1.
Paul LeBlanc
President, Southern New Hampshire University

2.
College for America
2
A new approach to college for a new American
workforce: accessible, affordable, relevant.
http://bloom.bg/Wfahdg

3.
• Private, non-profit, fully accredited institution
• #12 Fast Company’s The World’s Most Innovative
Companies List
• Tier 1 Regional in US News and World Report
• Largest nonprofit provider of online higher education in New
England and 4th largest in U.S.
3
Southern New Hampshire University

4.
• The high cost and price of higher education to students and
employers…
• Access to higher education for tens of millions of workers…
• Low rates of persistence leading to completion once
students do enroll…
• Misalignment between what colleges teach and what
employers say they need…
• Lack of clear evidence about what college graduates can
actually do…
4
The Five Challenges…

5.
5
Current State How We Changed
• Time Fixed, Learning
Undefined
• Faculty Centered
• Expert Teaching Model
• High Cost/Price
• Transcript Black Box
• “Big Chunk” Courses
• Learners come to
Institution
• Time Variable, Learning
Defined
• Student Centered
• Mentor Model
• Drive costs out of model
• Proof of Learning
• Granular Competencies
• Learning comes to
Students

6.
• First 500 students are enrolled
• Associates Degree in General Studies/Business
emphasis
– Low Cost: $2,500/year, all-inclusive
– Online and Employer Supported
– Flexible: Self-Paced and Self-Directed
– Organized around 120 competencies, not
courses
– Mastery: no grades/seat time
6
Where We Are

7.
Foundational Skills
Communication Skills
Critical & Creative Thinking
Quantitative Skills
Digital Fluency & Information Literacy
Personal and Social Skills
Personal Effectiveness
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Teamwork and Collaboration
Content Knowledge
Business Essentials
Science, Society & Culture
7
Competency Clusters

8.
• Humans where they matter most
• Bring learning to where people work and live
• Automated workflows with coaches, evaluators, help desk
• Lots of data collected about each student’s learning
• User interface shows progress, pace and community
– Dashboard of task & competency achievement
– Certificates and micro-credentials
– Chat, discussion boards
8
Personalized Learning at Scale

9.
• Employer Partners
– Most offer some tuition assistance
– Some have payroll deduction, loans, or direct billing
• $1,250/six month term or $2,500/year
• All-You-Can-Learn
• Title IV Financial Aid Approval – Making History in Higher
Ed
• Account Manager for each partner for support
9
How CfA Works

10.
10
Employer Partners

11.
A.A. in General Studies
• Online
• Self-paced
• Low-cost
• Competency-based
– Organized around 120 competencies
– No traditional courses
12

