10 Questions about your Prof-Tech Program

Below are 10 questions that could spark program improvement. These were derived from an on-going series of external assessments for Prof-Tech programs in which a futures-approach was used to align efforts with desired state outcomes. 

To help these questions be applicable, each is presented in three lenses: 

a. What to look for 
b. Why it's important 
c. Possible action(s)

1. Are enterprise approaches being used effectively in your Prof-Tech programs?
   1. Assess if the college is implementing enterprise strategies like program navigators, recruitment, work-based learning, marketing, management of Advisory Committees, strategic planning, data collection, etc
   2. Enterprise strategies are essential for the efficient and successful running of many college functions, but not all.  Some functions in Prof-Tech programs need nuanced or contextualized approaches.
   3. Where not already in place, consider implementing enterprise strategies to improve operational efficiency. Where enterprise approaches are used, consider if alternative (idiosyncratic)  approaches would be more appropriate and effective. 
2. Is the expertise of your Prof-Tech faculty and staff being fully used and applied to achieve program and college goals?
   1. Evaluate the level of program-specific knowledge and understanding among faculty members.
   2. Faculty knowledge and understanding are invaluable assets that can significantly enhance marketing, outreach, and engagement efforts.
   3. Work on integrating faculty expertise into marketing and outreach efforts. This can be achieved through workshops, collaborative projects, and regular communication.
3. Does your Prof-Tech program actively and meaningfully engage former students?
   1. Review the college's engagement with former students and the tracking of their career progress.
   2. Regular engagement with alumni can provide invaluable insights, feedback, and opportunities that are difficult to source elsewhere.
   3. Develop a robust alumni tracking and engagement system. This could involve regular surveys, alumni events, and a dedicated alumni relations team.
4. How could institutional flexibility enable your Prof-Tech programs to excel?
   1. Determine if institutional rigidity is hindering innovation and motivation of Prof-Tech programs.
   2. A flexible institution fosters a culture of continuous improvement and maintains higher levels of motivation among program faculty and staff.
   3. Work on reducing institutional rigidity. Encourage innovation and creativity, and promote a culture of openness, responsiveness, and adaptability.
5. Are your Prof-Tech Advisory Committees optimally utilized to benefit the participating members, the program’s elements, program students, faculty, and aligned workforce?
   1. Review the accomplishments, current efforts, and action plans of each committee to determine if impact can be refined, deepened or refocused.
   2. A well designed and managed Advisory Committee can significantly benefit a Prof-Tech program’s curriculum, instructional design, enrollment outreach, work-based learning opportunities, professional development for faculty, and community engagement.
   3. Recruit industry employers who have, can, and will hire qualified program students, focus committee on clear and achievable actions to benefit the program, and understand and deliver value to committee members.
6. How aware of and involved in enrollment management are the personnel of each Prof-Tech program?
   1. Assess the current enrollment numbers and the concerns of program personnel about their ability to address the issue.
   2. Maintaining healthy enrollment numbers is crucial for the sustainability of the programs.
   3. Encourage program personnel to think of their program as a vendor of goods/services and to set achievable enrollment goals.
7. Are your Prof-Tech programs reaching prospective students with compelling messages that align with their career goals?
   1. Evaluate the effectiveness and utilization of program webpages and social media platforms.
   2. Effective marketing can significantly boost program visibility and enrollment. Potential Prof-Tech students most often have employment and career advancement as their primary enrollment goal. 
   3. Improve program webpages and utilize social media for marketing. Consider focusing marketing on specific programs or pathways.
8. Do your Prof-Tech programs reach out and engage already-motivated prospective students, priority communities for enrollment goals, community partners, and likely employers of program graduates? 
   1. Identify the goals, audience, strategy, and assessments of each Prof-Tech program’s outreach and engagement efforts.
   2. These efforts help build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, including prospective students, former students, employers, community partners, and institutional stakeholders.
   3. Define clear goals and adequately-resourced strategies for outreach and engagement, and conduct periodic assessments for course corrections.
9. Are current and former Prof-Tech students finding employment in their aligned field, are they progressing in their careers over time, how do you know, how accurate and current is your data, and what do you do with it?
   1. Determine if your Prof-Tech programs have effective ways to track student employment data and assess how this data is being utilized to benefit the program.
   2. Tracking student employment data can help improve program design and demonstrate value to prospective students and industry partners.
   3. Develop ways to track student employment data and provide tools to utilize this data to help improve program design and recruitment efforts.
10. How do your Prof-Tech programs regularly collect and apply valuable student insights on program quality and impact? 
    1. Evaluate the response rates, effectiveness, and quality of responses from efforts to collect, analyze, and apply student insights.
    2. These surveys provide valuable feedback and insights for program improvement.
    3. Improve the implementation of student surveys to increase response rates. Consider collecting some data through course-level activities, social media, or exit interviews.