On May 20, teams from Iowa’s community colleges gathered for the Annual Guided Pathways Convening located at Marshalltown Community College. Vlad Bassis, administrative consultant, presented the new guided pathways dashboards available to colleges via the Guided Pathways Iowa Community College Outcomes Interactive Pathways. These new dashboards will replace the excel spreadsheets that were previously provided to the colleges on an annual basis. Kelly Friesleben, education program consultant, facilitated the work session that allowed colleges to familiarize themselves with the new tool and create action steps to take back to their institutions.  

The afternoon session allowed the college teams to convene in a community of practice as they shared their guided pathways innovations and implementation challenges with each other in a round-robin format. This in-person convening provided the college teams the dedicated time and space to learn, reflect on and make additional plans for their guided pathways strategies while networking with and learning from their colleagues across the state. Strategies shared included advising models to help students get on a path, incorporating work-based learning into pathways for all students and technology solutions to centralize data for decision making or sharing important student information with advisors and faculty mentors. 

Since 2018, Iowa's community colleges have been learning about the national guided pathways movement and implementing strategies to put them into place locally. Each college has a unique work plan and strategy and has also been a part of a statewide initiative to learn and share ideas with each other through a grant received by the Iowa Department of Education in 2019 from Ascendium. 

For more information on the guided pathways, contact Kelly Friesleben at kelly.friesleben@iowa.gov or 515-868-2847.

Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow traveled to Mitchellville on May 23 for a tour of the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women.

The tour featured higher education opportunities that exist for incarcerated students at the facility. 

With the restoration of eligibility of federal Pell Grant opportunities for students in prison education programs, the visit provided insight into the processes and supports available to students in correctional facilities. 

As a part of the Iowa Consortium of Higher Education in Prison, the Iowa Department of Education and Iowa Department of Corrections have partnered with other community stakeholders to promote and establish high-quality and accessible educational opportunities and successful re-entry for incarcerated individuals. The group has worked to establish pathway navigators to assist students with financial aid, applications and timelines as well as ambassadors who provide first-person perspectives for the group and other students. 

For more information on education for incarcerated students, contact Peggy Long at peggy.long@iowa.gov or 515-975-8398.

On May 8, Gov. Kim Reynolds officially signed a bill into law that updates the distribution of state aid between Iowa's 15 community colleges. The new Iowa code eliminates the fixed formula from past years and provides the opportunity for community colleges to collaborate each year on a working formula. Ten of the 15 community college leaders must agree to the proposed formula. 

Presidents and officials from community colleges, members from Community Colleges for Iowa and Iowa Department of Education staff attended the signing ceremony at the Capitol.  

The Iowa Department of Education has announced that an additional $830,000 in competitive grants was awarded to another 17 Iowa school districts through the second round of the Credentials to Careers grant. This funding opportunity supports high-quality career and technical education (CTE) programs that provide students with valuable opportunities to earn industry-recognized credentials while in high school.

“By expanding opportunities to attain an industry-recognized credential in high school, the Credentials to Careers grant helps connect the classroom to the workplace,” said Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow. “Students earning portable, stackable credentials will be ready to succeed in high-wage and public-good careers, changing lives and strengthening communities. Encouraged by the tremendous response of schools and industry partners, the Department is leveraging additional federal funds to increase support for Credentials to Careers grants from over $1.7 million to over $2.5 million. We commend the new awardees for their leadership in realizing our shared priority to expand multiple pathways to postsecondary success.”

Iowa’s annual conference on career and technical education (CTE) is coming soon to the Prairie Meadows Conference Center in Altoona. CTE educators, administrators, retired professionals and students from secondary and postsecondary CTE programs and career and technical student organizations (CTSO) are invited to attend the 2024 Iowa ACTE Conference on June 18.

This year’s conference is themed “IACTE on Fire: Fostering Innovation, Resilience and Excellence” and will feature keynote speaker Craig Leager, executive dean of instruction at Indian Hills Community College. Quentin Suffren from ExcelinEd will also lead a general session activity on credentials to careers during the conference.

“At the Iowa ACTE Conference, participants will have the opportunity to hear the latest trends and best practices in CTE,” said Cale Hutchings, Iowa Department of Education CTE consultant and Iowa ACTE Board of Directors member. “Let’s come together to share ideas, celebrate our successes and get excited about CTE in Iowa.”

Individuals of any skill level or designated role in CTE are encouraged to attend the conference. Both seasoned participants and newcomers to CTE programs will be able to join in one of four different learning tracks: CTE Authorization, New to CTE, Experienced CTE and CTE Administrator.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed two significant bills related to work-based learning initiatives on May 16.

Senate File 2411 defines and supports high-quality work-based learning and recognizes the qualifying teaching experience of paraeducators in meeting student teaching requirements. 

House File 2465 allows high school students to earn core credit for agriculture, applied sciences, technology, engineering and manufacturing career and technical education courses. 

DIrector McKenzie Snow and team members Dennis Harden and Joe Collins joined Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend and leaders from the Greater Des Moines Partnership, Iowa Work-Based Learning Coordinators and Iowa FFA Association for the official signing at the Capitol. 

These transformational new laws will provide students with more options for success in their future college and career pathways. 

The month of May brought numerous commencement ceremonies honoring new graduates at Iowa's community colleges. 

Director McKenzie Snow and bureau team members Amy Gieseke and Heather Meissen were able to attend the Iowa Valley Community College District graduation celebration for Ellsworth Community College students. Future elementary educator Reagan Goodell delivered the commencement, and scholastic and service award recipients were honored.

Kudos to all community colleges on their successful year in serving students from across the state and propelling them forward in their college and career pathways. Their graduation from their programs and ultimate successes are a reflection of the high-quality education and training that is provided through our state's community colleges. 

Kent Storm is the new Education Program Consultant for business, finance, marketing and management education. Storm can be reached at kent.storm@iowa.gov.

Cenk Cetin has joined the bureau as an Education Program Consultant for data and reporting. Cetin can be reached at cenk.cetin@iowa.gov.

Additionally, Heather Meissen has been promoted to Administrative Consultant for career and technical education. During the interim, she will remain the contact for Senior Year Plus, Career Academy Incentive Fund and transfer major initiatives. Meissen can be reached at heather.meissen@iowa.gov. 

Jeremy Varner, chief for the Bureau of Community Colleges and Postsecondary Readiness, has been selected as the new deputy director at the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. He will be leading the Division of Career-Technical Education and Workforce and will be spearheading their efforts to elevate career readiness opportunities and strengthen the state's workforce.

Varner has been with the Iowa Department of Education since June 2005 and has been leading the state office for community colleges since 2013. During his tenure at the Department, he has led efforts to improve educational access and quality, including expansion of concurrent enrollment and career counseling, redesigning career and technical education delivery, transformation of data and accountability systems, improvements to student transfer and success, and new opportunities for adults to obtain diplomas and job training.

The Department thanks Varner for his contributions to education in Iowa and extends best wishes as he moves forward in his future endeavors. His last day will be June 3.