Corporate Training

In September 2012, The EvoLLLution dedicated a Special Feature to Corporate Training and Higher Education.

This is a critical issue to higher education, as well as society-at-large. On the one hand, higher education institutions are experiencing slashed budgets and defending themselves against accusations of irrelevance. At the same time, corporations are struggling to bridge a skills gap that threatens to negatively impact the entire economy.

Corporate training stands to help colleges and universities generate new revenue and increase ties with industry while also giving employees a way to stay abreast of change and expand their skills.

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In this month’s special feature, you can find out everything you wanted to know about corporate training and higher education. Read, comment and learn about this exciting transitional period for higher education!

Research: Corporate Training and its Effect on the Individual and the Corporation

EvoLLLution Newswire

Continuing education helps professionals to climb the corporate ladder and achieve job success and allows corporations to save on costly outside hires by promoting from within. Corporate training allows businesses to operate more efficiently and employees to advance.

Building Sustainable University-Employer Partnerships

Nancy Salzman | Dean of Extended Education, Brandman University

Establishing an advisory board with a learning partner can make all the difference when providing training material that can be replicated for any number of subject matter training requests, but is still nuanced enough to meet the particular needs of individual clients.

Bridging the Relevance Gap

Alma Dzib-Goodin | Academic Director, Centro de Asesoria y Tutorias en Linea

Many graduates have trouble finding links between what they learned in college or university and what they need to know in the workplace. Higher education institutions should strive to be the first stop for professionals when they decide they need to upgrade their knowledge to succeed and advance in their careers.

AUDIO | Finding the Ideal Learning Partner

Merodie Hancock | Vice President of Global Campus, Central Michigan University

Higher education institutions should seek out learning partners characterized as learning organizations to get on-track for a successful and long-term training and development collaboration.

The Six Elements of a Successful University-Corporate Partnership

Frank McCluskey | Vice President and Scholar in Residence, American Public University System

Higher education institutions must work to mold their programming, structure and staff to meet the needs of corporations in order to successfully partner with employers to meet workforce training and development needs.

AUDIO | Setting Higher Education Apart as a Training Provider

Amertah Perman | Associate Director of Program Development in Professional and Continuing Education, University of Southern Maine

By getting out into their local community, higher education institutions can keep themselves in mind as a long-term or short-term training solution for corporations who are looking for learning partners.

Personalized Service is Key to Winning Training Contracts

Diana Hunter | Senior Director of Community and Continuing Education, Utah Valley University

Providing personalized customer service at every step of the way is a major factor in helping higher education institutions win training contracts from major corporations.

POINT | Colleges and Universities Cannot Afford Resource Demands of Corporate Training

Jeff Pallin | Director of Business and Management, UC Berkeley Extension

While delivering corporate training may be a lucrative business venture for higher education institutions, the attention and focus required to deliver a program to the specifications of an employer can be distracting to the college or university’s main functions.

COUNTERPOINT | The Importance of the Corporate Training Market Outweighs the Cost

Hunt Lambert | Dean of Continuing Education and Extension, Harvard University

While different institutions will approach the corporate market differently depending on their mission and values, no modern university will survive for very long without some programming geared towards the professional development and training market.

Reusable Customized Programming a Recipe to Riches

Kirk White | Director of the Center for Healthcare Professionals, Houston Community College

Reusing customized programs for other similar businesses and for open-enrollment courses can be a recipe to riches for higher education institutions.

Online Higher Education Opportunities Wake the Corporate Giant

Gary Matkin | Dean of Continuing Education, Distance Learning and Summer Session, UC Irvine

Online learning provides the opportunity for higher education institutions to overcome the challenges that are inherent to serving the corporate market.

Exploring Custom Contract Training

Leah Kier | Senior Custom Training Manager, University of New Mexico

A successful contract training program requires an entrepreneurial educational model with highly-qualified staff who can carry out projects in short time periods. However, a successful program will benefit the institution and local businesses long after the contract expires.

Adding Flexibility to Corporate Training

Diane Johnson | Academic Dean, New Charter University

Providing more flexible scheduling and pricing for corporate training will encourage more companies to look at innovative approaches to delivering learning to their employees.

Employee Training: Enabling Employees to Succeed or Enabling Their Job Search?

