Discovering and applying new and innovative economic development tools, models, policies, and programs
Creating Jobs and Wealth in Distressed Michigan Communities
2016: Some College?: A Guide to Online Degree Completion for the Michigan Workforce
Co-Learning Plan - 2016
Authors: Steven Weiland & Alexander C. Gardner, Michigan State University
Summary
Over 22% of the Michigan workforce has "some college" but no degree. With the rapid increase of jobs requiring a post-secondary degree, creating programs that encourage the completion of a degree has the potential to improve workplace performance, career development, and the state's economy. The goal of this Co-Learning Plan promoted online adult learning for the Michigan workforce. While building upon current federal and state policy, or changes in the law and how agencies of government operate, Weiland & Gardner offered a complementary approach focusing on practice, or guiding individuals toward degree completion and productive and satisfying careers.
Project Updated As Of September 30th, 2016
Author Information
Steven Weiland, Michigan State University
Steven Weiland is a professor in the graduate program in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education at Michigan State University. He has degrees from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York (B.A. in English) and the University of Chicago (PhD in English). Previous to his appointment at Michigan State he held faculty and administrative positions at the University of Michigan, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Iowa, and the University of Minnesota. He also spent nine years as Executive Director of the National Federation of State Humanities Councils, a non-profit organization serving the state programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities. At MSU, Professor Weiland teaches online courses in career development, education in the digital age, educational inquiry, scholarly communications, and other subjects, all in a self-paced hypermedia format he has devised. He is the author of Intellectual Craftsmen: Ways and Works in American Scholarship and of many essays on subjects in the humanities, social sciences, and education. He is at work on Faculty Work in the Digital Age: How Much Technology is Enough?
Alexander C. Gardner, Michigan State University
Alex Gardner is a Ph.D. student in the program of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education at Michigan State University. He is also a graduate of Kalamazoo College and has a Master’s degree from Michigan State University’s College of Human Resources and Labor Relations. Before undertaking his doctoral studies, he worked at a boutique human resources consulting firm as a Senior Human Resources Consultant. Alex’s research interests include individual competency development, workforce readiness, higher education policy, and postsecondary labor market outcomes.
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