3:55 – 4:40 pm

Room 440 Adirondacks Room

Student Panel Forum on the Adult Learner Experience

Andrew Moore, WGU

Western Governors University (WGU) is proud to host a student panel on the adult educational experience. Please join us for the closing session as we’ll have a panel discussion with former community college and university graduates who’ll share their experiences as an adult learner. This panel will highlight their unique needs, motivations, and barriers they experienced at both the community college and university levels. We’ll also explore ways in which their educational journey could have been improved with specialized support and mechanisms. The session will conclude with an audience Q&A.

Andrew Moore is the Senior Transfer Pathways Manager for WGU’s Northwest Region. Andrew has been in higher education for over 10 years. Prior to joining WGU, Andrew was the Associate Director of Transfer Evaluation at the University of Iowa. He also previously held the role of Associate Director of International Evaluation at the University of Iowa. Andrew has an immense passion for student success and getting advisors and students connected with transfer pathways. His work is dedicated to helping eliminate transfer barriers, and helping students find pathways to opportunities through education. Andrew graduated with a BA at the University of Iowa and currently resides in Seattle, Washington.

Room 250 Tivoli Turnhalle

English Upskilling Ecosystem: Innovations in Vocational Transitions for Immigrants and Refugees

Tiffany Jaramillo, Emily Griffith Technical College
Tadd Wamester, EnGen

With two jobs available for every unemployed worker in key sectors across Colorado, immigrants and refugees are well-positioned to help fill staffing gaps. Immigrants are chronically underemployed or unemployed in Colorado and across the country, the result of systemic hurdles, like English barriers. English is a foundational skill for newcomer workforce inclusion. Yet the truth is that the U.S. currently serves the needs of only 4% of our adult English learners, blocking many multilingual workers from workforce training opportunities and pathways to careers in high-demand fields with family-sustaining wages.

There is good news: We know how to fill this gap with a high-impact approach to English upskilling that can be delivered at scale to meet the needs of the over 200,000 adult English learners currently in Colorado – and the thousands of new immigrants that have arrived in our communities over the past year. And Adult Education is poised to be part of this work.

This future-focused, solutions-oriented presentation will feature two key speakers: Emily Griffith Technical College will offer best practices from their Vocational Transitions program, which has rapidly prepared multilingual learners for enrollment in Career and Technical Education programs. EnGen will share best practices for reaching thousands of new Coloradoans with integrated career and English skills via an ecosystem of adult education and employer partners across the state. The conversation will center on how a collaborative approach to upskilling and inclusion leveraging existing systems of adult education are the keys to economic mobility for Colorado’s multilingual workforce.
Presenters:

Tiffany Jaramillo, Emily Griffith Technical College, English, HSE, & Career Opportunities Manager
Tadd Wamester, Director of Partnerships at EnGen, builds bridges to careers for New Americans through English-to-career pathway upskilling and incumbent worker training programs at both employers and educational partners. He has 15 years of experience in immigrant and refugee focused workforce development and educational programs, including nearly a decade at Upwardly Global where he used digital learning strategies for scaled impact working with highly skilled Internationally Trained Professionals (ITPs). Tadd is focused on expanding workplace literacy programs and increasing access to apprenticeship and work-based learning.

Room 320-A Baerresen Ballroom A

Supporting Adult Student Success in Online Learning Environments

Kristina Richards, University of Colorado, Boulder
Dr. Elena Sandoval-Lucero, University of Colorado, Denver

Adult students are the new majority in online education. However, research and recommendations for practice in online and distance education are still predominantly based on the traditional student profile. This presentation examines adult students’ learning engagement in online courses and explores the impact of effective advising, and online course design models that promote engagement in online learning environments. While adult students are often highly motivated, age itself does not predict adult students’ engagement and performance. Instead, an integrated program model that promotes clear advising communication, prioritizing student engagement, and timely and meaningful feedback promotes learning satisfaction and student success. This session will review these practices in the context of several fully online degree programs.

