00;00;00;00 - 00;00;33;08
Welcome to The Catalyst, an exciting and insightful podcast produced by Northeast Iowa Community College. I'm your host, Amy Lasack. Together, we'll explore the people, programs, and partnerships that make Northeast Iowa Community College unique. From student success stories to behind the scenes info about athletics, innovation and industry collaboration. Each episode dives deeper into your community's college. Get ready for an inside look at the impact of community driven education at NICC.
00;00;33;10 - 00;01;09;26
Hello and welcome to The Catalyst. Today we have a special informational podcast for you. I usually have a guest, but today you're just stuck with me. But I wanted to talk a little bit about kind of the build at a community college. And if you've ever wondered whether it's too late to go back to school, or you felt like college was very mysterious and only works one specific way that this episode's for you, we're in talk a little bit about the kind of the structure of going back to school, and we don't always explain clearly enough how education and training and ICC actually work.
00;01;09;26 - 00;01;37;04
So we're not just degrees here and here, the term pathways quite a bit today. We want to talk about that, and we want to talk about how really going back to school can be more of a roadmap where there's on and off ramps, there's no single right starting point, and there's more than one finish line. So this is especially for people who might be feeling stuck, or maybe overwhelmed with the thought of going back to school and upgrading your skills, or just unsure about what that next step is.
00;01;37;06 - 00;02;02;00
Because what I want you to hear upfront is that you are not behind. You're just at a different starting point from other people. And so, we want to talk a little bit about all of that today. And when people think about college, they often picture kind of that one straight line. I'm going to put the next two years aside, and I'm going to focus on my school and get my degree, take those classes, and then at the end I'm going to have a job.
00;02;02;03 - 00;02;25;14
But for most of us, that's not how our lives actually work. We have families, we move. We have opportunities that come up that we want to not put on hold for the next two years. We have barriers that pop up. Those are all things that are real, and we have to adjust our lives and our paths accordingly. And that's where the beauty of what we have at NAC comes into play.
00;02;25;17 - 00;02;46;21
What we've built at NAC is something a little bit different. It's a system where people can enter at different points. They can build their skills over time and they can move forward in a way that best fits their life at the time. So let's start with the idea that NAC, people come to us for many different reasons.
00;02;46;23 - 00;03;05;15
First reason maybe option one is they need a job and they need it soon. For some people that is their option. At that point, maybe they've run, run into a difficult time. They need to get to work. They cannot afford to not have that paycheck to put food on the table. Maybe they've been laid off. Maybe they're changing their careers.
00;03;05;15 - 00;03;25;04
Maybe they just can't wait the two years. So that's where Noncredit training. You hear that term? Quite a bit. And short term certificates come into play. So a lot of times when people think about college, they think of our credit side of the college. That is where you go and you get your A.A. degree, and you're out into the workforce.
00;03;25;06 - 00;03;53;09
There's a whole other side to community colleges. With our noncredit training, you're going to hear us talk a lot about CPCs, career pathway certificates. These are programs measured that are in weeks or months, not years. They're designed with employers. So employers understand what skills those, certificate programs will have. There they encompass areas like certified nurse aid, welding, CNC truck driving.
00;03;53;09 - 00;04;23;27
So botany, construction, sales, customer service. So a wide variety of different programs and new ones are popping up all the time because we build those based off of what employers are telling us. We also have staff on site that are trained to assist in helping find jobs, help you with your resume, connect with employers. And so that's one option is if you need to get back to work quickly, come and we can assist with maybe some short term skill upgrades and getting you connected with employers.
00;04;24;00 - 00;04;47;20
The second option is you want credentials but you want to build upon them. And no longer is that you come and you get your one degree. We want to provide opportunities for somebody that can take a short term, quick training, but it's also flexible. And that's where the stackable credentials and workforce programs come into play. So they're designed so that you don't waste your time.
00;04;47;25 - 00;05;07;01
You can take something. And then later when you're ready and when it makes sense, you can come and take the next credential. Nothing is wasted. What you learned in that first one stacks into the second one. So a couple examples for that is maybe you have a CNA certified nurse aide. And you go work as a certified nurse aide.
00;05;07;01 - 00;05;36;11
And now you really enjoy health care. You really want to now become an LPN. So the skills and the time that you spent for your CNA can fold into your LPN or welding. You get your welding career Pathway certificate, CPK, and now you want to come back and get your degree in welding. Those are the types of things that we want to continue to build upon, so that you don't feel like you're wasting your time, and you can have those on and off ramps as it makes sense for your life.
