Workforce Development
Southwestern College partners with employers, economic development agencies, community-based organizations, and a variety of educational partners to build a talent pipeline to meet the needs of business and industry. The college’s primary role is to provide a full spectrum of career education opportunities that provide graduates with economic and social mobility and the skills and abilities to globally compete for living wage careers.
For Businesses & Community
Southwestern College is making partnerships with businesses and the community work! From providing facilities, to childcare, to engaging organizations in Work-Based Learning, internships and jobs for students, we are putting the “Community” back in Community College.
For Faculty
Career Education faculty at Southwestern College have access to resources, data, and important information that will assist them in ensuring their Career Education programs produce a workforce that drives our current local economy.
Thanks to a strategic investment of funding, Southwestern College has created an amazing resource team that is available to each and every Career Education faculty, staff, and administrator. Resources include general support that is housed in the Dean’s Office for the Continuing Education and Workforce Development in addition to specialized support in IT, ISS, Research, Marketing, Outreach, Student Employment and the Career Center.
The San Diego and Imperial Counties Regional Consortium of Community Colleges is the entity working with all 10 community colleges to implement regional Strong Workforce Program initiatives.
Each year the Regional Consortium receives an allocation of Regional SWP funds that are allocated and invested by local community college districts to improve in their CE programs as well retaining funds for investment in regional infrastructure.
My Workforce Connection is a great website to find additional information.CE Program-Based Regional Projects
- Work-Based Learning
- CE Acceleration Projects
- Faculty Institute
- Job Placement/Case Management
CE Infrastructure-Based Regional Projects
- Internal Marketing
- Website Optimization
- Pathway Navigation
See Google doc for project and Infrastructure Based Project text
Archived Regional Projects: Coming Soon!
Explore and Be Prepared: The SWC Career Center is available to help students learn more about themselves and careers.
Get Experience Through Learning:
Work Experience/Internships: Students earn college credit and acquire on-the-job skills while applying what they have learned in the classroom through the Cooperative Work Experience Education (CWEE) program that pairs students with host professionals from business, government, and non-profit work environments.
Service Learning: Service Learning is a teaching strategy that ties course curriculum and concepts with service in the community.
Get a Job: Student Employment Services This is where your students will find on campus and off campus job openings, information about job fairs and employer events, internships and other work-based learning opportunities
The Office of Workforce Development supports Career Education faculty who lead required Industry Advisory Committee meetings throughout the academic year. Resources are available to support the success of these efforts on an ongoing basis.
- Handbook
- Committees, agendas, minutes, and membership lists
- Advisory Committee Coordination Funds: To support CE programs interactions with industry representatives, funds have been set aside to not only support industry advisory committee meetings with supplies & refreshments, but also to cover coordination time. These funds are retroactively available back to July 1, 2021. Please check the criteria to ensure that you met all identified duties and have produced identified deliverables.
Funding is ongoing and no application is needed, please contact Anna Arreola aarreola@swccd.edu to submit your necessary documents.
A wide variety of resources are available to help boost enrollment for Career Education programs including social media, stories, rack cards and flyers, photos, video production, and dynamic Career Education webpages to name a few.
- Calendar of Career Education Outreach Events
- Social Media Support
- Tips and Tricks
- Training available
- Model Program (architecture)
- Submit a story for the College to highlight
- Promotional Item Request (Yesenia Olvera)
- Request for a flyer design
- Rack Card design request
- Website Update request
- Rack Card Samples/Templates
As Career Education faculty update, or create new credit or noncredit courses, programs, certificates, or degrees, there is support available.
NEW Credit, Non Credit Courses, Certificates or Degrees
Regional CTE Program Recommendation Process The PCAH describes the Chancellor’s Office’s requirements for adding a new program or certificate and for modifying an existing program in a college’s inventory of Career Education programs. One of these requirements is a recommendation from the Regional Consortium, which can be obtained through the “Regional Program Recommendation Process.”
Helpful Links
- Noncredit CurricuNet
- Credit CurricuNet
- SWC Curriculum Handbook (2020)
- Amazon for Textbooks
- Blooms Taxonomy
- CCCCO Approved Courses and Programs
- California Ed Code
- California Regional Deans CTE
- Chancellor's Office Noncredit
- College Source: College Catalogs
- Curriculum Committee Handbook
- Curriculum Meeting and Submission Calendar
- Academic Services Website
- Model Course Outline of Record (COR)
- Occupational Employment Statistics (OES)
- SLO's Website
- Title 5, California Code of Regulations
- SWC Academic Services Webpage
Program or Course Discontinuance
Guidance for Program Discontinuance can be found in Board Policy 4021Noncredit Courses/Programs
If you have an idea about creating and offering a Noncredit class that provides a gateway to a credit program or the workforce, contact Myesha Jackson Director of Continuing Education or Diane Edwards-LiPera
For more information about Noncredit, check out Noncredit-at-a-GlanceFee Based Ideas
If you have an idea for a Not-for-Credit, Fee-based course or workshop, you would like to propose or teach, Contact contact Myesha Jackson Director of Continuing Education. Visit the Continuing Education webpage and click on teach a course at the bottom of the page.Need Curriculum Assistance: Contact Vera Coronel in ISS who is your Career Education Curriculum Specialist.
- Career Education Committee
The mission of the Career Education Committee is to provide a forum for faculty voices regarding career education. The Career Education Committee responds to faculty needs regarding career education, works to find solutions to those issues, and recommends the budget prioritization process of career education needs after the major budget categories have been designated by the SCC subcommittee - Integrated Workforce Committee. The Career Education Committee is a standing committee of the Academic Senate.
