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The QA Commons
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
www.theqacommons.org - 11/17/17
1
Guidance for Business and Higher Education Partnerships
The following guidance was shared at a panel session titled “Corporate Perspective on Talent”
the 2017 Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Annual Conference on November
16, 2017.
The panel members were:
• John Colborn (Moderator) -- COO JEVS Human Services (former Director of Skills for
America’s Future, The Aspen Institute)
• Kimo Kippen - Vice President, Global Workforce Initiatives Hilton
• Michael D'Ausilio - Head of Talent, Consumer and Community Banking JPMorgan Chase
• Steve Milovich - Former SVP Corporate HR, Organization and Leadership Development,
The Walt Disney Company; Milovich Partners
Key Ideas
• There are many mutual opportunities between businesses and higher education to work
together in a more responsive manner to address the “war on talent;” a partnership
model is critical to success for all involved – organizations, higher educational
institutions and programs, and students.
• The lower level skills are being done by machines more and more; therefore, learning
and adaptability is new currency of the future. Higher education should focus on
developing adaptable learners who know how to learn.
o Example: Bank tellers were replaced by ATMs and now internet-based mobile
banking; people now go into branches and seek tellers not for transactions, but
for advice and assistance. The role has changed dramatically and thus so have
the skills and knowledge areas required for tellers.
• Key ingredients to partnerships that work well:
o An effective advisory board, which can serve as a key catalyst
§ Think carefully about how to structure the advisory board: Who is on the
board; what should be the mission and purpose and goals; how will the
board address practical issues?
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The QA Commons
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
www.theqacommons.org - 11/17/17
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§ Define common goals and interdependence upfront for whatever you
want to do with the partnership.
§ Loyalty from alumni can help build partnerships.
• Students need multiple opportunities for hands-on experiences; this will be key for
higher education to help develop a good pipeline of talent for companies.
o Examples:
§ Worksite analysis and problem solving - joint supervision of projects by a
leader inside the company and a faculty member.
§ Real work-based cases developed by and with employers.
§ Work where the curriculum can be driven by real practical organizational
issues and projects, and not the other way around. Start with the context
and then move to the theory.
• Essential skills of the future entry-level employee regardless of industry:
o Responsibility, reliability, integrity, professionalism, communication, the ability
to have a human connection.
o The ability to influence others – in person or virtually.
o Analytical skills – including interpretation of data.
o Ability to take independent action – if you are not directed by someone else, can
you self-initiate when you see a problem, analyze the problem, and come up
with a solution?
• Skills need to be contextualized to what it means to be working, in a workplace, with a
work team. Higher education in general tends to view the classroom where all real
learning happens. This has to change.
o This is a key employer frustration.
o We can design higher educational programs so that students have to practice
and use skills in a work context. Only when students exercise skills in context do
they have a chance to get good at them. Extend learning into other aspects of
the educational enterprise.
• To develop partnerships with industry, higher educational institutions should first take
an internal assessment of the institution’s (or program’s) strengths – where can you
leverage these strengths and accordingly, who are the best employer partners?
o Need a real strategic planning process to identify (SWOT) to help you prioritize.
What are you great at, what are deepest needs in community, do you have
competency to deliver on these needs? Focus on where you can make a true
difference.
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The QA Commons
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Checklist for Business/Higher Education Partnerships
Handout from CAEL’s Business Champions
Before you Begin
• Ensure ownership beyond learning and talent development staff
• Clarify talent needs, both current and projected, by involving key business/operations
staff in design and development
• Review tuition assistance policy for currency and relevance
• Collect and review available data about prior use of tuition dollars, including:
o Areas of course concentration
o Educational institutions attended
o Degrees/certificates attained
o Total dollars spent and average dollars spent per person
• Identify internal workplace training programs that could be (or have been) assessed for
college credit
• Determine key attributes for educational partners, such as:
o Cost factors, including tuition discounts
o Accessibility for employees
o Strength in key content areas
o Support of range of degree and certificate options
o Access to Prior Learning Assessment
o Accreditation and matriculation agreements
Developing Your Partnership
• Agree on goals and measures of program effectiveness
• Ensure integration within larger talent development and talent management framework
• Being meeting early with identified educational partnership to create collaborative
structure
o Name leads for both business and school who continue to own and guide
process
• Create communications plan for rollout to employees, linking closely to talent
management and advancement opportunities
o Make educational partnerships visible on intranet
o Allow educational partners to connect with employees through events such as
education fairs
• Plan for a pilot to identify and address partnership challenges
o Clarify employee populations(s) that you are targeting
o Determine how you will capture and track data