Working adult needs new type of training

Our world of work — in Nevada, throughout the United States and across the globe — is changing. And it's changing and being reshaped at a rate faster than at any time in human history. The pace of global urbanization, coupled with the lightning speed at which technological breakthroughs are occurring, is forcing us to re-evaluate virtually every facet of modern life. The scope of change, unimaginable a few years ago, is happening much faster than we ever thought possible.

So what does this rapid modernization mean for employers and educators? It means that our long-standing assumptions and beliefs about jobs, the way we work and how we are trained for the workforce need to be reset. And quickly.

For the sake of Nevada's competitiveness in an ever-globalizing world, we must change the way we educate our workforce. We need an alternative for the working adult student, the type of nontraditional learner for whom the traditional way of doing things doesn't work. What some refer to as the "education-to-employment" journey — enrolling in college, developing skills and finding a job — is a pathway that for too many simply fails to respond to the new global rhythm of life.

An alternative approach to education is the only way the United States will reach an important goal: ensuring 60 percent of Americans have a high-quality postsecondary degree or credential by 2025. And it's the only way employers in our state will find qualified employees more economically.

One of the paradoxes of our "new normal" in Nevada and elsewhere is that employers, despite the rise in college graduates, increasingly are challenged to find the right talent at the right time. A recent survey by the ManpowerGroup found that 32 percent of employers reported difficulty filling jobs, and that this trend, unless corrected through greater industry-education alignment, will continue. The leading reasons include a lack of available applicants, shortage of technical competencies, lack of experience and deficiencies in soft skills.

By bringing together education providers, employers and government agencies as joint partners in creating an improved "education-to-employment" system, new measures of accountability and innovative ways of delivering curriculum in the K-20 setting will become standard practice. Recent bipartisan reforms enacted during Nevada's 2015 legislative session are beginning to produce greater alignment.

One new alternative in Nevada to the "education-to-employment" paradigm is WGU Nevada. Created through a partnership between the state of Nevada and the nationally recognized, nonprofit Western Governors University, WGU Nevada is an online, competency-based university designed to meet the educational needs of more than 300,000 Nevadans who have completed some college coursework, but do not have a college degree.

Competency-based education, which measures learning rather than time, is geared toward a diverse workforce made up of experienced employees who have a number of reasons for returning to college, who enroll in bachelor's or master's degree programs with different levels of knowledge and skill, bringing with them different learning styles and speeds — as well as different work and life obligations competing for their time and resources.

Competency-based education allows working adults to move quickly through material they already know, so that they can focus on what they still need to learn. These busy, nontraditional students have the flexibility to study on their own schedule and at their own pace, with 24/7 access to course materials and resources and with the personalized one-on-one support of their assigned faculty mentor. As they master the material, they pass assessments proving their knowledge and move on to the next subject. No need to wait for the semester to end or the rest of the class to catch up.

In general, competency-based education can improve quality and consistency, reduce costs, shorten the time required to graduate and provide us with true measures of student learning. Can you imagine the impacts competency-based learning could have on future generations and our workforce?

For the sake of our future and the growing need for more skilled workforce members, it's time to open our eyes and focus on a real reset of our educational approaches.

— Spencer Stewart, chancellor of Western Governors University Nevada, worked for Nevada State College for 14 years.