Shared Governance: Decision-Making and Committee Handbook
Integrated Workforce Development Committee
The Integrated Workforce Development Committee provides the venue for institution-wide discussion of the workforce development needs of South Bay and the District’s response to those needs. The committee supports institutional planning related to career education, and guide innovation and Career Education (CE) resource management to facilitate and encourage student access, student success, and employment.
Shared Governance: Decision-Making and Committee Handbook (pages 101-103)
- Current Member List
- Meeting Dates
Second Monday of every month at 3:00 PM, additional dates as needed, does not meet in the summer. - Agendas/Minutes
Funding & Data Facts
Discover which programs are currently and have been funded with Strong Workforce and Perkins funding. Below are the set of awards Southwestern College has made by CE program.
Current Awards
Funding source/ Department name (linked to proposal) / Amount / Expiration date in a tablePast Awards
Funding source/ Department name (linked to proposal) / Amount / Expiration date in a tableSee document below:
Annual Awards by TOP CodesThere are a variety of resources available to Career Education faculty that increase enrollment, address existing gaps in funding, support student employment, and spur innovation to create more and better career education programs.
What is the Strong Workforce Program (SWP)?
The Strong Workforce Program is designed by the California Legislature to Increase Social Mobility and Fuel Regional Economies with Skilled Workers. It’s tagline, “More and Better Career Technical Education” is a simple, clear way to think about the support it brings to California Community Colleges to develop more workforce opportunities and lift low-wage workers into living-wage jobs.
The “more” is increasing the number of students enrolled in programs leading to high-demand, high-wage jobs. The “better” is improving program quality, as evidenced by more students completing or transferring programs, getting employed or improving their earnings
In 2016 California took a bold step to create one million more middle-skill workers, and added a new annual recurring investment of $248 million to spur career technical education (CTE) in the nation’s largest workforce development system of 115 colleges.
The Strong Workforce Program focuses on data-driven outcomes rather than activities, along with an emphasis on innovation and risk-taking. In this way, colleges can be more responsive to labor market conditions and student outcomes.
LOCAL SHARE vs. REGIONAL SHARE
This funding is structured as a 60 percent Local Share allocation for each community college district and a 40 percent Regional Share determined by a regional consortia of colleges
What is Perkins?
The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) was signed into law by President Trump on July 31, 2018. This bipartisan measure reauthorized the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV) and continued Congress’ commitment in providing nearly $1.3 billion annually for career and technical education (CTE) programs for our nation’s youth and adults.
Perkins V represents an important opportunity to expand opportunities for every student to explore, choose, and follow career and technical education programs of study and career pathways to earn credentials of value. As States and local communities embark on the development of new plans for CTE, the Department hopes that the videos, resources, links, and media found below and throughout this Website can be useful tools for States and local recipients in "rethinking CTE" and arriving at bold goals under the newly-authorized Perkins V statute.
SWC Annual Perkins Allocations
- Annual Strong Workforce and Perkins Funding (application under review)
Annual funding is available to increase student enrollment, completion of programs or employment for your students. Check the timeline for deadlines throughout the year.
Upcoming Dates to Remember
22/23 Application Release: October 3, 2022
22/23 Applications Due: November 15, 2022- Innovation Funds
Funds are available throughout the year to support your CE program resulting in increased student enrollment, completion of the program or employment for your students.
No Funding Opportunities Currently Available. - Emergency Funds (For School/Center Deans Only)
School/Center Deans have an opportunity to request Emergency Funds for the following criteria:- Must be unforeseen impact on the students learning
- Nature is urgent (cannot wait for the next funding cycle)
- Not previously requested
- Must meet established SWP Funding Guidelines.
Funding is ongoing and currently open for application.
- Advisory Committee Coordination Funds:
To support CE programs interactions with industry representatives, funds have been set aside to not only support industry advisory committee meetings with supplies & refreshments, but also to cover your coordination time. These funds are retroactively available back to July 1, 2021. Please check the criteria to ensure that you met all identified duties and have produced identified deliverable.
Funding is ongoing and no application is needed, please contact Anna Arreola aarreola@swccd.edu to submit the neccesary documents. - Advisory Committee Refreshments
No Funding Opportunities Currently Available during COVID Pandemic - Professional Development Funds
If you are interested in attending a virtual industry-related professional development opportunity and there are associated costs, you may apply for professional development funds.
Funding is ongoing and currently open for application. - Internship Site Development
Faculty members that are interested in securing an internship site can do so by filling out the SWP Program Development Opportunities form below. Faculty members are eligible to receive a $200 stipend for each secured internship site after he/she creates a semester plan and completes the following requirements…- Meets with industry site official
- Receipt of verbal agreement to host one or more student interns
- Provides site contact information in writing to Genesis Lastrella-Quicho in the Career
Center as well as all full-time faculty and the Dean of your school/center.
Funding is ongoing and currently open for application.
- Annual Strong Workforce and Perkins Funding (application under review)
Below are tools and resources we provide for you to access data about the local labor markets, your CE program’s recent performance, and a variety of other student success metrics related to career education.
- 2018 SWC Career Education Program Biennial Reports
- SWC Labor Market Information Resource Guide
- SWC Research Website
- California Community Colleges Data Page
Make a Data Request
Click on MySWC, login, Search Campus Apps and find Service Now, scroll down to Institutional Research and Planning and click on survey or research request.
For Students
With over 80 Career Education programs, students at Southwestern College have almost 250 different degrees and certificates to choose from that prepare them to compete globally for well-paying careers.