 523

Total number of participants earning credentials 80 132

Total number of participants enrolled in further education after TAACCCT-funded program of study completion 14 3

Total number of participants employed after TAACCCT-funded program of study completion 71 8

Total number of participants retained in employment after program of study completion 58 64

Total number of participants employed at enrollment who received a wage increase post-enrollment 6 10

Given the growing trends in manufacturing in South Carolina, specifically in advanced manufacturing, SCACCELERATE played a role in helping to ease the transitions of the workforce and to meet the needs of advancedmanufacturing employers.

4

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SC ACCELERATE

Sonam Gupta Nicholas Bill Zachary Miller Andres Romualdo Vanessa Hoffman

IMPAQ PROJECT STAFF

For more information about SC ACCELERATE, please visit: http://scaccelerate.com/ .

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT IMPAQ INTERNATIONALFor more information about IMPAQ International, please visit: http://www.impaqint.com/ .