NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE
AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES SECTION III
reinforced, and mastered in their Career and Technical Education programs. These “implementation points” ensure that the QEP content is being provided a minimum of three times for a career and technical degree program. Certificate programs and skills awards will seek to implement one QEP lesson per semester. (Appendix F)
In summer 2020, once the QEP director was officially appointed and program development had begun, the QEP Committee sought student input and involvement in the implementation process (to align with the QEP’s commitment to broad based institutional support) and created a contest for students to name the program and design the logo. The Provost sent an email to all students inviting their submissions:
• Implementation Point I Introduction will be provided early in a program or in a course that is part of an Occupational or Workforce Skills Award to build employability skill awareness. Introduction can include awareness, articulation, and/or application of skill.
NCTC Students-
“ Here’s your opportunity to NameIt! Students can leave their mark on NCTC History by naming our newest program, and help us market it to the NCTC community. The program is being developed to increase student’s Employability Skills…both in, and out of the classroom! Specific employability skill sets and activities will be embedded into NCTC curriculum for our job seeking graduates!”
• Implementation Point II Reinforcement will ideally be implemented in the middle of the program and build on students’ ability to articulate, describe, and discuss the importance of employability skills to employers. Awareness and application can also be a part of that reinforcement. • Implementation Point III Mastery/Application will be taken towards the end of a pathway/program to ensure the application of an employability skill has been offered.
The committee reviewed thirteen student submissions for the name of the program and a logo. The committee selected a cyber security student's submission, “Aspire 2 Hire.” The committee revised the title to “Aspire to be Hired,” and the NCTC Marketing Department developed the logo and enhanced it to meet publishing standards (Appendix D).
In addition to QEP course implementation, students will receive structured support services from the Completion and Career Services Center. Career and Technical Education students in QEP courses will be assigned to career coaches and will receive consistent outreach and resources starting in their first semesters. Faculty members will require students to attend career coaching sessions. Coaches will provide in-person and virtual professionalism training that include career development and career readiness opportunities.
Aspire to be Hired focuses on teaching, fostering, and demonstrating professional employability skills to students through intentional instruction and career development coaching. Aspire to be Hired addresses employability skills gaps, gaps in awareness and articulation of employability skills, and practical experiences of skill application. To reduce learning gaps, overcome obstacles, and increase student success, the blanketed approach of teaching, coaching, and modeling employability skills supports creating a culture of employability where students become aware early of their personal responsibility to develop themselves professionally. The primary goal of Aspire to be Hired is to remove barriers and reduce the skills gap for long-term student success.
The QEP Committee constructed a timeline to provide a framework for the plan’s timely development, implementation, and program launch. The time periods, phases, and accomplishments are listed in the table on the following page.
Targeted courses are identified through curriculum mapping (Appendix E). These courses 1) are required for most, if not all, students in a particular program, 2) begin early in a degree plan, and 3) align with employability readiness, i.e., EPA Cert Prep, Technical Customer Service, Capstone. Faculty have “implementation points” at which the employability skills will be introduced, QEP REPORT PROGRAM AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
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