Session Description: Continuing Education departments can be the "front line" for new program development. CE provides strengths that are required for success: responsiveness; leveraging of resources; and sustainability. In a time when college resources are threatened, collaborations between CE and credit are one way to weather the storm. This webinar offers suggestions for ways CE and credit departments can partner, and provides examples of successful collaborations at several different community colleges. This webinar is based on the NCCET white paper "Continuing Education as ‘Incubator’ of New College Credit Programs” and was presented during the NCCET/NCWE Conference in October of 2011. Presenter: Kirk White, MSN, RN is the Director of the Center for Healthcare Professionals (CHP) at Houston Community College’s Coleman College for Health Sciences. Kirk is a Registered Nurse holding a Master’s of Science in Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing from University of Texas at Austin, and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Environmental Design from Texas A&M University. He has worked in community college continuing education for over 11 years, holding the positions of Coordinator, Director, Executive Director, Interim Executive Dean and Associate Dean at Austin Community College. Kirk is a past President of the Texas Administrators of Continuing Education (TACE) and is currently on the Board of the National Council for Continuing Education and Training (NCCET).

1. Incubating Credit Classes in
Continuing Education
Presented by:
Kirk White, MSN, RN
Director, Center for Healthcare Professionals
Houston Community College Coleman College

2. Agenda
• Strengths of CE
• Benefits of growing programs in CE
• Examples of successes
• Lessons learned
• Q&A

3. CE Strengths for Success
• Quality driven with competitive pricing
• Typically follows a business model
• Responds quickly to community needs
• Generates revenue to pay for development
• Flexibility & entrepreneurial approach to
program development
• Not limited by many “credit” related barriers

4. Poll Question #1

5. CE as an Incubator
• Responsiveness – often the “front line”
of the college
• Leveraging of Resources – maximize
what is available
• Sustainability – build it so it can stand
on it’s own

6. Responsiveness
• Community often comes to CE & customized
training first with requests for new programs
• Used to creating new programs within weeks/
months rather than years
• Frequently engaged with community groups –
Chambers, Workforce Boards, Community
Based Organizations
• Streamlined internal processes

7. Leveraging of Resources
• Sharing of faculty & expertise
• Utilizing specialized classroom, lab space,
and internship sites
• Joint use of expensive equipment
• Sharing revenue with credit departments
• Coordinating grant funded projects
• Sharing program advisory commitees
• Sharing community contacts / resources

8. Sustainability
• Building program on identified need
• Building the CE program with the goal of
becoming a credit program
• Integrated / cross-listed / mirror courses (or
entire program)
• Flexibility for various student groups
• Demonstrate success before committing
significant college resources

9. Poll Question #2

10. Models that Work
• Austin Community College
– Video Game Development & Renewable Energy
• Central Piedmont Community College
– Film Video Certificate Program
• Bismarck State College
– Certified Nurse Aide
• Lone Star College System
– MSSC Certified Logistics Analyst / Technician
• Johnson County Community College
– HITECH Initiative

11. Video Game
Development
• Began as CE certificate with specialty tracks
• Advisory council with game companies
• Three college departments, 2 Deans
• 3 identified tracks / degrees
• Joint work with credit faculty to move to
“Game Development Institute” (GDI)
• GDI Director position
• CE “integrated” courses & specialty topics

12. Renewable Energy
• Started in CE at request of industry
• Several grants that leveraged funding for
resources & development
• CE certifications (solar, solar thermal, sales)
and credit specialization (solar)
• Shared equipment, space and faculty
• Focus on “women in green” jobs
• I-35 Corridor Consortium & TREEC

13. Film Video
Certificate Program
• First course developed by CE entitled "The Art of
Production“
• Soon converted to credit course “Videography I”
• Success of course led to a hybrid certificate program
in Film/Video
• Credit courses: Videography I; Vidoegraphy II
• CE Courses: Studio Videography; Production I;
Production II; Video Editing I; Film Editing
• Provides either a workforce certificate or part of an
Associates of Fine Arts

14. Certified Nurse Aide
• CE CNA program began over 15 years ago
• During that time BSC added credit nursing programs
(LPN and ADN)
• CE CNA became prerequisite to nursing programs
• Credit nursing department suggested offering CNA
both CE and credit (allow for access to financial aid)
• CE and credit collaborated to work out the details
• Now offered as integrated / cross-listed course (CE
and credit students in same classroom)
• Provides 2 credit hours for nursing track students

15. MSSC Certified Logistics
Analyst / Technician
• CE run grant funded project with Workforce Solutions
• Supply chain logistics and certification through the Manufacturing
Skill Standards Council (MSSC)
• Results in Certified Logistics Analyst (CLA) and Certified
Logistics Technician (CLT)
• Success of program prompted collaboration with credit logistics
curriculum team and CE
• CLA (36 hours) plus CLT (36 hours) now equals 3 hour credit
course (Introduction to Business Logistics)
• Credit course is pathway to 3 credit awards (Basic Logistics
Certificate, First Line Logistics Leader Certificate, or A.A.S. in
Logistic Management)

16. HITECH Initiative
• Part of the Midwest Community College HIT Consortium
• Federally grant funded HITECH curriculum (20 modules)
• Collaboration of credit and CE faculty in health care and
information systems departments
• Initially delivered in hybrid format through CE to meet
grant timeline
• Developed two credit certificates (one provided by
JCCC, one by Hutchinson Community College) covering
entire state of Kansas

17. Poll Question #3

18. Lessons Learned
• Importance of departments
collaborating to develop programs
• Developing with the end in mind
– Credit course hour requirements
– Credit faculty credentials
– Ease of transition / articulation for students
– Who “owns” the program after it grows into
a credit program?

19. More Lessons Learned
• Involve the college registrar to address transcript
issues (conversion of credit, letter grades for CE
courses)
• Students need to be recognized by the college as a
“student” regardless of how they are registered (CE
or Credit)
• All college resources need to be available to all
students (advising, library, etc)
• Shared commitment to quality instruction for both CE
and credit options

20. College CE Contacts
• ACC - Video Game Development & Renewable Energy
– Hector Aguilar, haguilar@austincc.edu
• CPCC - Film Video Certificate Program
– Paul Koehnke, Paul.Koehnke@cpcc.edu
• BSC - Certified Nurse Aide
– Sara Vollmer, sara.vollmer@bismarckstate.edu
• LSCS - MSSC Certified Logistics Analyst / Technician
– Linda Head, lhead@lonestar.edu
• JCCC - HITECH Initiative
– Darcy McGrath, dmcgrat1@jccc.edu

21. Questions?

22. Contact Information
Kirk White, MSN, RN, Director
Center for Healthcare Professionals, HCC Coleman College
kirk.white@hccs.edu