Kristina Richards has been working in academic advising, mentoring, and academic coaching positions in various higher education settings for the past 15 years, primarily working with non-traditional, fully online learners. She currently serves as the Online Student Success Manager in the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Specializing in fully online programs, she is passionate about working with diverse and nontraditional student populations. As an online learner herself, Richards recognizes the unique and rich experiences nontraditional students bring to their programs and institutions. Ms. Richards recently earned her M.A. in Leadership for Educational Organizations, Leading Change for Student Success in Higher Education at the University of Colorado Denver. She is excited to start doctoral work in the EdD Leadership for Educational Equity, Higher Education program at the University of Colorado Denver in June of 2024.
Dr. Elena Sandoval-Lucero is an Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Colorado Denver, School of Education and Human Development. She teaches in the EdD in Leadership for Education Equity, and the MA in Leadership for Educational Organizations program. Both are online programs. She was previously the Vice President of the Front Range Community College, Boulder County Campus. There she led efforts to gain approval and accreditation for the college’s first Bachelor of Applied Science in Geospatial Science, renovate the campus to improve the student experience, and collaborate with the foundation to raise funds for the Center for Integrated Manufacturing. Previously, she served as vice president of student affairs, at the Community College of Aurora (CCA) in Aurora, Colorado. During her time at CCA, she led the efforts to help the college achieve Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) status and was significantly engaged in the equity and inclusive excellence work of the college. Dr. Sandoval-Lucero has 38 years of experience in academic and student affairs settings in higher education. She has led strategic planning efforts and developed strategic enrollment management plans for multiple institutions.

Room 320-B Baerresen Ballroom B

Some College No Credential: How to Meaningfully Move the Dial on Degree Attainment

Dr. Christina Hubbard, EAB

How do we demonstrate to students we have failed in the past that our college is better equipped to help them fulfill their goals today? According to National Student Clearinghouse, over 40 million people in the United States has some college and no degree. That number grows every year and only a small percentage return to school. Yet, when they’re asked half of stopouts say they’d return to college if it was more convenient or financially feasible. This session provides research and strategies to engage and deliver the support stopouts need to succeed.

Christina Hubbard is a Senior Director in Research Advisory Services at EAB. Dr. Hubbard has spent twenty-five years in higher education building experience in advising, instruction, program management, student access and success, and serving post-traditional student populations. She is an Associate Professor at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has taught for the past 15 years. Dr. Hubbard holds a PhD in education from George Mason University, where she published her dissertation on the role of holistic advising on the persistence of low-income adult community college students. She also has a Master of Education in Student Affairs from Regent University and a certificate in College Counseling from UCLA Extension.

Room 320-C Baerresen Ballroom C

Behavioral Health in Colorado: Developing Pathways to Meet Employer Needs and Learner Interests

Dr. Jenn Dale, Community College of Aurora
Jordan Whittington, Colorado Community College System

Join us for a presentation and discussion on the new Behavioral Health Program launching across Colorado from K-12 through higher education. We will share out the learner-centered design used to develop, assess, revise, and launch the new educational program, focusing in on how this pathway serves learners, industry partners, and educational partners throughout Colorado while meeting the legislative call to meet community need and reduce barriers for students wanting to enter the field.

Jordan Whittington is the Program Director of Health Science and Public Safety Career and Technical Education (CTE) at the Colorado Community College System. He has taken part in many system-wide projects that include the Law Enforcement Academy curriculum realignment and providing guidance in the current work being done in the area of behavioral health. Jordan works to connect stakeholders like government agencies, healthcare companies, and community members to CTE programs in order to grow the talent pipeline. He utilizes his industry, classroom, state, and national experience as an Association for Career and Technical Education Leadership Fellow to strengthen Colorado CTE.
Dr. Jenn Dale is the Dean of Academic Success in Online and Blended Learning at Community College of Aurora. Dr. Dale holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Capella University, M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Regis University, and B.S. in Psychology from Colorado State University. She has over 22 years of combined leadership, teaching, and clinical experience. She is committed to the development of learner-focused, employer- and community-driven behavioral health educational programming in the state of Colorado. Dr. Dale led the curriculum development necessary to launch five micro-credentials and two Associate of Applied Science degrees in Behavioral Health in 2023, as well as the Bachelor of Applied Science in Behavioral Health (expected launch 2025).