Peter DeVries | Chief Operating Officer, Destiny Solutions

Ongoing learning sometimes provides an employee with a pathway to a new career, but the value of the knowledge that employee brings back to the office should be more than worth the cost for employers.

Teachers’ Ongoing Learning in the Hands of School Boards

Simon Quattlebaum | Substitute Teacher, New Jersey Public Schools

Ongoing professional development for teachers allows them to continue upgrading their skills and competencies, providing the next generation with a better chance to succeed in the classroom.

Employers Should Take Responsibility for Employee Development

Deta Constantine | Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness, Real Matters

It can be difficult for employers to swallow the costs associated with employee professional development, but ultimately the company benefits when its employees have the capacity to embrace change and innovate.

Employees Should Pay For Training, But Not Always From Their Pockets

Jessica Fyffe | Human Resource Assistant, Stanley Consultants

While employers may well be on the hook financially for an employee’s ongoing learning and development, there are other ways that employees can pay the company back for their continuing education.

Using Data to Drive Successful Learning Partnerships

Amy Wartham | Director of Corporate Training, UNC Charlotte

Collecting and maintaining data about client organizations can help institutions serve them better and can also assist in developing data-driven learning solutions.

Think it Through: Technical Considerations of Corporate Partnerships

Rob Kingyens | Chief Technology Officer, eCornell

Sharing data is mutually beneficial for both the higher education institution and their corporate partner, but institutions should be careful to weigh the risks and mitigate them.

Developing Employee Talent with Programs from Globally Recognized Universities

Chris Proulx | Chief Executive Officer, eCornell

By partnering with a big-name education provider, corporations can increase buy-in to their training programs and position themselves as the most attractive employer in their industry.

The Value of Partnering with Small Higher Education Institutions

Fay Aubuchon | Manager of Workforce Initiatives, St. Charles Community College

Smaller institutions are typically more in-tune with the needs of local communities and can provide a level of personalized, customized service that larger institutions cannot.

AUDIO | Higher Education Must Create Links With Industries

Dan Pontefract | Senior Director of Learning and Collaboration, TELUS

To better meet the needs of working professionals, higher education institutions must form closer bonds with industries and businesses and translate those relationships into developing in-demand programming.

AUDIO | Not Enough Programming Scheduled for Working Professionals

Bob Ballantyne | Vice President and General Manager, Klune Industries

Higher education institutions need to do more to make sure their programs fit the schedules of working adults who must balance ongoing education with work and family priorities.

The Recovering Corporate Market Presents New Opportunities for Continuing Education

Vicki Krantz | Assistant Dean of Academic Planning, UC San Diego Extension

As corporations begin to recover from the recession, many employers are looking to increase their investment in employee continuing education. It’s up to higher education institutions to make sure they are ready to meet that need with robust programming suited to the needs of the workforce.

Web-Based Human Resource Training

Kimberly Handy | Teacher, Anchorage School District

Online learning options can provide employees a more on-demand approach to their ongoing education while also giving them the opportunity to increase their social interaction, which plays an important role in cognitive development.

What Universities Must Learn About Social Networks

Jay Cross | Chief Executive Officer, Internet Time Alliance

Increasingly, businesses are looking to more social approaches to employee learning and development. Higher education institutions must capitalize on this shift.

Meeting the Needs of the Continuing Professional Development Market with Mobile Learning

Barry Spencer | eLearning Development Coordinator, Bromley College

As use of mobile devices continues to grow, higher education institutions would do well to capitalize on this shift in the marketplace and begin developing and providing mobile continuing professional development options.

Investing in Workforce Development Relationships to Support Future Growth

Peter Blake | Director, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia

By facilitating teamwork between industry leaders and higher education providers, governments are ensuring that the money being infused into workforce development relationships grows into a successful relationship for those involved and a positive investment for society at large.

Planning and Executing Grants: Some Words of Wisdom

Janet Harreld | Grant Manager for Workforce Training and Continuing Education, San Jacinto College

By taking advantage of workforce grants, higher education institutions can gain the resources they need to create programs that will help unemployed and under-employed individuals learn the skills to start a new career and a new life.

Closer Alignment with Labor Demands Justifies Higher Education Investment

Christine Chmura | President and Chief Economist, Chmura Economics and Analytics

Increasingly, businesses are looking to more social approaches to employee learning and development. Higher education institutions must capitalize on this shift.

