Words Matter Connecting the Language of Higher Education to the Job Market

There’s a basic disconnect between the language employers use to talk about skills and how higher education defines them. This disconnect makes it difficult for students to choose courses that will prepare them for their careers or to explain their qualifications in resumes and job interviews. It also impedes the academy’s assessment of career outcomes and of alignment between curriculum and workforce needs as well as its articulation of marketable skills for legislators, regents, and others.  We will look at ways that universities are leveraging new technologies for mapping courses and programs to job market skills to drive more effective program reviews, faculty engagement, learning pathways, and ultimately smoother transitions between school and work.

Moderator: Matt Sigelman, CEO, Burning Glass

Panelists/Participants: Jamienne Studley, President & CEO of WASC Senior Colleges & Universities Commission; Michael Preston, Executive Director, Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Research Universities; Raymond Blackwood, Vice President of Product Management, Campus Management; Kacey Thorne, Director of Program Architecture, Western Governors University