Workforce Ready Grantee Spotlight: Treasure Valley Community College
Innovative Healthcare Workforce Programs Provide Postsecondary Success for Rural Students
Last year, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) awarded Treasure Valley Community College (TVCC) a Future Ready Oregon Workforce Ready “Innovation in Workforce Programs” Grant. TVCC is using the grant to expand workforce development opportunities in healthcare. These opportunities include hybrid courses, program-specific advising, tutoring, wraparound services, and direct financial support to remove barriers for participants from priority populations. Keep reading to learn more about the impact of TVCC's grant-funded activities, and click here for a complete list of Workforce Ready “Innovation in Workforce Programs” Grant-funded projects.
The following article was developed in collaboration with TVCC.
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Thanks to its Innovation in Healthcare Workforce Programs initiative, TVCC is promoting successful postsecondary educational opportunities in high-need, family wage healthcare professions. TVCC has piloted an innovative approach to addressing labor force expansion specific to the healthcare industry and Southeastern Oregon’s rural community needs, supported by the Workforce Ready Grant. Using a hybrid course model, program-specific advising, tutoring and wraparound services, and direct financial support to remove barriers for participants from vulnerable populations, the programs create positive measurable outcomes and enhance student achievement.
Dr. Dana Young, President at TVCC, highlighted the programs' early record of success, saying, “We’ve already developed connections with our local healthcare partners and other industry employers for available clinical sites for work experience, job training/internship, and employment opportunities. They are at the table with us and are looking to the college to train and graduate more healthcare professionals.”
TVCC’s project specifically targets opportunities for success for historically marginalized and rural community members. The student training and stipend supports, coupled with individualized advising and case management to address student needs, provide a clear pathway for students to begin their journey towards a certificate, credential, or degree, a better job, and an improved lifestyle. Ensuring access for students in the most remote and frontier geographic areas for postsecondary education and training is one of the highlights of the Innovation in Workforce Programs.
One student, a member of the Burns Paiute Tribe, explains the impact that earning the certificate has had on her career: “It was hard for me to travel that distance (over 150 miles) to get my certification. I could not believe the opportunity given to me to complete my degree, and now I am a Certified Nursing Assistant.” Without the hybrid and online model, this student may not have been able to access the program: “The online program gave me an excellent job opportunity, and now I am employed as a Community Health Representative for the Burns Paiute Tribe. This program brings brighter opportunities to the residents here in Burns as we are in big demand of more education for the residents, teachers, students, and others here in rural Harney County.”
Another student, Jamie, reflects, “I have known since I was a little girl that I wanted to help others as a nurse. It just took me a little longer to realize my dream.” Today, Jamie’s dream is a reality. As she puts it, “Thanks to TVCC’s support through the Innovation in Healthcare Workforce Programs, I have been successful in completing my nursing assistant certification and went on to become a registered nurse.”
The Workforce Ready Grant provided Jamie and other students the opportunities to overcome financial barriers to further their education. Speaking to the opportunities provided by the Workforce Ready Grant, President Young shares: “The collaborative effort between TVCC’s Nursing and Allied Healthcare professionals and staff provides opportunities to engage healthcare providers, partners, employers, and other key stakeholders in our community to address our region’s equity gaps and to increase employment and training opportunities for our most vulnerable populations.”
Healthcare Industry Consortium Convenes in Southern Oregon at Rogue Community College (RCC)
This fall, in an effort to broaden the HECC's community engagement, the Future Ready Oregon Industry Consortia are convening their fourth-quarter public meetings at locations across the state. “The HECC is committed to expanding our engagement in all parts of the state, learning from community partners and identifying promising practices that increase opportunities for diverse learners and workers,” Future Ready Oregon Director Jennifer Purcell said. “The opportunity to connect Consortia members to the work of community partners is important to understanding the collective impact of the regional and statewide workforce education and training ecosystem and informing strategies that can be scaled and replicated.”