12.
What do we mean by a “Competency”?
• “Can do” statement representing observable and measurable behavior
• Claim we would like to make about what a student knows and can do
• Examples:
 Can negotiate with others to resolve conflicts and settle disputes
 Can work with others to accomplish a task
 Can speak effectively in order to persuade or motivate
 Can define and use marketing terminology and concepts
 Can generate a variety of approaches to addressing a problem
 Can distinguish fact from opinion
 Can convey information by creating charts and graphs
 Can recognize and articulate the ethical and moral implications of an issue
 Can support interpretations and analyses of literary texts with textual
evidence
 Can represent practical problems as mathematical expressions
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13.
How do we assess mastery?
• Assessment at the core of College for America program
• Students demonstrate mastery of competencies by
completing Tasks
• Project-based learning
• Authentic, engaging and relevant
• 3 Different Levels
• Students can revise and resubmit until they demonstrate
mastery
• Students will also take third-party, nationally normed
assessments
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14.
CfA Competency Framework
Builds on Lumina Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP)
INTELLECTUAL SKILLS CIVIC LEARNING APPLIED LEARNING SPECIALIZED
KNOWLEDGE
BROAD, INTEGRATIVE
KNOWLEDGE
FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS PERSONAL AND SOCIAL SKILLS CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
COMM. SKILLS CRITICAL
AND
CREATIVE
THINKING
DIGITAL
FLUENCY
AND INFO.
LITERACY
QUANT.
SKILLS
PERSONAL
EFFECTIVENESS
ETHICS AND
SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILIT
Y
TEAMWORK AND
COLLABORATION
[INTEGRATION AND
REFLECTION
EMBEDDED IN TASKS]
ELECTIVE
(BUSINESS
ESSENTIALS)
SCIENCE, SOCIETY
AND CULTURE
DQP Categories
COMM. SKILLS CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING PERSONAL AND SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY
COLLABORATION INTEGRATION,
APPLICATION AND
REFLECTION
KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN CULTURES AND
THE PHYSICAL AND NATURAL WORLD
SNHU General Education Goals
CfA Competency Clusters
CfA Mastery Triad
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15.
Task Families -> Tasks
Task Family
5-8 Competencies
Level 1 Task(s)
1-2 Competencies
Level 2 Task(s)
3-4 Competencies
Level 3 Task
5-8 Competencies
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16.
Task “Package”
• Each Task comes complete with:
• Overview
• Instructions
• Resources
• Task
• Skill-Building
• Rubric
• Additional Guidance for Evaluator
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17.
Sample Level 1 Task
Demonstrates Mastery of 1-2 Competencies
CRITERIA YES NOT YET
Relevant information from the business
document has been identified and
entered into spreadsheet
Figures have been entered accurately
into the spreadsheet
Spreadsheet includes correct formulas
All calculations are correct
COMPETENCIES
• Can use a spreadsheet to perform a variety of
calculations
• Can locate and use information in basic business
documents, such as manuals and reports
OVERVIEW
For this task, you will locate information in a business report
and transfer it into a spreadsheet. Then you will use the
spreadsheet to perform calculations. But you will need to be
careful – some of the information is missing from the
spreadsheet and some of the calculations are inaccurate.
DIRECTIONS
You are a new employee at Johnson Landscaping Contractors
and Laura, the office manager, needs your help. Barry, the
person who had your job before you, quit suddenly – right in
the middle of putting together an Excel spreadsheet. Laura
would like you to check Barry’s work and complete the
spreadsheet he started. You will find the relevant and correct
information in the Quarterly Comparison Report. Be sure to
look at all the tabs in the spreadsheet.
RUBRIC
Multiple criteria
Binary
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18.
Sample Level 2 Task (for Team)
Demonstrates Mastery of 3-4 Competencies
COMPETENCIES
• Can plan and organize work, including setting and meeting deadlines
• Can negotiate with others to resolve conflicts and settle disputes
• Can provide constructive criticism on peer writing
OVERVIEW
In work (and in life), getting things accomplished usually takes collaboration, planning,
and being able to resolve conflicts. For this Task, mastering these skills is a matter of life
and death – you and your team have been stranded on the top of a mountain and your
only way to survive will be to work together.
DIRECTIONS
Uh, oh. Shortly after you and your team successfully made it to the top of Mount Rubric,
heavy wind and rain weather set in, stranding you on the top of the mountain. No rescue
party will be able to get to you for at least two weeks. Fortunately, if you share your
resources and plan well, you will have enough supplies to keep you going for one week.
In another stroke of good luck, an eccentric billionaire has heard of your situation and
agreed to consider one written request for three additional supplies (in ranked order of
importance), which he will then airlift to you within 48 hours of receiving the request.
Choose your items from the provided list.
As a team, you need to decide how you will use the items you have and what additional
items you will ask for. You also need to create a schedule for surviving on the mountain
and for drafting and reviewing the written requests. By the way, the billionaire is a
stickler for clear, well-edited writing and has been known to turn down similar requests
on the grounds that the request was not carefully edited and proofread. See Rules
before starting the Task.
CRITERIA YES NOT YET
Team schedule shows planning and
organization
Individual “field notes” show that team member
negotiated to resolve conflicts and settle
disputes
Individual request and final request to billionaire
are clear, persuasive and without significant
errors in spelling and punctuation
Feedback on another team member’s request is
thoughtful, specific and helpful, including
constructive criticism
1. Draft of your original request to billionaire
2. Final team request to billionaire
3. Feedback to another team member on his/her request to billionaire
4. Members of team and what role each played
5. Schedule for sharing and distributing supplies and editing and sending request to
billionaire
6. “Field notes” (Reflections on teamwork experience – 1-2 paragraphs)
DELIVERABLES
RUBRIC
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19.
Sample Level 3 task
Demonstrates Mastery of Multiple Competencies
COMPETENCIES
• Can use logic, reasoning and analysis to address a basic business problem
• Can write a business memo
• Can use a spreadsheet to perform calculations
• Can synthesize material from multiple sources
• Can evaluate information and its sources critically
OVERVIEW
For this task, you will use your critical thinking skills to weigh two options and
recommend one. You will summarize your thinking in a formal memo.
DIRECTIONS
Your boss has asked you to write a formal memo evaluating two potential vendors for a
new vending machine for the employee lounge. Recommend one vendor to your boss
and justify your reasoning. Read and analyze the relevant material and perform any
necessary calculations. Use correct spelling and grammar and spellcheck your work
before submitting it.
RESOURCES
Proposals from the potential vendors, as well as advertising brochures and the results of
an employee opinion survey, are here. Resources to help you with writing business
memos and using spreadsheets are here.
Criteria YES NOT YET
Calculations are accurate
Tone and word choice are appropriate for audience
Options are effectively compared and contrasted
Writing is clear and easy to understand
Writing contains few or no errors in spelling
punctuation
Sentences and paragraphs are connected logically
Sounds reasoning is used to analyze problem and offer
solution
Reasoning is supported by evidence
Uses only relevant information
Distinguishes between fact and opinion
RUBRIC
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20.
Who evaluates the Tasks?
• Part-time Evaluators
• All have college-level teaching experience
• Most have experience teaching online and working with “non-traditional” students
• All have experience using rubrics
• 9 have advanced degrees
• 3 doctorates
• 6 master’s degrees
• 1 specialist in constructed response scoring
• Training
• Background on competency based education and CfA model
• Task-specific
• As-needed
• Continual supervision
• Evaluators have access to both content-specific and tech help
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21.
Student Support: Surround Sound
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22.
Goal Setting, Planning, and Pace
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23.
Snap Shot of Student Learning Activity
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24.
And, backend, reporting….
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25.
• Keep Costs Down
– $12.00 per student per year
• Become Frictionless
– Fewer Systems and Applications
• Rapid Development
– Platform has covered common problems.
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• Keep Costs Down
– $12.00 per student per year
• Become Frictionless
– Fewer Systems and Applications
• Rapid Development
– Platform has covered common problems.

26.
Workforce Development Challenges
• Ensure connection to the workforce
– Competencies have value to the worker and industry
• Focus on industries and occupations that provide on-
ramps to a career
– Portable within a company
– Across occupations and industries
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27.
Workforce Solutions
• Conduct labor market analysis
– Identify appropriate industries of focus and occupations within
those industries
• Target employers in the identified industries
– Explore competencies and understand employer interest
• Understand competencies and integrate into CfA
offerings
– Analyze job families to fully understand competencies required to
enter and advance in the occupational areas
– Determine ways to weave competencies into more industry-
focused degrees
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28.
QUESTIONS?