Universities and Continuing Industry Education: Making an Impact is Key

Paul Marca | Executive Director of the Stanford Center for Professional Development, Stanford University

If a higher education institution decides to deliver industry education, it should be for the opportunity to be recognized as industry experts and the chance to influence day-to-day operations of businesses. Increasing revenue should be an afterthought and often will not happen in the short term.

Limited Institutional Resources Wasted on the Corporate Market

Kelly Otter | Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Faculty Affairs, Northeastern University College of Professional Studies

For higher education institutions, investing staff and limited resources into professional training and development is simply not worthwhile given the lack of overall demand and the differences in employers’ priorities.

Corporate Training as a New Old Strategy for Higher Education Institutions

James Pappas | Vice President for University Outreach, University of Oklahoma

Serving the corporate market provides a number of benefits to higher education institutions, including increased revenues and support for other institutional activities.

Corporate Clients as a Valuable Market for Continuing Education Units

Manuel Lopez | Senior Director of Continuing Education at the University College, University of South Florida

When a higher education institution provides programming for the corporate market, they create a number of advantages for both themselves and their client.

Corporate Training Programs Offer Institutions the Chance to Fill Empty Seats

Steven Laymon | Associate Dean for Business and Professional Programs, University of Chicago

By providing customized training to the corporate market, higher education institutions get the chance to fill seats that have been left empty since the recession.

Defining Success in Corporate Training

John LaBrie | Vice President of Professional Education, Northeastern University

While a renewed contract is certainly a good indication of the success of a corporate program, there are a number of other factors institutions and corporations should be cognizant of when assessing and evaluating programming.

Measure It, Improve It, Grow It: Higher Education and Corporate Partnerships

Earl Harewood | Lecturer, Heriot-Watt University/School of Higher Education

Any partnership between a higher education institution and a corporation will see both sides continuously measure their progress and assess their performance as an indication of the program’s success.

Developing, Measuring and Reinvesting in your Chosen Learning Pathway: How Hard Can It Be?

Heidi Maston | Co-Founder, CarpeLearning

Ongoing research, development, re-assessment and re-investment are important steps to ensuring that a program is meeting the expectations of both the institution and the client, and continuously ensuring that these expectations are being met is a pathway to success.

AUDIO | Discussing the Strengths of Colleges and Universities in Corporate Training

Ilker Subasi | Assistant Manager of Technical Training, Volkswagen Academy

The choice between a college or a university for an employer will typically come down to the type of training they are looking to deliver for their employees.

The Benefits of Running Employee Development Programming Through a University

Kevin Currie | Executive Director, Northeastern University Online

Universities are best suited to deliver continuing education opportunities to mid- and upper-level management professionals, and can do so through a number of channels.

The Benefits of Running Employee Development Programming Through a College

John Churchill | Director of Corporate Training and Continuing Education, Southwest Tennessee Community College

Colleges have the connections with local industries and governments to know what the workforce needs and the responsiveness to meet that need quickly.

Moving from Factory-Style Course Production to Facilitating Learning

Hanna-Riikka Myllymäki | Head of Business Development, Aalto University

In order to deliver better corporate training to employees, institutions must change their instructional models to better facilitate learning, which will require a major shift in the way learning is typically delivered.

On-Demand Continuing Education: Fast-Tracking Quality Programs

Tom McGuire | Program Director, UC Berkeley Extension

Corporations today are desperate for programming that meets immediate learning needs and can be delivered quickly. It’s up to institutions to ensure they can create and deliver programs that meet those needs in a timely fashion.

Industry Relevance and its Role in Student Success and Corporate Training

Shaul Kuper | Chief Executive Officer, Destiny Solutions

Higher education institutions need to form closer bonds with industries and businesses to succeed in the corporate training market by ensuring that programming on offer lines up with what is needed by potential customers.

Five Ways for Higher Education to Better Serve Businesses

Ashley Nottingham | Corporate Program Manager for Business and Nonprofit Sector, Ivy Tech Corporate College

In order to be competitive in today’s corporate market, higher education providers must be flexible to their client’s needs while also providing employees relevant material and pathways to new certifications.

Five Rules to Succeed in the Corporate Market

Soma Chakrabarti | Director of Engineering and Interdisciplinary Professional Education, University of Kansas

Successfully serving the corporate market requires higher education institutions to engage in lasting relationships with clients across the world and ensuring that providing them with relevant learning is always the highest priority.