Introduction

President’s Community-Based Job Training Grants Community College of Rhode Island Community-Based Job Training Grants AWARD AMOUNT: $1,826,689

AREA SERVED: State of Rhode Island

INDUSTRY: Healthcare

KEY PARTNERS AND LEVERAGED RESOURCES: $1,880,681 in leveraged resources from an employer partner, two workforce partners and an education partner

CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS: The healthcare industry in Rhode Island is experiencing healthcare technical specialties and nursing shortages. The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) is limited in its ability to provide training by barriers to recruitment and retention in targeted programs; a shortage of qualified faculty; and a shortage of clinical sites offering meaningful education experiences. State-level control of institutional facilities and workforce expansion also restricts the college’s ability to expand its health science programs.

ACTIVITIES: The project will strengthen healthcare workforce development by improving student recruitment and retention, providing professional development for nursing and allied health faculty and expanding opportunities for clinical instruction. The project will recruit students from the college’s undeclared student body, Rhode Island high schools, the state’s workforce development system and healthcare institutions, exposing them to the wide range of career opportunities in the industry. CCRI will offer comprehensive academic and student support services especially designed to address the needs of nursing and other health sciences students.

PROJECTED OUTCOMES:

A replicable model of education and training will be developed;
A faculty development model will be developed to strengthen teaching skills;
30 additional secondary school students and first-semester college students will enroll in nursing and health programs;
The rate at which nursing and health students complete their programs within three years will be increased by 90%;
The rate at which graduates of the CCRI’s ADN program pass the national nursing credentialing examination as first time candidates will increase from 80% to 86%;
The rate at which graduates pass credentialing examinations will increase from 70% to 80%; 80% of CCRI’s incumbent teaching and clinical faculty will participate in faculty development activities; and
30 hospital-based nurses at the Master of Science in Nursing level will participate in CCRI’s professional development courses necessary for clinical teaching.

eta EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION Announced October 19, 2005 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR