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This perhaps is the true secret to building a successful center:
Assemble the right people and provide the leadership required to support their success.
Return on investment: the 5 ‘Rs’ • establishing response times and service standards,
Creating a new revenue stream may be an explicit goal or even • supporting the conditions needed for calculated risk-taking, and
the impetus behind a CCE initiative, but it is only one of several • keeping CCE staf job duties focused on the business.
important benefts a strong center delivers for its institution. Te
value, or currency, a healthy center delivers is fve-fold: Revenue, While these operating parameters must be persistently and
Risk-Taking, Recognition, Relationships, and Responsiveness. collaboratively pursued across centers by the CCE leader and
Te path to proftability actually begins at the end with staf, their rationale and importance must also be articulated
responsiveness, and works backward, with sustained revenue and supported from the top down by the college’s leadership
being the product of success in each other area. team and by the president as champion. According to a recent
National Council on Continuing Education and Training survey,
Responsiveness Barmon et al. (2013) indicate that 94% of leaders of successful
A CCE center allows college and community leaders to CCE centers state they always or sometimes have support from
confdently connect the college with companies despite the top leadership at their college, with some CCE leaders having a
limitations common to a large academic institution. An efective seat on the president’s council.
CCE center is fast, fexible, and empowered by: Relationships
• reserving cash on hand to respond to immediate needs With service and responsiveness that meet employers’
and opportunities without elaborate decision-making or expectations, a trust-based relationship can develop between
authorization processes; industry and the college. Tese relationships become the
• investing in a quality product portfolio that is aligned with backbone of a strong CCE center in the form of repeat customers.
recognized industry credentials; When leveraged intentionally, these relationships can result in
• acquiring institutional support to add staf quickly when support for the “credit side” in the form of student scholarships,
needed - even if the rest of the college happens to be going professional-technical program equipment donations, industry
through budget cuts; advisory committee membership, internship opportunities,
and jobs for graduating students. Tis type of industry support
• hiring the best regional instructional talent at market rates; contributes directly to an academic student’s college experience,
• borrowing incentive practices from the private sector to likelihood of completion, and career success.
assemble and motivate a high performance team; and
• functioning as the central point of contact for employers for the
entire institution.
Not surprisingly, CCE leaders report that they ofen fnd
themselves at odds within an institutional structure that is
designed around quarterly schedules, laden with policies and
procedures, and wary of taking risks. As one leadership author
has noted, “. . . every organization is perfectly aligned to achieve
the results it currently gets” (Heifetz, 2009). If a CCE center is
not reaching its full potential this may be because the system
it operates within is ill-suited for the work the CCE center is
charged with doing.
Te primary challenge of responsiveness, then, is being
institutionally prepared for the CCE center to behave as it One-stop employer resource for workforce development needs
needs to; and the most important aspect of the CCE business
plan is to clearly communicate what the center needs from its Te college succeeds or fails together. Te CCE unit may initiate
institution to function efectively. Te college’s leadership team many training relationships, but the greatest value to an employer
should proactively set unique operating parameters for the is ofen the skilled graduates they hire from a college’s traditional
center when feasible. Some of the parameters to be determined programs. When strong departmental collaboration is fostered
up front include: by college leaders, the synergy and value of the credit and non-
credit sides working together is powerful. Credit programs supply
• negotiating necessary exceptions to standard college practices, a pipeline of skilled graduates for an employer, and a CCE center
• streamlining decision making, provides life-long learning for the same company.
• establishing fexible hiring practices, Recognition
• determining how earnings will be re-invested back into the Te best publicity is not the college’s own marketing eforts, but
CCE center, the community speaking on the college’s behalf. Tis can take
34 LEADERSHIP Vol. 19.3 Winter 2014
Client: The Chair Academy Job: CHAIRAcademy_Journal_19.3
Final size: 8.5” x 11” Colors: CMYK Bleeds: Yes
Created by: Goldfsh Creative • 602.349.2220 • laura@goldfshcreative.net
Assemble the right people and provide the leadership required to support their success.
