Community colleges will continue reaching out to older students when the three-year grant for the Plus 50 Initiative expires at the end of the year, reports Community College Times. Plus 50, which aims to engage the 50+ population in learning, job training and civic activities, is managed by the American Association of Community Colleges and funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies.
Many baby-boomer students are looking for job skills.
Pasco-Hernando Community College in Florida, for example, now zeroed in on providing computer skills in its Plus 50 program.
“That’s where the growth is, and they need jobs now,” said Debby Duncan, the college’s program director.
Other colleges, such as St. Louis Community College in Missouri, Century College in Minnesota and Clark College in Washington state, are focusing on another high-growth industry: health care.
To ensure programs continue when the grant ends, college are integrating outreach to older adults into workforce development, academic advising and career counseling.
Several of the programs have also established partnerships with local organizations that they hope will help continue their efforts. The Community Colleges of Spokane (CCS) in Washington, for example, has developed close ties with AARP, which asked the college to develop an Internet-based job-preparation tool that it hopes could serve as a national model, said Sharon Niblock, a program associate at CCS.
Seven community colleges have won $25,000 seed grants to train older adults for social-purpose jobs as part of the Encore Colleges Initiative of Civic Ventures and MetLife Foundation. When the recession ends, there will be more health and education jobs than skilled workers, predicts Northeastern University labor economist Barry Bluestone.
Flexible scheduling, intensive, fast-track programming, and courses on technology and social media are expected to help baby boomers qualify for jobs in health care and education.
Middlesex Community College will train college graduates for adjunct teaching jobs in developmental English, math and clinical nursing at Massachusetts community colleges. Westchester Community College in New York also will train clinical nursing instructors.
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