Lake Region Community College Foundation CI Report – Final

What has been most instrumenta to your progress?

Collaborative group work with ND Department of Public Instruction (NDPI) and the Federal Office of Apprenticeship provided dialog and feedback as Lake Region State College (LRSC) established the foundational structure of the LRSC Earn and Learn apprenticeship program. Because this is a new innovation for the state of North Dakota there was a significant learning curve specific to ensuring all of the accreditation and standards required were met.

The staff at LRSC utilized the tools available through the United States Department of Labor to identify the skills and competencies required of federally registered apprenticeship programs to align them with the courses available at LRSC. This step ensures all academic and apprenticeship standards were met with documenting the progress of the apprentice in the program. The model was replicated from Harper Community College in Palantine, Illinois. It is called the dual model as it meets both academic and apprenticeship standards.

The success of the grant required a change of collaborative partners due to administrative hiring restrictions which were not realized until the grant was underway. The hiring restrictions did not allow the North Dakota Information Technology Department to pay benefits or tuition for contracted employees. The Department utilized contracted employees to stay under the budget restrictions and number of actual employees set by the state legislature for the department. The North Dakota University system Core Technology Services did not have the same limitations.

Key lessons learned

We did not expect the barriers of hiring due to the restrictive nature of the hiring practices within the state government for different departments or divisions. Although we eventually identified another governmental entity that could adapt smoothly.

We did not expect the extensive and long-lasting restrictive nature of the COVID epidemic. This resulted in the difficulty to hire faculty and curriculum developers to move the coursework online to better serve the student/apprentices. It resulted in a shift of budget to be able to continue the grant initiative and still deliver courses, have meetings and get the word out across the state without face-to-face meetings.

Reflections on the community innovation process

The collaborative work with the various stakeholders provided feedback and open communications which opened a door for other partnerships to bring success to this grant initiative.

Other key elements of Community Innovation

The flexibility of this particular grant allowed for alternative problem-solving opportunities during the pandemic and find solutions to ensure the success of the project. We were able to respond rapidly to identify solutions to the environmental changes related to the COVID pandemic. COVID required much of the work of this grant to be carried out and delivered at a distance. We were able to obtain an extension and shift or add budget line items. The shift included funds for online curriculum development and delivery. We also shifted from conference and meeting attendence to virtual or ‘slow’mail’ communications.

Progress toward an innovation

We were able to meet the grant goals and add not only one apprenticeship, but three (cybersecurity, network analyst and help desk). Additionally, we were able to market apprenticeships to 700 healthcare organizations, insurance agencies and financial institutions through bulk mailings. Conference presentations were restricted in 2020, however through virtual means and informative material mailed to targeted audiences, and press releases, the project was announced.

What it will take to reach an innovation?

NOT APPLICABLE

What’s next?

We are in the process of adding a fourth apprenticeship in information technology (processor).

We have used the structure and processes (including contractual agreements, billing processes) established for the LRSC Earn and Learn apprenticeships for nursing careers (certified nursing assistant, licensed practical nurse and registered nurse) and electro-mechanics or simulation technology.

If you could do it all over again…

Wish we were more aware of the hiring practice variances in state government. It would have saved time with implementation. However, we have identified a solution to the issue with the Information Technology Department (contract employees) current hiring practices.

One last thought

This grant provided the foundation and successfully establish non-traditional apprenticeships in ND utilizing a community college as the intermediary and manage a successful apprenticeship program with the US Department of Labor. As a result, the North Dakota Department of Career and Technology received a United States Department of Labor for state-level capacity-building grant (State Apprenticeship Expansion 2020) for approximately $450,000 over three years. LRSC is the lead collaborating partner and the model used is the LRSC Earn and Learn Apprenticeship Program model.