The Healthcare Industry Consortium convened at RCC’s Table Rock Campus on September 24, 2024. Consortium members and guests heard from a panel of Southern Oregon higher education and employer representatives in the healthcare sector about the partnerships that are critical to the success of a diverse workforce. Panelists included:
- Maxwell Brooks, Education Manager, La Clinica
- Bryan Fix, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Sky Lakes Medical Center
- Dan DeNeui, Associate Provost, Southern Oregon University
- Becky Hultberg (Moderator), CEO, Oregon Hospital Association
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Panelists speak at the Healthcare Industry Consortium meeting on September 24, 2024.
The Consortium also heard from Jensen Strategies, the consulting group that conducted focus groups with employers in the healthcare, manufacturing, and technology industry sectors across the state this summer to better understand their workforce and talent development needs. The focus group findings include the experiences and needs of Oregon’s employers related to workforce planning, training, development, and retention and will inform the Healthcare Consortium’s discussions and recommendations. Jensen Strategies presented preliminary findings and recommendations at this meeting. A full report is expected in October.
RCC President Randy Weber thanked the Consortium members for their efforts to identify gaps and opportunities in developing Oregon’s healthcare workforce. He went on to note that education-employer partnerships, such as those highlighted during the panel presentation, are crucial to meeting the need for healthcare support professional and healthcare practitioners in Southern Oregon.
Consortium members and guests had the opportunity to tour RCC’s Health Professions Center. The Center provides students in the Rogue Valley with access to high-quality training programs and partnerships in the fields of dental assisting, pharmacy technology, medical assisting, phlebotomy, and nursing. David Koehler, RCC Dean of Instruction, Health & Public Services and Healthcare Consortium member, hosted the tour. He observed, “Partnerships are essential to running these programs that connect Southern Oregon students to meaningful employment in healthcare professions.”
Consortium members also welcomed HECC’s new Healthcare Industry Consortium Strategist, Maggie Foree, who comes to the HECC from the private sector, most recently as a team manager, team lead, program manager, and project manager with LinkedIn. Maggie joined the HECC in September and brings significant experience facilitating strategic initiatives for collaborative problem solving, human-centered design, customer experience, improvement and innovation in healthcare, technology, and manufacturing for a variety of companies, including Cambia Health Solutions and Mars Petcare.
Industry Consortia quarterly meetings are open to the public, and meeting agendas, locations, and times will be posted to the Industry Consortia web page. Subscribe to Industry Consortia public meeting notices here.
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Sector-focused Workforce Ready Grants
Notices of Award Anticipated Later This Fall
The application period for the Future Ready Oregon Workforce Ready Grants in Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Technology closed July 31, 2024. Thank you to all our applicants who worked so diligently to develop and submit proposals, and to all our volunteer reviewers for their thoughtful feedback!
The priorities for this competitive funding opportunity were informed by the HECC's Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Technology Industry Consortia. Workforce Ready Grants invest in new and innovative education and training programs that center partnerships and collaboration—programs that approach workforce education and training differently, by identifying barriers to participation, program completion, and career advancement, and providing job-training participants with the supports and wraparound services they need to be successful.
A combined total of approximately $40 million is available for these funding opportunities. The HECC received a strong response, with 184 applications requesting a combined total of approximately $185 million to implement or expand sector-specific education and training programs:
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The HECC received 102 applications for Healthcare Workforce Ready Grants for a combined total request of approximately $95 million. A total of approximately $18 million will be awarded to expand education and training, job placement, retention, and career advancement for nursing career pathways, and education and training programs that address community-identified healthcare workforce priorities, including recruitment and retention initiatives. |
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The HECC received 50 applications for Manufacturing Workforce Ready Grants for a combined total request of approximately $64 million. A total of approximately $12 million will be awarded to fund outreach, career awareness, and career exploration initiatives that intentionally prioritize equitable participation by individuals from priority populations, and earn-and-learn training opportunities that provide compensation for individuals to participate in education that leads to employment. |
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The HECC received 32 applications for Technology Workforce Ready Grants for a combined total request of approximately $26 million. A total of approximately $10 million will be awarded to address transferrable technology skills for career advancement or recruitment, including education and training programs focused on upskilling and retraining adult learners, dislocated workers, and individuals employed in high tech or any other industry, and high-tech career exploration, building awareness of technology occupations and careers. |
The HECC is in the process of evaluating and scoring proposals and anticipates announcing the notices of award later this fall. Look out for details in future issues of Future Ready Oregon Update.
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