Accelerated education and skills training - certificates

(1) (a) The board may collaborate with the local district colleges, area technical colleges, the unit within the department of education that works with adult education, and local workforce development programs to design certificate programs through which an eligible adult who has an insufficient level of information or math literacy may obtain a career and technical education certificate on an accelerated schedule to assist him or her in entering or re-entering the workforce or in obtaining better employment. Each certificate program must consist of courses that integrate information and math literacy development programs with career and technical training. The time required to complete a certificate program must not exceed twelve months. (b) The board shall work with the community colleges, local district colleges, and area technical colleges to design the career and technical training portion of each certificate program. (c) The board is encouraged to collaborate with and may enter into memorandums of understanding with local district colleges, area technical colleges, the unit within the department of education that works with adult education, local workforce development programs, and other local adult education providers to ensure that the accelerated certificates program can be implemented locally. (2) In implementing the accelerated certificates program, the board must ensure that, at a minimum, the program: (a) Is available to eligible adults who are seeking to enter or re-enter the workforce or obtain better employment and who may benefit from information or math literacy development programs, as indicated by their scores on the developmental education assessments in English and mathematics adopted by the commission pursuant to section 23-1-113.3 or by a referral from a local adult education program or a local workforce development program; (b) Includes only career and technical certificate programs that a student can complete within twelve months; and (c) Requires that each course offered through the certificate programs integrates appropriate information or math literacy instruction and career and technical skills training and is jointly designed by mathematics, English, and career and technical education faculty. (3) (a) A community college in the state system of community and technical colleges, a local district college, and an area technical college may choose to participate in the accelerated certificates program by offering one or more of the certificate programs created through the accelerated certificates program pursuant to subsection (1) of this section. (b) An institution or program that participates in the accelerated certificates program shall, on or before July 1, 2014, and on or before July 1 each year thereafter in which the institution or program participates in the accelerated certificates program, submit to the department of higher education a report that includes the following information: (I) The certificate programs that the institution or program offered; (II) The number of students who enrolled in each certificate program; (III) The number of students who successfully completed each certificate program; and (IV) The percentage of students who obtained employment in the subject area in which they obtained a certificate or who enrolled for additional education in that subject area.