Strategies for a Thriving Illinois Growth

The IIN is a $500 million state investment in university-based regional hubs to drive inclusive innovation, equitable workforce development and sustainable economic growth, in support of the state’s inclusive economic development plans. The Discovery Partners Institute, a component of the IIN, is building a tech hub in Chicago, with a focus on supporting promising and diverse tech talent through its Talent Development Programs and research for industries vital to Illinois.

• We must rally around the work of the Illinois Innovation Network (IIN), bringing in more partners, and spurring the economy in areas throughout the state, with our community college and four-year institutions as the foundation.

New knowledge, technologies, market demands, and social change create brand new jobs even as they refresh and reestablish how work is done. Insight from industry leaders will enable institutions to design programs in anticipation of these new jobs and careers and ways of working. Businesses can build diverse talent pipelines by supporting students in college and on their path to careers through apprenticeships,²⁴ scholarships, internships and other supports. The Council can lead to scaling of such efforts.

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^{24  The Chicago Apprenticeship Network is a creative example of partnerships to drive talent.}

• Support new and existing regional partnerships among leaders in higher education, business and industry, and the P-20 system to meet economic and societal needs, ensuring alignment within each region and across the state. Build on community colleges’ broad and deep relationships with the local employer community. Create opportunities for periodic industry-wide input.
• Conduct annual supply and demand analysis to identify areas of need to inform institutional and IBHE reports and approvals.

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^{25  In the first year, 7,400 students received AIM HIGH scholarships. Sixty-four percent of the scholarships went to students with family incomes below $75,000, including 32% to those with incomes below $30,000. Of the scholarships awarded, 17% went to Black students, 17% went to Latinx students, and 58% of the students receiving scholarships were Pell eligible.}

Often the educators of our youngest children are the least credentialed in the educator workforce, despite the research that shows the importance of the earliest years on brain development.

• The IBHE and ICCB will establish a consortium including all public universities and community colleges with early childhood programs to streamline, coordinate, and improve access to credentials and degree completion for the incumbent early childhood workforce. If successful, the consortium could be expanded to serve other areas of educator preparation.
• Goals for enrollment, persistence, and completion within the Consortium will be established.
• Students’ Associate in Applied Science early childhood degree will be accepted in full at all four-year institutions in the consortium, including any credit for prior learning.
• Programs will be offered in formats, times, and locations to meet the needs of working adult students.
• Students will be able to access courses across institutions within a regional “hub” if they are not offered at their home institution.
• A standard method for awarding credit for prior learning will be developed.
• A full range of supports will be provided to keep students on track to completion.
• Admissions, financial arrangements, registration, and other services will be handled seamlessly across institutions without students having to navigate multiple institutions.
• Institutions will work with local school districts and early childhood employer partners to regularly determine demand.
• A broad advisory committee of employers and experts will be jointly convened by IBHE, ICCB, ISBE, Illinois Department of Human Services, and the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development to provide guidance on the operation of the consortium.

Components of future-ready learning include:

• Use of effective online, hybrid, adaptive, and self-paced learning models. This includes flexible scheduling, flexible delivery methods of instruction, and accelerated learning opportunities. Technologies can be used to enhance the learner experience through immersive and simulation-based platforms, on-demand access to technology-enabled advising and student support services to supplement in-person services, and student-owned learner records. Equitable access to technology, including equipment and internet, must be provided so that all students can access these new models of learning.
• Competency-based approaches and other models that offer a personalized path to completion and career. With faculty guidance and other instructional supports, students can progress more quickly when they have concentrated time, spend additional time and effort on content that requires more practice to master, and demonstrate competence through well-designed performance assessments.
• High-quality experiential and work-based learning opportunities, internships, and apprenticeships across a variety of sectors. This ensures relevance between learning in the classroom and the rapidly changing skill and knowledge needs in the workplace across diverse sectors.
• Shorter-term, industry-recognized credentials of value that stack embedded within degree programs that provide learners supported on-ramps and off-ramps to employment and higher education.
• Support for faculty, staff, and administrators within and across institutions. Professional development is needed to support future-ready learning approaches, assess prior learning, create collaborative synergies, and more efficiently use resources for design and implementation. Training should be developed and extended that targets effective and culturally competent teaching and advising strategies in working with diverse groups of students, including students from under-resourced backgrounds, students with disabilities, adults, and undocumented students.

The educator shortage is a multifaceted issue. Solutions exist at each point in the educator pipeline, from recruitment to preparation, to induction and retention in the field (including wages). Access to educator preparation programs is one set of these solutions.²⁶

• Scale transfer pathways to allow students to complete courses at a community college and transfer seamlessly to a university through 2+2 and 3+1, dual degree programs.
• Work with the ISBE on flexibilities in General Education licensure requirements.
• Leverage technology tools that allow candidates to practice skills in a virtual, simulated environment before entering a classroom with students; expanding fully online programs; and utilizing virtual (remote) supervision.
• Create personalized paths and flexibility for individuals with work experience in education using prior learning assessment, competency-informed approaches, residency and apprenticeship models, for post-baccalaureate certificate for licensure. Disseminate ISBE information on flexibilities and options currently available to preparation programs.

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^{26  In 2019, ISBE data show there were a total of only 20 fully online options for educator preparation in Illinois across all licensure areas. In addition, a 2020 joint report by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Community College Board outlined several opportunities for improving transfer related to the field of education.}

Students increasingly take courses at multiple institutions of higher education to earn their degrees. However, without careful attention and alignment, students can also accumulate credits that are not recognized at subsequent institutions, with the result that their time to and cost of degree is extended. The IBHE and ICCB, working in cooperation with transfer leaders across the state, identified ways to enhance transfer so that adults with some college but no degree can finish their degrees. In 2019-2020, the agencies also undertook a study of options for improving the state’s transfer infrastructure.

• Develop strategies for maximizing transfer of degree-applicable courses including math pathways and meta-majors.
• Develop transfer options for students holding the Associate of Applied Science degree and evaluate near-term and long-term impacts on the higher education ecosystem of establishing authority for community colleges to offer baccalaureate degree programs in specific fields.
• Expand the use of 2+2, 3+1, and dual degree agreements to ensure students have clear information about and coordinated advising for their academic journey
• Launch a transfer guarantee initiative that provides students with upfront information about their total cost, time to degree, and full details about their transfer path.
• Enhance student information and advising about transfer in relation to high-demand majors, majors with specific licensure requirements, and institution-specific requirements for graduation at receiving institutions.
• Provide stable funding for the Illinois Articulation Initiative, MyCredits Transfer, and Transferology. These state systems ensure that students have supports for transfer in cases where they are taking courses but do not know to what institution they wish to transfer or which major they want to transfer.

There are 250 Private Business and Vocational Schools (PBVS), offering short-term vocational training in a wide variety of fields, including some highly specialized areas such as violinmaking. This sector serves an estimated 45,000-50,000 students annually. Yet, this sector is rarely included in conversations about state government expectations and goals of higher education.