00;05;36;13 - 00;05;58;11
And then, of course, option three is the long term. We do have quite a few students that come to us that know they want to get their two year degree, or they want to transfer and get their four year degree after. So those folks know that that's their plan and they eventually want to get there. Maybe they won't get there in the two years that maybe they come back and forth and get that long term.
00;05;58;14 - 00;06;23;17
So those are a couple different options. We do have a pathway graphic that I want to talk about that talks about the different lanes that we have. There's three different lanes that people kind of can come through. It's a workforce pathway lane a transfer lane or a noncredit to credit pathway. And here's the thing. Those lines that are within those pathways, they're just lanes.
00;06;23;17 - 00;06;44;09
And you can change those lanes as things within your life change. I don't know many people who know exactly what's going to happen in their life in the next two years. So making some of those plans, it's nice to know that there are lanes and you can change them as needed. So the noncredit to credit lane or bridge in many cases.
00;06;44;09 - 00;07;05;13
Noncredit training really is the front door to your introduction to NICC could be earning your high school equivalency diploma, for example, or just taking a short term certificate. We intentionally build those programs so that you can what you learn, you can apply forward into certificates, diplomas, or degrees in the future. It just it saves you time and money.
00;07;05;15 - 00;07;30;13
You also can stack things you don't have to decide today how far you are going to go. You only have to decide what your next step is. And of course, employment is always an outcome that we want you to have. We want you that the time that you spend at NAC to lead you to that pathway. But you'll you'll also see in that graphic that, employment comes up in multiple places.
00;07;30;15 - 00;07;58;22
That's intentional. We want to make sure that getting a job doesn't mean that you're done. Learning is a lifelong opportunity, and you have lots of options along the way. So in today's society, on and off ramps are just part of that entire learning journey. So the reason why we're so intentional about this design is because it works. 95% of Antioch graduates are either employed or continuing their education within six months of graduation.
00;07;58;24 - 00;08;25;00
That is huge. And that doesn't happen by accident. And it happens because our programs are hands on, connected to employers, which is key. And building around a competency based model, meaning our students, they focus on mastering skills, not necessarily just clocking time and saying that you've sat in this chair for so long, we really want to make sure that you're showing the skill so the employers value what you've done.
00;08;25;00 - 00;08;48;05
It make. We know life doesn't move at the same pace for everyone, so learning should not have to move at the same pace for everyone as well. So who is this really for? The pathway model really is for the high school graduate who isn't sure that college is for them yet. It's also for the working parent who needs that flexibility.
00;08;48;08 - 00;09;15;08
It's for the person who already has a job that wants additional skills. It's for the person who wants to just feel forward motion again, maybe feeling stuck. And you just, you know, you need a little bit more. All of these opportunities, you can find neck in the flexible learning that we can make a match for you. So if there's one thing I hope you can take away from this informational episode is there really is no wrong way to start.
00;09;15;11 - 00;09;46;04
Whether you're looking for a job, a credential, a degree, or even if you're just not sure yet, there is a pathway that can fit with where you are in life today and keep doors open for what's next for you. So education should not feel like a gamble. It should feel like a plan. And if you're listening to this and you sit with any of those categories I talked about before, we want you to know that you can come to NICC and we'll help you figure out that plan.
00;09;46;06 - 00;10;16;15
So if you don't know, that's okay. That's what we're here for. We've walked thousands of people through their own paths, and we can help you to. So whether it's funding you're concerned about or how long it's going to take you, or whether you can balance this with all of the other obligations you have in your life, we want to make sure that you know that we're here, and we can connect you to the right people and the right resources to make that a bit more clear for you, so you can make the right decision for you.
00;10;16;18 - 00;10;39;03
So next steps. If you want to learn a little bit more, all you have to do is give us a call, connect with us, send us an email. We'll walk this journey with you. Give us go to our website, Nikki Edu, and you'll be able to connect with us through that. There's also a QR code that we have popped up on this podcast, so feel free to go out there and let us know.
00;10;39;06 - 00;11;03;11
What can we help you with? You don't need to know before you contact us. Well, we'll walk through that with you and we'll find the best solution for you. So hope to see you. Give us a call. Thanks for joining us on this episode of The Catalyst. If you enjoyed the conversation, make sure to follow our subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!
00;11;03;13 - 00;11;26;21
Want to learn more about NICC and the many ways we support our students, partners, and community? Visit nicc.edu for more resources and upcoming opportunities. This podcast is produced by Northeast Iowa Community College and hosted by me, Amy Lasack, with executive producer Tessa Hill, producer Travis Hunt and graphic designer Ashley Konzen.