Page 78 - Innovation Delaware 2018

EDUCATION/RESEARCH
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Q&A DR. JAMES D. WILSON JR.
Wilmington University
For years, educators have stressed the importance of earning
a college degree, but a big buzzword in many academic circles today is “certificates,” which use a laser-like focus to acquire new skills. Wilmington University offers about 80 different certificate programs. The university’s certificate programs are extremely subject-specific, resulting in highly specialized professionals who are qualified for positions that employers may otherwise find
it challenging to fill. Dr. James D. Wilson Jr., vice president for academic affairs, elaborates on their significance.
Q: How does a certificate differ from a degree?
DR. JAMES D. WILSON JR.: A bachelor’s degree requires 120 or more credit hours. A certificate program is five courses, the equivalent of 15 credits.
Q: Why are certificate programs popular?
JW: People are looking for micro-credentials. An employer might want you to have training in a specific area, but you don’t need an entire degree. It’s a response to changes in the job market and to the needs of students who want to advance their careers. People want to add to their knowledge, and to do it in a very focused way.
Q: Can you provide an example of how a certificate made one of your students more attractive to an employer?
JW: The Human Resource Management certificate is one of our most popular certificates because it provides focused skills
in HR planning, employee labor relations, and training and development. Tammy Brewer added this certificate as part of her completed bachelor’s degree while she was in job transition. She had little to no prior experience in human resources but found her calling. . . . I’m happy to report that she recently accepted the position of recruitment manager for Goodwill Staffing Service at Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware County.
Q: At what academic level are certificate programs offered?
JW: They are offered at all levels. A person with very little college experience could take something like health information technology. At the other end, we offer a couple of certificates
at the doctoral or post-doctoral level. You can even earn a certificate while studying for a bachelor’s degree. ID
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Q&A
will also employ about 70 high school students, giving them
CL: It was incubated through the Delaware office of Teach For America and became an independent program three years ago with partnerships at four community centers. This summer, we will serve about 3,000 students, kindergarten through eighth grade, statewide at nearly 20 community-based sites. We
CATHERINE LINDROTH
The Summer Learning Collaborative
Educators have known about summer learning loss for years, but Catherine Lindroth, part of a new generation of Delaware education visionaries, developed a way to do something about it. She
founded The Summer Learning Collaborative, a nonprofit funded by local foundations and businesses that develops and provides educational programming to enhance the traditional summer camp experience for low-income and minority youth.
Q: What is summer learning loss?
CATHERINE LINDROTH: It’s a phenomenon where students lose academic and developmental learning between spring and fall. You can see the loss in reading and math assessments. It is especially severe for low-income children.
Q: How did The Summer Learning Collaborative get started and how many children is it reaching now?
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meaningful work experiences.
Q: How does the Collaborative enhance summer camps?
CL: In a traditional summer camp, you see kids having fun, with some structured activities, some sports, arts and crafts, maybe a science experiment. For two hours a day throughout the summer, the Collab provides fun and engaging challenges, delivered by trained staff members, to help kids develop their confidence to solve problems. The programs are targeted to help children come out of the summer making significant gains in areas that they’ll need to improve when they return to school.
Q: What are your results?
CL: For 2017, 86 percent of our students showed no summer learning loss, 66 percent of them improved their academic performance, and 40 percent showed gains of three months or more. And we did it at a cost of only $411 per child. ID