CAEP
Annual Plan

Produced: Oct 31, 2023, 11:22 PM UTC - By Sarah Cameron

54 Santa Barbara Adult Education Consortium
CONSORTIUM APPROVED

2023-24

Plans & Goals

Executive Summary

The Santa Barbara Adult Education Consortium (SBAEC) continues to have a significant impact in its community. The Consortiumʼs vision is to advance and design new program tailored for adults in our region using data-driven decision- making, and an inclusive, collaborative and coordinated approach with stakeholders, program leaders, and public feedback.

In 2022, the Consortium distributed more than 71% of its funding to adult education programs at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) and to various community partners. The SBAEC includes nine highly functioning programs that deliver educational programs regionally and provide excellence in education and workforce services to underserved adult learners in the region spanning Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria.

Through the spirit of collaboration, local Workforce Plans, district data, and the most recent 2023 South Santa Barbara County BW Research Report on the Economic and Workforce Gap Analysis for Adult Education Students, the Consortium continued to refine its primary 2023-2024 primary goals that include:

(1)  Continue to support our noncredit  faculty  in  building pathways to  credit for existing and new CAEP programs; (2)  Support  new  activity  resulting from  AB705  implementation (focused  on mathematics,  English, and ESL); (3)  Support dual enrollment programs to engage high school students completing their  degrees  to  begin  their  journey to transition to college,  job  search  training  and  placement (SB-554); (4) Continue to partner with the local Santa  Barbara  Workforce One-Stop  operator  and other  agencies  for career training initiatives; (5) Continue to cross-pollinate CAEP initiatives with WIOA, Guided Pathways, Vision for Success, and Strong Workforce initiatives; (6) Continue to support our existing SBCC programs that are aligned with the CAEP initiatives; (7) Strengthen and support the Noncredit Student Support Services  (SSS) Program  to  provide  advising  and  career  counseling, improved orientation to noncredit programs, and transitional support to jobs/careers or credit opportunities; (8) Work in collaboration with the SBCC Admissions Office to strengthen and support the noncredit registration process; (9) Support distance learning (live videoconferencing) initiatives and provide, where feasible, professional development training for faculty and staff in CAEP program areas; (10) Develop a strategic plan that addresses systemic racial injustices within our membership, partners and programs; (11) Collaborate with local Workforce to increase Adult Learner support systems (housing, foodbank resources, and public assistance programs); (12) Develop a Noncredit Data Collection task force/workgroup that is committed to the collection of accurate data and analytics for all CAEP programs and services; (13) Address newly added CAEP State Priorities: Equity, Leadership, Learner Transition, Marketing, Program Development Curriculum/Classroom, Program Evaluation, and Technology & Distance Learning; (14) Extend programming and services in all of Santa Barbara south county with an emphasis in Carpinteria and Goleta.

Most recent notable outcomes over the past year include:

  • The Career Skills Institute (CSI) launched the first noncredit Fundamental Computer Skills (Bilingual) Certificate of Completion. Upon completion, students will be prepared for more advanced college courses, job advancement, and will transition into the Career Skills Institute Ready.Match.Hire! Program for job procurement. 
  • In 2022-2023, the Consortium awarded up to 1 million towards adult education tuition-free community programs that include English as a Second Language, the Work Readiness and Career Planning program for Adults with Disabilities, Adult High School GED, Career Skills Institute business, design, Allied Health, culinary and technology programs, and the Santa Barbara Public Library: Adult Literacy, Pre-ESL Spanish Literacy, and SBPL Works! workforce readiness program.
  • In collaboration with the Santa Barbara Public Library, in Spring 2022, launched the first noncredit programming in Safe Food Preparation and Serving leading to free-access to the ServSafe Food Handler® Online Courses and Assessment certification needed for adult learners to participate and excel in the local food industry. This program is designed to be part of the ESL Integrative English Training (IET) initiative to prepare English learners for entry into the workforce. As of Spring 2023, close to one dozen adult learners have received their ServSafe Food Handler® certificate.
  • In 2021, the noncredit Career Skills Institute piloted the first correspondence education for those currently incarcerated in the Santa Barbara County Jail. As of Spring 2023, over two dozen inmates have completed Career Skills Institute courses and will complete career CSI State Certificates.   
Regional Planning Overview

By dedicating close to 71% of funding towards community partnerships and integrated educational services, the Consortium prioritized and incorporated various community stakeholders to respond to gaps in services and needs in all seven CAEP areas for our region. Our Consortium plans to continue efforts towards increasing partner membership that more closely aligns with new and existing State initiatives as it recognized the value of its partners.

