Recommendations

As colleges look to the future, they can use these lessons to sustain and improve quality during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. Although collaboration across colleges in online and simulated learning can be a challenge, its rewards are substantial. Below is a set of recommendations to support that collaborative work:

Encourage collaboration

A new investment should prioritize consortium building and collaboration across colleges. While some TAACCCT grants went to consortia, grants also went to many single institutions. In our research, we have found that the relationships and collaboration fostered through the TAACCCT grants were one of its biggest benefits. For states like Missouri, where there is no community college system, the grant forged relationships and strengthened collaboration in ways that would not have happened organically.

Build on existing work

Future federal investments should also encourage scale and sustainability by prioritizing proposals that build on existing successful online and simulated learning initiatives over proposals that seek to build from scratch. Grants should not limit funding to brand new initiatives and instead reward building on existing efforts.

Invest in online and simulated learning environments

The pandemic has given the federal government an opportunity to support the improved quality and sustainability of collaborative online and simulated learning environments. Future investments in community college capacity should continue to support these initiatives.

Invest in holistic student supports

We know that many students do not succeed in purely online learning environments, and simulation can be less engaging than in-person practicums. To make these experiences effective, we need continued investment in holistic student support services, especially success coaches who guide students from enrollment through job placement. Any federal investment should prioritize making these support services available remotely in conjunction with online and simulated learning.

Figure out funding

Revenue sharing is very important to successful collaborations in online programs and simulation. Failure to agree on the revenue split has spelled the end of more than one collaborative online model. If start-up costs for a program are covered by a grant, colleges and consortiums still must decide who gets what share of the tuition revenue. This can be tricky in models where the student is enrolled at one college but taking courses from another.

Share challenges and solutions

Collaboration and collective problem solving is essential. Whether colleges are looking to improve the innovations they have been forced to adopt during the COVID-19 pandemic, augment their course offerings, generate enough enrollment to make a program sustainable, or meet a workforce need, collaboration can offer the solution. Working with employers to build and sustain simulated learning environments can address challenges both for the employer seeking qualified workers and for the college trying to offer hands-on instruction during a pandemic. It can also strengthen the relationship between the college and the employer.

Build on what works

Once colleges know what their shared challenges are, they should inventory each other's strengths. We have seen that projects that leverage the TAACCCT grants to build on work that was already successful were more likely to persist and be scaled up. There is no need to start something new when good work is already underway.

Define roles clearly

Based on their inventory of strengths, collaborators need to decide the role of each organization in administering shared online or simulated instruction. In the examples we have outlined here, there are many potential models. In one example, the system office took a leadership role. In another, the colleges worked together to administer the program. In still another, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education took on the responsibility of ensuring the consortium functions. The important thing is that roles and responsibilities are outlined clearly, with regular meetings of the governing body to deal with the administrative hurdles that are sure to arise.