Return on investment: the 5 ‘Rs’ • establishing response times and service standards,
Creating a new revenue stream may be an explicit goal or even • supporting the conditions needed for calculated risk-taking, and
the impetus behind a CCE initiative, but it is only one of several • keeping CCE staf job duties focused on the business.
important benefts a strong center delivers for its institution. Te
value, or currency, a healthy center delivers is fve-fold: Revenue, While these operating parameters must be persistently and
Risk-Taking, Recognition, Relationships, and Responsiveness. collaboratively pursued across centers by the CCE leader and
Te path to proftability actually begins at the end with staf, their rationale and importance must also be articulated
responsiveness, and works backward, with sustained revenue and supported from the top down by the college’s leadership
being the product of success in each other area. team and by the president as champion. According to a recent
National Council on Continuing Education and Training survey,
Responsiveness Barmon et al. (2013) indicate that 94% of leaders of successful
A CCE center allows college and community leaders to CCE centers state they always or sometimes have support from
confdently connect the college with companies despite the top leadership at their college, with some CCE leaders having a
limitations common to a large academic institution. An efective seat on the president’s council.
CCE center is fast, fexible, and empowered by: Relationships
• reserving cash on hand to respond to immediate needs With service and responsiveness that meet employers’
and opportunities without elaborate decision-making or expectations, a trust-based relationship can develop between
authorization processes; industry and the college. Tese relationships become the
• investing in a quality product portfolio that is aligned with backbone of a strong CCE center in the form of repeat customers.
recognized industry credentials; When leveraged intentionally, these relationships can result in
• acquiring institutional support to add staf quickly when support for the “credit side” in the form of student scholarships,
needed - even if the rest of the college happens to be going professional-technical program equipment donations, industry
through budget cuts; advisory committee membership, internship opportunities,
and jobs for graduating students. Tis type of industry support
• hiring the best regional instructional talent at market rates; contributes directly to an academic student’s college experience,
• borrowing incentive practices from the private sector to likelihood of completion, and career success.
assemble and motivate a high performance team; and
• functioning as the central point of contact for employers for the
entire institution.
Not surprisingly, CCE leaders report that they ofen fnd
themselves at odds within an institutional structure that is
designed around quarterly schedules, laden with policies and
procedures, and wary of taking risks. As one leadership author
has noted, “. . . every organization is perfectly aligned to achieve
the results it currently gets” (Heifetz, 2009). If a CCE center is
not reaching its full potential this may be because the system
it operates within is ill-suited for the work the CCE center is
charged with doing.
Te primary challenge of responsiveness, then, is being
institutionally prepared for the CCE center to behave as it One-stop employer resource for workforce development needs
needs to; and the most important aspect of the CCE business
plan is to clearly communicate what the center needs from its Te college succeeds or fails together. Te CCE unit may initiate
institution to function efectively. Te college’s leadership team many training relationships, but the greatest value to an employer
should proactively set unique operating parameters for the is ofen the skilled graduates they hire from a college’s traditional
center when feasible. Some of the parameters to be determined programs. When strong departmental collaboration is fostered
up front include: by college leaders, the synergy and value of the credit and non-
credit sides working together is powerful. Credit programs supply
• negotiating necessary exceptions to standard college practices, a pipeline of skilled graduates for an employer, and a CCE center
• streamlining decision making, provides life-long learning for the same company.
• establishing fexible hiring practices, Recognition
• determining how earnings will be re-invested back into the Te best publicity is not the college’s own marketing eforts, but
CCE center, the community speaking on the college’s behalf. Tis can take
34 LEADERSHIP Vol. 19.3 Winter 2014
Client: The Chair Academy Job: CHAIRAcademy_Journal_19.3
Final size: 8.5” x 11” Colors: CMYK Bleeds: Yes
Created by: Goldfsh Creative • 602.349.2220 • laura@goldfshcreative.net
