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Alpena Community College Update - December 1991 + Page 3 WORKPLACE PARTNERSHIP PROJECT ACC and partners take part in national pilot program By DON MacMASTER A unique new partnership between a rural community college, a national literacy cen- ter and an international manu- facturing company is proving successful in Northeast Michigan. Called the Workplace: Part- nership Project (WPP), it is funded by a grant from the United States Department of Education and is one of only two such pilot programs in Michigan and 80 throughout the country. The partners, Alpena Com- munity College, Penn State U- niversity and Besser Company, are linked in a research and development project to create a model for delivering meaningful instruction in the workplace. The instructional team is from ACC; consultants and e- valuators are from Penn State. And Besser Co. is committing release time to volunteer em- ployees so they can take The first round of Se: ended last month, and based on the feedback, the partner- ship is working. According to Gordon Udell, who represents the shop work- ers at Besser, quality instruc- tion is precisely what’s needed during these tight economic time es. “You start making people feel better about themselves, you're going to have pro- ductivity increase,” he said. Instructors Janet Fulton (reading), Kendall Sumerix (math and trigonometry), and Don MacMaster (com- munications) worked with their students to customize course “content. They used real-life sit- uations employees face every day on the job. There are no” textbooks; nothing is canned. In the math class, for example, students worked on metric conversions, a skill necessary for reading product specifications obtained in a for- eign market. In the trig class, students learned how to use scientific calculators to find Sines, cosines and tangents. In the past, such key shop floor functions too often were left to department leaders to figure out. In the reading class, speed and comprehension were stressed. Techniques for scanning and skimming mater- ial for topic, main idea, and details were learned. Office workers and union reps, who wade through an enormous a- mount of paper work every day, found this class especially useful. In the communications class, a camcorder, was used to al- low students to see how others see them when they’re trying to get a point across. Students worked on listening skills by working together on a final group project that incorporated the concepts of audience, de- livery and message, as well as grammar, punctuation, spelling and transitions. “Twas a poor reader,” said Udell. “I didn’t know how poor I really was until I took this reading clas: He said that wile he started out teading 157 words per minute, “in less than four weeks, I was up to 333 words per minute...And I didn’t lose any comprehensi came to ACC from Crowder College in southeast Missouri, where she had considerable ex- perience in workplace educa- tion. She says that understand- ing the adult learner is critical to the success of any work- place program. : “The adult learner is a very honest learner,” she explained. “They have a purpose for be- ing there and they don’t like to waste their time. Macy believes instructors BACK IN CLASS are (left to right) Roland Domke, Phil Kirschner, Tom LaCross and Mark Schultz, all Besser Company’employees who signed up for a communications Class offered ‘through t the Workplace Partnership Project College was awarded a U.S. Department of Education grant to take part in a nation- wide pilot program to create and implement successful work site classes. (WPP). Alpena Community The second round of classes is winding up this month and feedback on the project has been extremely positive. ie used throughout the state. (WPP photo) 0 doi oe They with the students as the stu- dents are with them. Ask what it is they need to learn and why they’ve come; ask how you can help the most and what will keep them ere ; coming “We need to listen to what they have to say, then develop strategies...so we don’t waste our time, either.” Macy points out it’s im- portant not to assume too much about adult learners, and ship Project from their Participants explain the value of WPP classes Besser Company employees i in the first Workplace Partner- communication class have personally benefitted i 38 d the value of a communicate to survive.” nicating wisely.” - Roland a project, and expressed that understanding as part of the fin: _-group project. Here are two excerpts: ~-- “Communication is a key part of everyone's daily life. A person must have the ability to speak effectively as well as listen effectively. Organizing your thoughts, getting your, point across, knowing what to say and how to say it are just | afew things I learned. We all can talk, but we must - Mark Schultz “Communication is a part of life, like a skill is to one’s trade. To gain knowledge in life, one has to learn how to communicate efficiently. It’s unfortunate many people go through life, unable to enjoy the full advantages of commu- Domke tandpoint, surest way to failure is by not connecting with them as individuals. “Tam .a community edu- cator. I feel that to be a community educator, first you have to believe in community. You have to believe in work- ing with all kinds of different - people, and I think the kinds of people often neglected are the adult learners...they want to do some things with their lives that they didn’t think they could do. This is one way of helping People zero in on their dreams.’ The intent of WPP courses, according to. Macy, is not to provide technical assistance soon to be out-dated, but to help employees become better communicators, independent thinkers, resourceful team play- ers and competent problem solvers. “Couple those skills with years of solid technical experi- ence and. you have a very val- uable work force,” she concluded. The future of WPP, once’ the demonstration grant expires in October 1992, could spin toward Oscoda. The closure of Wurtsmith AFB and loss of its $10 million-a-month payroll will have a severe impact on The college’s goal is to oe a work site program model that can struction ys challenge will oe to develop 2 model and a delivery system which can be implemented with a minimum of ad- justments at other area compa- nies that want workplace classes. For Davis, success may be measured by two things. One is to be able to have a positive impact on specific businesses and industries in ACC’s five- county service area 2 “The other would be if we could say that this model we've developed and perfected is now implemented at other community colleges across Michigan,” he said. “Tf the net results indicate the project helped to retain and maybe upgrade and maybe ac- tually create job opportunities in our State, then that’s the poe line as far as I can Mesowiie. the second round of WPP classes i is near- ing completion. Enthusiasm is running high and attendance is good. That was especially im- pressive during the last two weeks of November, consider- ing that many of the students are avid deer hunters who sac- rificed time in the woods to take advantage of a long-term learning opportunity.’