James Bartlett II

The visibility of research on postsecondary CTE in major conferences was declining and there has been a reduction of CTE doctoral programs across the country that focus on this discipline. This leaves many beginning scholars in positions where they may be the only person in their doctoral program studying this area. Many of these young researchers may not even have a faculty member or mentor in their programs with expertise or interest to support this much-needed research in postsecondary CTE. The proposed ECMC Fellows program will continue a program that has • created a community to engage and support ECME Fellows as postsecondary CTE researchers • engaged postsecondary CTE scholars and leaders to create a support network including professional development • implemented a mentor program for the ECMC Fellows • provided support to disseminate research on postsecondary CTE • created structures to help support Fellows obtaining employment in the field of postsecondary CTE researcher This grant extends this work to also create a research forum conference and professional development that will be generating funding to create a sustainable program to support this fellows program.

Research fellows will be awarded funds to support projects related to Career and Technical Education. The role NC State will play in this project is to distribute the funds and assist the fellows in the dissemination of their research.

This project will describe 1. CCPs in North Carolina, 2. the job seekers' that participate in CCPs by sector, region, and demographics, 3. outcomes (credentials and others) of CCPs participants and alignment with high-valued credentials, 4. labor market availability in regions with the most extensive participation by industry sector, and 5. the employers' and employees' perception of CPPs impact on employee retention and career progression. The study will provide implications for practice, policy, and designs for future research that could provide causal evidence of the impact of CCPs based on the data quality and availability in North Carolina. The project will also explore data available at the state and national levels that could be combined to develop further understanding of the impact of career pathways.

Our work at NC State in redesigning the community college leadership EdD doctoral program has garnered national attention and is poised to serve as a national model for other graduate programs. Our partnerships with the Aspen Institute and Achieving the Dream position us to deliver quality leadership development, while engaging in research that addresses problems of practice so community college leaders can make informed, data-driven decisions to improve student success. However, we also require resources to support these efforts. Specifically, we are seeking support for three programmatic efforts that were identified through the planning grant we received from JMBE last year: executive leader integration in our doctoral program, executive leadership development for presidents and trustees, and evidence-based decision making and applied research.

This grant is to support the ECMC Foundation fellows to attend the Career and Technical Education Leadership Collaborative in Nashville, TN. Additionally, this support will provide fellows an opportunity to be in person to collaborate on the development of research projects.

Research fellows will be awarded funds to support projects related to Career and Technical Education. The role NC State will play in this project is to distribute the funds and assist the fellows in the dissemination of their research.

Fund stipends for ECMCF Fellows to attend the 2021 Leadership Collaborative Convening. The role NC State will play in this project is to distribute the funds and assist the fellows.

The Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research has offered professional development to all NC Community Colleges and has conducted research to provide leaders with actional results. The impact of the Coronavirus has created emerging priorities for the community college partners we serve. Since the start of the transition to work-at-home, our team at the Belk Center has been attending meetings and working with our stakeholders to provide support. Specifically, we have been listening to community college Presidents and Chief Academic Officers. One area that was identified early was providing support and resources to help transition courses online. Our team has developed webinars and provided coaching to community college faculty for these transitions. The webinars reached over 250 faculty. It has become obvious the CTE instruction, in a number of instances, is different than the traditional transfer courses. With this in mind, specific resources and coaching would benefit our partners in the transition of postsecondary CTE to an online environment. These transitions are not only immediately for spring but also for summer in some cases. The funds for this project will support the hiring of human resources to provide support to the community college partners. These funds will priority to support for smaller and rural community colleges that often have fewer resources for instructional design and online instruction. These funds will supplement the current work and provide the CTE programs at community college (credit and workforce development) support to continue to deliver instruction. The funds will be used for individual and team coaching ($5000, 100 hours at $50), the development of instructional modules to teach online ($2500), and create resources that can be shared openly among the schools ($2500). These amounts between categories may change based on need. These funds will be used to support people outside of their normal duties. This will add to the other coaching we are doing with transfer faculty and will be unique because it will focus on career and technical education instruction. All resources designed will be available open access.

This planning grant aims to develop a plan to build the infrastructure for the Envisioning Excellence for Community College Leadership team to do the following: (1) integrate executive community college leaders with the doctoral program; (2) deliver community college president and trustee leadership development; and (3) create an evidence-based decision making system to support community colleges.

The NC State and Aspen Institute College Excellence Program (CEP) Partnership is designed: 1. To develop programs in North Carolina that substantially improve the training and preparation of community college leaders who ultimately will lead initiatives to accelerate student success; 2, To collaborate with the Aspen Institute and other national providers, to develop a state-based strategy for improving student access, program completion, and labor market outcomes among North Carolina community colleges through leadership development. The Department of Leadership, Policy and Adult and Higher Education will accomplish these goals by the developing and delivering innovative off-campus cohort doctoral programs for future community college leaders and professional development for senior community college leaders.