The Consortium plans to continue leveraging existing regional structures, including but not limited to, local workforce investment areas. More specifically, to better identify gaps in service and community needs, in 2018 and most recently in 2022 the Consortium commissioned BW Research, Inc. to perform a comprehensive environmental scan of the Santa Barbara City College School of Extended Learning service region. The research provided a better understanding of the economic and workforce landscape in our regional service area and is used as a guide in selecting CAEP programs.

The BW Research report affirmed the continuance of the Consortiumʼs regional alignment and priorities with the Workforce Development Boardʼs initiatives that focus on key industry clusters, occupations, and pathways. They include Information & Communication Technologies, Biotechnology and Biomedical Devices, Finance and Banking, Health Care, and Building and Design. The report provided the Consortium with critical conclusions and takeaways that describe the regional need for specific adult education and workforce services.

Priorities include two major recommendations that will be used in our Consortium's regional planning:

(I) Support Employment Opportunities

(II) Support Education Transitions, Transfers, and Pathways to reduce barriers for adult learners



Meeting Regional Needs

Regional Need #1

Gaps in Service / Regional Needs

Education Transitions, Transfers, and Pathways

How do you know? What resources did you use to identify these gaps?

Data sources, such as the local Santa Barbara Workforce 2021- 2025 Local Plan, South Central Coast Strong Workforce Regional Plan, SBCC student data reports, WIOA II Continuous Improvement Plans, and the most recent 2022-2023 South Santa Barbara County BW Research Report on the Economic and Workforce Gap Analysis for Adult Education Students reflect gaps in transition services to both higher education attainment and middle to top-tier wage-earning careers.

Per the 2022-2023 South Santa Barbara County BW Research Economic and Workforce Gap Analysis for Adult Education Students, the following topics were analyzed within the regional demographic overview: Total population, Educational Attainment, Literacy levels, Income, Poverty, and Age Distribution. This information will allow the Consortium to customize adult education programs, services, and resources and to inform the allocation of education and training resources.

How will you measure effectiveness / progress towards meeting this need?

Effectiveness will be measured through matriculation data, district student outcome reports that track the academic life-cycle transitions and establishing a noncredit student employment procurement data tracking system.

Address Educational Needs

2023-24 Strategies

Marketing and Outreach

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Support Education Transitions, Transfers, Pathways

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)

Expand and improve marketing and outreach to target all CAEP program populations to create awareness and increase participation. Methods include but not limited to professional marketing personnel, hard copy and digital media kits, the development of a robust social media marketing campaign, and radio campaigns.

Improve Integration of Services & Transitions

2023-24 Strategies

Improve Integration of Services

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Support Education Transitions, Transfers, Pathways

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)

The SBAEC consortium will engage in the following activities to improve the integration of services:

Continue progress on the newly adopted Guided Pathways mapping project for noncredit certificate CAEP programs. This project will create clear curricular pathways to employment. Program maps include specific course sequences, milestones, and program learning outcomes to provide students with clear academic pathways leading to degree completion or employment attainment

Enhance student support services to ensure maximum advisement to credit or career pathways

Integrate credit student support services, admissions, and career offices in noncredit planning strategic planning sessions Enhance academic and career counselor engagement, both in-person and online with students to maximize services Continue to engage CASAS staff and administrators to aid in identifying emergent trends

Enhance professional development efforts to include field trips to other education and workforce agencies to learn best practices

Engage guest speakers from partner entities, local employers, local Workforce One-Stop to raise awareness of workforce options and opportunities

Continue supporting existing community partners who provide career training and job placement services

Continue to support the Career Vocational Adults with Disabilities Program with an emphasis on distance education 

Continue supporting noncredit pre-apprenticeship programming and explore coordinating a formal apprenticeship program in the areas of Construction Technology, Culinary Arts, Information Technology or Business Administration Continue to develop the inmate training curriculum to better integrate with the credit Transitions Program and enhance partnerships with local workforce agencies to increase employment opportunities

Improve Effectiveness of Services

2023-24 Strategies

Career Focused Curriculum Creation

Activity that Applies to this Strategy

Support Employment Opportunities

Metrics that Apply to this Activity/Strategy

  • All: Adults who Became Participants (AE 202 - Overall)

Increase the number of SBCC Career Skills Institute certificates that focus on programs in short-term vocation CTE in employment sectors relevant to our service area that fall within the identified industry clusters (health and technology). Increase ESL Integrative Education Training (IET) and programs offered with each CSI course and certificate. Work with existing and new community partners on the development of these certificates.

