03/27/2023
Citizens, Education Design Lab and Bunker Hill Community College Bring Innovative Micro-pathway Opportunity to Boston
“Foundations of IT Support” Program Made Possible by Citizens Community College Accelerator
BOSTON (March 27, 2023) – Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) announced today the launch of its “Foundations of IT Support” program, the first of two innovative “micro-pathway” opportunities made possible by the Citizens Community College Accelerator. The program will put the necessary infrastructure in place to ensure access to opportunity for learners, access to skilled, diverse talent for local employers, and will demonstrate to the nation a powerful education/employer partnership model for scale.
“The need for workforce development is very tangible right now, and it’s critical that we work across the private, public and nonprofit sectors to get this right,” said Lisa Murray, President, Massachusetts, Citizens. “That’s why Citizens invests in community colleges like BHCC to accelerate the development of locally relevant and inclusive mobility pathways in high-growth sectors to drive strong employment outcomes for students, as well as provide local businesses with the talent they need.”
Citizens has partnered with Education Design Lab, a nonprofit that co-designs, tests, and builds new education models that address the rapidly changing economy, to bring the Citizens Community College Accelerator to two local community colleges in Citizens’ footprint: Bunker Hill Community College, and Community College of Philadelphia. The Citizens Community College Accelerator was created in partnership with the Lab’s Community College Growth Engine.
The initiative engages these community colleges and local employers with the goal of driving strong employment outcomes for underrepresented students. Each community college partner helps to determine two local micro-pathway opportunities that will help students obtain careers in high-growth sectors and thrive in the local economy.
"Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not,” said Dr. Lisa Larson, Head of the Community College Growth Engine. “The Lab’s partnership with BHCC and CCP along with Citizens to design and launch micro-pathways for those who have not had the opportunity to gain skills and improve economic mobility is a step toward better outcomes and transformation for our colleges, employers, and communities. There has never been a more pressing moment for community colleges and industry partners to collaborate on workforce development initiatives like this one. So far, we’ve seen firsthand how our micro-pathways model and design process can serve as a gateway to community college transformation.”
The Foundations of IT Support program is geared towards students interested in entering the high-growth career of an IT Support Specialist. The hybrid program was built with flexibility in mind, co-designed with adult learners, and validated by area employers and content experts in the field of IT Support. Upon completion, students will hold the industry-recognized certifications required for the role of IT Support Specialist. It is designed to be digitally discoverable as well as stackable to a degree. Students develop an ePortfolio to share with potential employers and will have the opportunity to receive course credit.
“Creating and implementing this certificate was a collaborative process between the stakeholders with both student and employer input and that’s what makes this truly innovative,” said BHCC Dean of Workforce and Economic Development Kristen McKenna. “It will transform the way employers can obtain well-trained applicants and provide economic mobility for students. Perhaps most importantly, it demonstrates the power community colleges have not only to provide access to higher education for all, but to uplift and transform the workforce of communities and regions we serve.”
Bunker Hill Community College plans to launch its next micro-pathways in Cybersecurity and Cloud Computing in the Fall of 2023.
More information on the Foundations of IT Support can be found at https://www.bhcc.edu/workforce/career/foundationsofitsupport/
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About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $226.7 billion in assets as of December 31, 2022. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Citizens helps its customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a full-service customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,400 ATMs and approximately 1,100 branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.
About Education Design Lab
The Lab is a national nonprofit that co-designs, prototypes, and tests education-to-workforce models through a human-centered design process focused on understanding learners’ experiences, addressing equity gaps in higher education, and connecting new majority learners to economic mobility. The Community College Growth Engine, led by Dr. Lisa Larson, is a design accelerator set up just before the pandemic to help community colleges lean into a future role as regional talent agents. Learn more at www.eddesignlab.org or join our Innovator Network on LinkedIn , Twitter or with our email newsletter.
About Bunker Hill Community College
Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts, enrolling approximately 16,000 students annually. BHCC has two campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, and a number of other locations throughout the Greater Boston area. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Sixty-five percent of the students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls nearly 600 international students who come from 94 countries and speak more than 75 languages.
