The QA Commons is mindful of the dramatic and transformational impact COVID-19 is having on all institutions of higher education. As an organization, we are adapting our services to support preparing graduates for the workplace that is now changing more precipitously than ever.
The QA Commons welcomes inquiries from interested institutions and systems interested in working with the QA Commons’ employability framework.
Submission of a portfolio of evidence is the paramount activity in the QA Commons’ process. Portfolios are scored by experienced, independent reviewers, trained by the QA Commons, with feedback reports provided. The EEQ CERT process provides programs with feedback for improving their programs, whether they achieve the standard for certification or not. For those achieving certification, it is confirmation that they are equipping their students with employability qualities for life. Certified programs gain the right to use the certification to attract more students and employers to their program. They are featured on the QA Commons website. They may request notifications by the QA Commons to employers and other key stakeholders, may use the EEQ CERT logo on their website and materials, and may be included in media releases by the QA Commons upon certification.
Click HERE to see our Certified Programs.
In a project that began in 2022, QA Commons is partnering with the Missouri Department of Corrections on an employability initiative with the goal of reducing recidivism through gainful Employment. Using its Employability Framework, QA Commons is training and certifying MDOC’s Employment Transition Specialist and Reentry Coordinators as well as updating MDOC’s employability curriculum that is delivered to its incarcerated population.
QA Commons is serving as the third-party evaluator for the SEMI Foundation’s Career and Apprenticeship Network (SCAN), a new Registered Apprenticeship program for the microelectronics industry. The SCAN model provides the foundational and specialized skills needed for microelectronics employment, namely entry-level technicians, operators, and other professionals. To implement SCAN, the SEMI Foundation has received a grant commitment from the Michigan Strategic Fund.
QA Commons is serving as the third-party evaluator for the SEMI Foundation’s Career and Apprenticeship Network (SCAN), a new Registered Apprenticeship program for the microelectronics industry. The SCAN model provides the foundational and specialized skills needed for microelectronics employment, namely entry-level technicians, operators, and other professionals. To implement SCAN, the SEMI Foundation has received a grant commitment from the Michigan Strategic Fund.
QA Commons is pleased to serve as a third-party evaluator for the Pennsylvania State System for Higher Education (PASSHE)’s #Prepared4PA project. Through a contract with the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), QA Commons is evaluating the project’s pilot programs offering innovative programs and opportunities that prepare students for successful lives and careers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Sponsored by the PASSHE Foundation, the initiative enables PASSHE to build a robust talent pipeline and develop industry-education-workforce collaboratives that encourage alignment and connections within the workforce ecosystem. #Prepared4PA is meaningfully linking education and industry by strengthening university partnerships with businesses and industries, supporting our current and future workforce.
In 2023, select DEAC-accredited schools are engaging in QA Commons’ Employability Exploration. Through this exercise, faculty, staff, and instructors “explore” student employability through survey responses and a corresponding report on strengths and areas for opportunity.
In partnership with the Gardner Institute in 2023, QA Commons is exploring how postsecondary institutions can best gain faculty and staff support for the emerging focus on post-completion outcomes.
With an institution-wide commitment to demonstrating the employability of graduates through third-party review, programs from each of the university’s academic colleges are participating in the Essential Employability Qualities Certification (EEQ CERT) process in 2021. Those colleges are the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, the Hutson School of Agriculture, the Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business, the College of Education and Human Services, and the School of Nursing and Health Professions.
Commencing in early 2020, the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities (CSCU) will execute a partnership with The QA Commons to undertake an initial, self-assessment, phase of EEQ Certification. CSCU will use this rigorous process to build program and institutional capacity to assure the quality of credentials from an employability perspective.
27 programs from nine Connecticut colleges and universities will participate and will include both liberal arts and workforce-type disciplines. The knowledge gained from the self-assessment will contribute to the System’s building a new program review process, with thoughtful and relevant student learning outcomes as the principal element.
In 2018 the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education (CPE) and the QA Commons teamed up to work on a statewide employability initiative. A leader in this area, Kentucky was the first state in the nation to have programs achieve EEQ Certification. Check out the video to hear Aaron Thompson, President of the CPE, share his views on the impact of our collaboration.
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