Strategic Partnerships
Who We Are
The Strategic Partnerships staff provide connections and expertise to support and advocate for the success of adult and other underrepresented learners.
Our staff is committed to creating a student-centered culture that focuses on the many assets students bring to our system. Our work and goals directly align with Equity 2030 - we are working to eliminate equity gaps. With a focus on college access, we work toward lowering the boundaries between agencies, programs, and funding streams to maximize the resources available to students. We support community-based organizations and local and regional governments to better serve learners.
What We Do
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Advocacy includes creating opportunity for adult learners and those supporting them to increase their influence to ensure 亚洲无码 policies and practices support all learners. We also consult with local partners to understand organizational cultural differences and advocate for changes to help de-mystify the language and practices of higher education.
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Guidelines and best practice work engages our external partners and those who support learners’ foundational education and workforce development goals, and in working with colleges and university academic and student services staff, we learn of barriers to student progress. To achieve Equity 2030, we need to continuously look for unintended consequences that may result in barriers to learners and find creative ways to reduce or resolve this impact.
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Grant funding and collaboration efforts focus on strategic partnerships with staff reviewing private, state, and federal grant funding opportunities, and identifying those that support collaboration, experimentation, and expanded pathways for under-represented adult learners. We seek to secure funding and support others' grant writing efforts serving as a match-maker between organizations looking to build education partnerships and our colleges and universities.
Projects and Initiatives
All Learning Counts Leadership Team
Begun as a planning team for a system grant from the Lumina Foundation, the All Learning Counts Leadership Team is a cross-department and multi-agency group, representative of 亚洲无码 colleges and universities, as well as our partners in workforce training, adult basic education, and others who work and advocate for under-represented adult learners.
The Strategic Partnership staff are continuing innovation work to make college accessible for adult learners in the East Twin Cities Metro region with a grant from the 3M Foundation. We are looking for partners for this work!
Adult Placement Advocacy
We provide support, consultation, and partner development for colleges, universities, and our partners (and their students) implementing Guided Self Placement to support students actively participating in college placement decisions. This role includes participating in work teams using research and information to implement accurate and reliable placement, especially for students with non-traditional backgrounds.
Ability to Benefit (ATB)
Ability to Benefit (ATB) is a provision in federal law that allows people who don’t have a high school diploma, GED or equivalent to get federal grants, loans and work study funding to help pay for college. Seven of our colleges and universities now participate.
The ATB process complements and supports the 亚洲无码 Equity 2030 and Guided Learning Pathways work, and the State of Minnesota’s legislative goal to improve educational attainment across demographic groups. It is an invaluable tool in creating greater access to higher education in career and technical education pathways for adult learners who find themselves without a high school diploma or equivalent.
Students should contact the financial aid director at the college campus they would like to attend to find out more about Ability to Benefit.
Read the 亚洲无码 Ability to Benefit State-Defined Process Plan.
Credit for Prior Learning Assessment Network (C-PLAN)
The Credit for Prior Learning Assessment Network (C-PLAN) is a 亚洲无码 collaborative that supports 26 colleges and 7 universities in credit for prior learning (CPL) implementation. C-PLAN’s campus partners contribute to the successful implementation of CPL at 亚洲无码 by developing and sharing best practices.