[00:00:03] University of Phoenix was all about addressing the needs of working adults.  The school is built around the working learner.  So we think about all the pressure, the conflicts, the opportunities.  Today, we're building a brand new learning platform.  We're building exciting technologies to help students learn, such as adaptive learning.  So, we are thinking all the time about how technologies translate into, certainly the education, but then the workplace. [00:00:30]

[00:00:30] Employees will benefit from our degrees because they’re from a regionally accredited institution which is the gold standard for all academic institutions.  Those degrees prepare students to understand how to do research, how to work on projects, how to collaborate on projects as they do in the real world.  So they take that classroom experience, and they take it forward into the workplace almost immediately.  [00:00:58]

[00:00:58] One key component of accreditation is that in order to operate in a state and offer programs for K-12 educators, you have to be accredited by the state.  There’s another level that’s national accreditation and, in most states. that’s voluntary.  We’re choosing to do that.  We want to be recognized as a leader in the field of education.  We believe we are a leader. [00:01:16]

[00:01:17] Programmatic accreditation is a quality assurance for a company sponsoring their employees in a program.  We’ve chosen ACBSP to be our programmatic accreditor because they focus on teaching, quality teaching and the student learning experience as a hallmark of their accreditation standards. [00:01:39]

[00:01:40] Competency mapping is very important for institutions.  One of the things I’m striving for is to work with our industries and say, what is it that you need our graduates to look like?  What is it that you—what competencies do you need them to have?  How can we embed some of those competencies and skills in our training right now so that when—at the end of the day when they go out to work, there is less of those competencies you have to address? [00:02:04]

[00:02:05] We allow the organization to actually develop, for example, a virtual organization that is reflective of their own industry.  When students go in and solve problems that they might pose for us, then they would know that they’re being solved in an environment that has realistic data in it.  For example, we work with the Manufacturing Institute to make sure that our programs are aligned with the competencies that they’ve developed and have been endorsed by all of their membership. [00:02:36]

[00:02:37] Working learners can apply information they received from their courses almost immediately because they’re learning from practitioner faculty.  People like myself who have been in business for a long time know what kind of things employers are looking for so they can understand what they’re learning in class applies to the business and how to solve problems. [00:03:01]

[00:03:19] There’s so many great opportunities because education impacts every field.  Everybody has a piece of making sure that that’s going to better our world for the next generation. [00:03:28]

[00:03:29] The benefits for industry is clear.  Our students have experience with technology.  They have experience with all different types of learning models and learning styles.  We've built the entire school around the working learner.  Our classroom experience, the services that we provide them are all geared toward the working learner.  That means an employee is going to have a very positive experience, is going to come out energized and excited about what they've learned, as well as their career. [00:04:00]