Faculty Member Anita Brown-Graham Advises Statewide Educational Attainment Initiative

On Friday, June 15, School of Government faculty member and ncIMPACT Director Anita Brown-Graham presented her research on workforce development to the myFutureNC Commission, a statewide initiative on educational attainment. UNC System President Margaret Spellings serves as co-chair of the Commission along with Dale Jenkins, chief executive officer of Medical Mutual Holdings, Inc., and Andrea Smith, chief administrative officer of Bank of America.

Brown-Graham co-authored a policy brief entitled, “A Focus on Non-Completers: One Strategy for Upskilling the Existing Workforce in North Carolina,” with NC Works Commission Executive Director Catherine Moga Bryant. The brief indicates that the state is home to 905,000 “non-completers” who have some college experience but no degrees or credentials, and that training or “upskilling” this population may be key in addressing the tight labor market employers are currently experiencing as well as future workforce needs. The report mentions other groups that may need special support, including formerly incarcerated individuals, veterans, and disconnected youth to meet future market demands.

Brown-Graham and Bryant’s report outlines four opportunities to upskill non-completers:

• Connecting workers to NCWorks Certified Career Pathways, to ensure they have access to the best education, training, and work-based learning opportunities as they pursue careers in high-demand occupations;
• Helping students gain technical skills by enrolling them in work-based learning programs;
• Coordinating the recruitment efforts by community colleges to entice former students to finish their degrees; and
• Assisting higher education institutions in finding ways to award credentials for military experience and training.

The myFutureNC Commission will use this report and Brown-Graham’s findings to identify key attainment benchmarks and strategies. Brown-Graham will continue to serve as a subject matter expert for the Commission, which plans to complete its work and proposed recommendations by the end of 2018 with a final report completed by February 2019.

For more information about myFutureNC, visit myfuturenc.org.
For more information about ncIMPACT, visit sog.unc.edu/ncIMPACT.