A related and concurrent CSC project, Innovative Approaches and Promising Directions, confirmed that a considerable amount of information sharing and educating must take place to promote the integration of Academic Upgrading, Job Connect and Pre-Apprenticeship/Apprenticeship programming for the benefit of students seeking to improve their employment opportunities. This conclusion was drawn from focus groups held with Academic Upgrading program managers, front line deliverers3 and students from all 24 colleges at 35 program delivery locations.
The project found that internal structures were formed in a minority of colleges where senior management recognized the need to form closer linkages. Most coordination and integration of Academic Upgrading and Job Connect, however, appears to depend more on personal relationships than on strategic planning. Colleges like Durham, Confederation, Mohawk, and Fanshawe, for example, where both programs share the same manager showed a high degree of integration and client sharing. At other colleges like Sault where the Job Connect manager has experience with Academic Upgrading, the relationship has been on-going. At Niagara, the Skills Training Council meets once a month to address issues of mutual concern to Academic Upgrading, Job Connect and Pre-Apprenticeship. For colleges like Canadore, George Brown and Algonquin that do not deliver Job Connect, establishing linkages with community deliverers will be more challenging.
The project concluded that Academic Upgrading can address the academic needs of Job Connect clients, especially those who do not have an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Job Connect, for its part, can assist all Academic Upgrading students with employment goals through their Resource Centres, Employment Preparation Programming and Job Development component. In fact, this is already happening at both Confederation and Mohawk.
Generally, the relationship between Academic Upgrading and Pre-Apprenticeship and Apprenticeship programs has not received the same attention as the relationship between Academic Upgrading and postsecondary programs, since traditionally fewer students have opted for trades-orientated goals. The project identified two significant external barriers to integration:
3 Unless stated otherwise, the term “front line deliverers” is used in the report to refer to the individuals who do one or more of the following: teach, provide administrative support, advise students, and conduct assessment and follow-up in Academic Upgrading programs.