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Executive Director - Workforce and Economic Development

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<figure><img src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/62658/1684274533-dr-letlow-ulm.png" width="275" height="330" style="float: right; margin-top: 0; padding: 0 10px;" /></figure>
Since its founding in 1931, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ulm.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="">University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM)</a>&nbsp;has grown to&nbsp;serve more than 9,000 current students in more than 40 degree programs. And while the ULM campus is a well-known fixture in northeast Louisiana, local residents haven&rsquo;t always seen a strong connection between the university and their everyday lives.
As an alum and former instructor at ULM, Dr. Julia Letlow knew that the university contributed extensively to the social and economic health of their region. But when she stepped into her role as executive director of external affairs and strategic communications, she needed a way to demonstrate this important contribution to the public. &ldquo;We discovered that our own community doesn&rsquo;t always fully realize who we are and what we do,&rdquo; she says.

<div data-slate-fragment="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"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"><img src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/62658/1684274837-ulm-exec_summary_shot-222x300.png" width="291" height="368" style="float: right; margin-top: 0; padding: 0 10px;" />Dr. Letlow turned to Lightcast's <a rel="noopener" target="_blank" href="https://lightcast.io/solutions/education/economic-impact-study" style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Economic Impact Study</a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"> (EIS) to help her <a href="https://www.ulm.edu/news/2019/economic_update_011819.html#:~:text=A%20recent%20study%20found%20the,in%20Fiscal%20Year%202017%2D2018." target="_blank" rel="noopener">quantify and communicate ULM&rsquo;s story</a>. The EIS is a custom report that measures an institution&rsquo;s impact on the regional economy and calculates the return on investment for three key stakeholder groups: students, taxpayers, and society. <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">To produce the report, Lightcast economists use a rigorous methodology that factors in everything from jobs created by campus construction projects to the combination of better health, higher incomes, and lower crime that is tied to a college-educated population&mdash;all of which, in turn, saves public dollars by reducing the need for taxpayer-funded social services. In ULM&rsquo;s case, after all the data had been compiled, Lightcast determined that the university added $566.8 million to the northeast Louisiana economy during the 2017 &ndash; 2018 fiscal year&mdash;which translates to supporting 10,017 regional jobs. <span style="font-family: inherit; background-color: transparent; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit;">Besides the overall impact, Letlow&rsquo;s team was especially interested in the student spending and alumni impact figures, which help demonstrate the university&rsquo;s value to local businesses. These numbers ($25.7 million and $427 million respectively) illustrate and confirm ULM&rsquo;s importance as a magnet that attracts learners and produces skilled workers who often live (and spend) in northeast Louisiana. ULM president Dr. Nick Bruno was then able to share this information with community leaders through his involvement with the <a rel="noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/ouachitabusinessalliance/" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 0.9375rem; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px;">Ouachita Business Alliance</a><span style="font-family: inherit; background-color: transparent; font-size: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit;"> and other forums.</div>

Education

Bridging the Gap Between Community and University

Economic Impact

<a href="https://www.grcc.edu/about-grcc/news/study-finds-grcc-workforce-programs-generate-millions-dollars-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img title="Exec Summary Shot" src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/62658/1643867587-exec-summary-shot.png" width="435" height="419" style="float: right; margin-top: 0; padding: 0 10px;" /></a>For many community colleges, articulating the full impact of their non-credit workforce development programs is a challenge. While professors and staff may have a wealth of anecdotal evidence, it can be difficult to quantify the big-picture impact with hard numbers and economic data. As a result, public perception is not always aligned with the true value that these programs provide, despite the fact that these programs are often a crucial component of the college&rsquo;s mission alongside more traditional for-credit offerings.
But now, through a research partnership with Lightcast (formerly Emsi), <a href="https://www.grcc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grand Rapids Community College</a> has solid numbers backing up the notion that their non-credit programs are a powerful economic development engine, supplying the critical talent that many local employers are desperately looking for.
Evidence for this comes from an <a href="https://lightcast.io/solutions/education/economic-impact-study" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impact study</a> recently completed for GRCC. Like many community colleges, GRCC serves a diverse mix of credit-seeking and non-credit, workforce development students. In 2017, GRCC worked with Lightcast on a study that focused on the impact of their for-credit programs. After seeing the thorough analysis and findings from that report, the administration wanted to expand that research by assessing their non-credit programs as well.
&ldquo;We realized that there was a large piece of the economic development work we did in this region that we hadn&rsquo;t captured in that initial report,&rdquo; said Lisa Freiburger, vice president for finance and administration at GRCC.