Fiscal Management

A narrative justifying how the planned allocations are consistent with the annual adult education plan which is based on your CAEP 3-year plan.

The overarching goals of our Consortium's Three-Year plan are to provide excellence in adult education programming in order to accelerate transitions to transfer or career success. They include:

  1. To continue to provide high-impact programming for adults in a variety of program areas based on proven needs within the seven areas allowable under AB104;
  2. To continue to improve Student Learning and Achievement Goals focused on the needs of adult learners and to assist in their transfer acceleration and career success;
  3. To continue refining programs and services for students in alignment with statewide initiatives;
  4. To enhance awareness of educational offerings and training options available through a robust local marketing campaign;
  5. To develop a comprehensive data collection and accountability infrastructure for all programs and services funded by the consortium and to encourage cross-pollination with each other and statewide initiatives;
  6. To collaborate and engage partners that specialize in job placement, apprenticeship, internship, and job coaching;

Critical needs based on district data performance evaluations of programs and enrollment figures include:

  1. Restoration of pre-pandemic enrollment levels;
  2. Development of clear pathways between noncredit and credit credentials;
  3. Closer credit/noncredit alignment of student services and operations;
  4. Expanded support services and removal of barriers to transition to credit;
  5. Addressing structural inequities that disadvantage noncredit students

The Consortium uses a request for proposal model (with a required timeline and budget sheet), to encourage internal and external partners to submit proposals for alignment with our Consortium goals (listed above), mission, and vision and with the CAEP allowable programs and objectives. After proposals are received, using a Consortium- specific rubric, the Consortium carefully vets these proposals to ensure alignment with the annual plan, the Three-year plan, and the statewide goals of CAEP, and only chooses to fund those that are in alignment, including only allowable expenditures, and that work to accomplish our objectives and commit to partnering and leveraging resources. The CAEP Director is responsible for tracking the approved budget and all expenditures related to all program areas. Each program area has a program lead that reports expenditures directly to the CAEP Director. The Director verifies the Consortium-approved expenditure(s), obtains approval from the CAEP Chair, and submits for payment by the fiscal agent. The fiscal agent has created a CAEP account for each year of funding that reflects each Consortium-approved expenditure and certifies those expenditures. This process is aligned with our governance documents.

An approach to incorporating remaining carry-over funds from prior year(s) into strategies planned for 2023-24.

Our Consortium's approach to incorporating carry-over funds from prior years into planned activities is built into our successful process established from the beginning of Year 1. The Consortium has a Request for Proposal process, which includes documenting the timeline and activities for expenditures for each program and prior allocations. Once allocated through the process (as referenced above), funding recipients must expend in accordance with their submitted application, budget worksheet, and the deadlines set for that year's funding. As a result, each program has an approved and tailored plan to expend funds timely. These plans, activities, and expenditures are monitored by our CAEP Director. If a program lead wishes to change activities or allocate differently than what was originally approved by the Consortium, they are required to petition for a change to the Consortium. In certain circumstances, if there are any unspent funds from a prior allocation for whatever reason (e.g., a program has completed its initiatives and spent less than expected, the program has been terminated, or programs that were impacted by the pandemic), the Consortium has the discretion to recapture those funds and solicits a new public Request for Proposal with an adjusted deadline to ensure expenditures for those carry-over funds are expedited and timely.

For 2023-2024, the Consortium plans to spend carryover funds are already in place. Some funds have already been incorporated into the previous 2022-2023 Request for Proposal process while other carryover funds will be part of a separate allocation process directed towards programming gaps in services or new initiatives that promote students to enroll and matriculate into credit pathways and/or utilize support services.

Certification

Carpinteria Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Gerardo Cornejo

10/31/2023 09:00 AM PDT

Santa Barbara CCD - Member Representative

Approved by Corlei Prieto

10/30/2023 05:13 PM PDT

Santa Barbara Co. Office of Education - Member Representative

  • Director, Career Technical Education
  • scameron@sbceo.org
  • (805) 937-8427 ext: 2531
Approved by Sarah Cameron

10/31/2023 04:22 PM PDT

Santa Barbara County Workforce Dev. Board - Member Representative

Approved by Luis Servin

10/31/2023 09:17 AM PDT