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Transition of Adult Workforce Centers and Literacy Programs to the University System of Ohio Moves Forward

Recommendations designed to encourage and support Ohioans who go back to school to improve skills and marketability

For Immediate Release August 8, 2008

COLUMBUS – Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut today received the final report of the State Advisory Committee on the Transfer of Adult Career-Technical Programs, "Creating Opportunities: Connecting Adult Learners with Economic Success." The Committee, consisting of representatives from Ohio’s Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) programs, adult career-technical programs, community colleges and public universities, was convened in November 2007 by Chancellor Fingerhut and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Tave Zelman to craft a strategy for the transition of adult career-technical education and Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) to the University System of Ohio by Jan. 1, 2009.

The Committee issued findings and an action plan, which focuses on raising the educational attainment level of Ohio’s population in order to help the state grow and prosper. The report recommends that the structures, programs and funding of Ohio’s adult learning system be aligned with employers’ workforce needs and students’ expectations by:

Creating new accessible pathways for adult learners through the "Stackable Certificates" initiative.
Developing concurrent enrollment policies and practices.
Conducting an inventory of student aid “best practices."
Implementing the Ohio Skills Bank initiative.
Working with employers and organized labor to double the number of post-secondary students engaged in college-level work-based learning experiences.
Creating an integrated data system for the entire University System of Ohio.

The recommendations are in alignment with the state's 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education delivered by Chancellor Fingerhut to Governor Strickland and the Ohio General Assembly March 31, 2008. The report states the University System of Ohio will improve Ohio’s educational attainment by graduating more students, keeping graduates in Ohio, and attracting more talent to the state. The plan’s success depends on encouraging and supporting adults to go back to school to improve their skills and marketability.

"The committee's wide ranging recommendations will do more than simply shift a few programs and the people who carry them out from one administrative structure to another,” said Chancellor Fingerhut. “The group is helping create a structure within the University System of Ohio that helps adults go back to school to improve their lives, families, and futures."

The University System of Ohio, created through a directive of Governor Strickland, consists of 14 public universities, 24 university branch campuses, 23 community colleges, as well as over 200 adult workforce centers and adult literacy programs across the state. In creating the University System of Ohio, the governor recognized that the primary way to make Ohio's economy competitive is by raising the aspirations and the educational levels of its citizens.

To view "Creating Opportunities: Connecting Adult Learners with Economic Success," please visit http://uso.edu/network/workforce/

Contact: Michael Chaney, Chief Communications Officer, Ohio Board of Regents
Office: 614-752-9480 Cell: 614-633-5909
Email: mchaney@regents.state.oh.us

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