<a href="https://www.grcc.edu/about-grcc/news/study-finds-grcc-workforce-programs-generate-millions-dollars-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/62658/1643922285-grcc-table.png" width="225" height="551" style="float: right; margin-top: 0; padding: 0 10px;" /></a>To do the analysis, Lightcast took an in-depth look at GRCC&rsquo;s certificate programs in business, manufacturing, healthcare, applied technology, and computer information systems (to name a few), as well as the college&rsquo;s short-term job-training partnerships assisting local companies.
One of the biggest hurdles to measuring the effects of non-credit programs is figuring out a measurable proxy for increased human capital&ndash;the skills, knowledge, and experience gained. In academic settings, you count credits. So to obtain a similar quantitative unit, Lightcast's consulting team measured Credit Hour Equivalents (CHE). Each CHE is 15 hours of classroom instruction time per semester, and the average non-credit student at GRCC takes 6.6 over a course of study.
Lightcast estimated the wages of all the graduates of the non-credit programs in the last 30 years, and compared them to those of peers without GRCC training. Different certifications had different outcomes, but the consulting team found that the average value per CHE was $158 in earnings annually.
Lightcast then multiplied all the CHEs earned by students over the past 30 years with the average value of the CHE for that year, and added up the products for total added labor income. In order to avoid inflating the results, Lightcast economists also adjusted for attrition: alumni that may not still be working in Grand Rapids due to migration, retirement, or unemployment. Then the team estimated a counterfactual scenario to figure out how much of that added income would be replaceable if GRCC didn&rsquo;t exist.

<a href="https://www.grcc.edu/about-grcc/news/study-finds-grcc-workforce-programs-generate-millions-dollars-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/62658/1684273573-grcc-tweet-capture-300x300.png" width="308" height="290" style="float: right; margin-top: 0; padding: 0 10px;" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Quantifying the concrete effects of these programs is important both in justifying GRCC&rsquo;s presence and planning for the future, according to Freiburger. &ldquo;We really wanted a measurement process to validate the impact we were having on the community,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;One of our goals is to tell our story to people who wouldn&rsquo;t necessarily take one of our classes, to show that there is value to them in having us here even if they never take a single class.&rdquo;
<div data-slate-fragment="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">
 GRCC is also using the data in discussions with donors, legislators, and potential students. Most importantly, however, the study will help them in their mission of service to Michigan communities.
 &ldquo;We are blessed to be able to work at an institution that does phenomenal things for this community by serving students, serving businesses and just providing a community resource all around,&rdquo; said Freiburger. &ldquo;I think our ability to continue to innovate, to respond to the ever changing needs of our community is huge. We&rsquo;re perfectly positioned.&rdquo; 
 The impact study certainly backs up Freiburger&rsquo;s optimism. And she&rsquo;ll be bringing more than optimism to future meetings with stakeholders. She&rsquo;ll have the hard fact of over $400 million in added value&mdash;a difficult number for even the staunchest pessimist to argue with.
</div>

GRCC Demonstrates Impact of Non-Credit Workforce Development Programs

<img src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/62658/1643920127-dr-lee-236x300.jpg" width="268" height="316" style="float: right; margin-top: 0; padding: 0 10px;" />To answer these questions, Essex partnered with Emsi to conduct a <a href="https://lightcast.io/solutions/education/program-demand-gap-analysis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Program Demand Gap Analysis</a> (PDGA). The PDGA report gave Lee and his team critical insight into their regional labor market and tied that information directly back to their academic programs. Fortunately for Essex, the report indicated that some of the strongest labor market demand was for programs they already offered, such as allied health and engineering technology. For Lee, this data helped clarify trends he had noticed for some time.
&ldquo;The Emsi data backed up what we were seeing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We knew the gap was there. Now we can say how big the gap is.&rdquo;
With hard data demonstrating the relevance of these programs for their local economy, Essex is now ready to tackle one of the underlying causes of the gaps: low enrollment in related programs.

ECC Revamps Programs, Demonstrates Value by Combining Experience and Data

Economic Impact Study

Lightcast is the world's leading authority on job skills, workforce talent, and labor market dynamics, providing expertise that empowers businesses, education providers, and governments to find the skills and talent they need and enables workers to unlock new career opportunities. 