S1: E:16 | Meeting You Where You Are: Workforce Pathways at LSCO

What if education worked around your life and not the other way around? In this episode of Gator Bites, host Daniel McLemore sits down with LSCO’s Workforce and Continuing Education team, Kristin Walker, Michelle Hammerly, and D’Wayne Shaw, to unpack how workforce programs create fast, flexible pathways into new careers. From short-term credentials and employer partnerships to upskilling, reskilling, and lifelong learning, this conversation explores how LSCO is meeting students exactly where they are and helping them take confident next steps toward their goals.

About Lamar State College Orange:
Lamar State College Orange (LSCO) is a two-year, state-supported institution located on the banks of the Sabine River in Orange, Texas. As part of the Texas State University System, LSCO is committed to transforming lives and communities through the continual pursuit of academic, professional, and personal excellence. Serving more than 5,500 students, the College offers associate degrees and certificates in academic, technical, and workforce fields, providing new and unique opportunities for growth and success. With a focus on accessibility, affordability, and innovation, LSCO serves a diverse student population, including a high percentage of first-generation college students. Through strong community partnerships, dedicated faculty and staff, and innovative student support services, LSCO is the bridge connecting those it serves to a bright, Orange future.

Transcript

00;00;01;21 - 00;00;29;07
Daniel McLemore
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Gator Bites, the official podcast of Lamar State College Orange, where we interview faculty, staff and students to give the community an inside look into life here at LSCO. So today's conversation is all about opportunity, flexibility, and meeting students where they are at. LSCO workforce and continuing education programs play a critical role in helping individuals gain skills, earn credentials, and move confidently toward career goals.

00;00;29;10 - 00;00;53;00
Daniel McLemore
And that's often faster than they imagined. So in this episode, we're talking with members of our LSO workforce and continuing education team about the wide range of workforce course options available. How those programs connect directly to industry needs, and then why Workforce Pathways can be a powerful step forward for students at any stage of life. So let's go around the room real quick and introduce who we have here.

00;00;53;05 - 00;00;55;00
Daniel McLemore
On my left we have.

00;00;55;02 - 00;01;02;01
Kristin Walker
Good morning. Kristen. Walker. And I'm the assistant vice president of statewide partnerships.

00;01;02;04 - 00;01;08;18
Michelle Hammerly
Good morning. I am Michelle Hammersley. I'm the coordinator for our workforce programs.

00;01;08;20 - 00;01;14;08
D'Wayne Shaw
Good morning, everyone. And my name is Dwayne Shaw. I'm the executive director of statewide workforce partnerships.

00;01;14;10 - 00;01;31;16
Daniel McLemore
We've got a lot of experience and a lot of workforce knowledge in this room with us today. So thank you all for joining us. So when we talk about workforce programs at LSCO, what does that really mean for someone who may not be familiar with that term? You know, we talk about it internally a lot. Like what is workforce even mean?

00;01;31;16 - 00;01;36;05
Daniel McLemore
So what does that what does that mean to us.

00;01;36;08 - 00;02;02;05
D'Wayne Shaw
So you know, I think a lot of what you described in the beginning, you know, this workforce is a highly flexible way for us to be able to train people to get directly into the into the workforce. It's not just for a partnership with, with students, but also with employers, whenever they contact us and say, hey, we've we have a skills gap, we've got some employees, we've we've upgraded our systems or whatever.

00;02;02;05 - 00;02;23;08
D'Wayne Shaw
And can you is there a way that you can help us train these employees to get them up to speed so that they're working at this higher level, which is great for them because it it's an increase. It's an increase in wages. It's, it's better jobs and things of that nature. So, so while we do have programs where we bring in students in and get in them training that that have none to try to get them directly into the workforce.

00;02;23;08 - 00;02;27;10
D'Wayne Shaw
We also work a lot with, our industry partners.

00;02;27;13 - 00;02;51;21
Kristin Walker
It's also like the fun courses. So they're continuing education. So I think we have several, whether it's, the fitness and aerobics kind of classes or in the past, it could be anything from wreath making, cake decorating to, just fun things. But, with the focus that really an individual can learn something and then create their own Etsy business.

00;02;51;24 - 00;03;18;04
Kristin Walker
So, it's it's a whole bunch of stuff. Which makes is why it makes it so flexible. So it could be anything from the personal interest to upskilling those who are already employed so that they can take on additional responsibilities at their, employer and through their employer. And also it's usually short term. It's also usually a very short commitment.

00;03;18;11 - 00;03;48;11
Kristin Walker
Yeah. Not like, what we would think of as a college semester. So that's where the flexibility comes in to being able to start at different times other than just when the college semester starts and ends. So between being short term and and also meeting the needs, whether it's through employment or personal growth, you want to learn QuickBooks or you want to learn Excel, we can help you with those types of things, to start your own business or just to be grow as an individual.

00;03;48;13 - 00;03;49;00
Kristin Walker
Yeah.

00;03;49;02 - 00;04;14;20
Michelle Hammerly
I'd also like to add to that. I think our workforce programs kind of meets people where they are. And to Duane's note, it's it may you may not want to be a traditional student, but, you may be someone that's just trying to reskill or upskill or you may have a job and you just want to move around in your job, change your job, or, you know, start, start a new career.

00;04;14;20 - 00;04;21;07
Michelle Hammerly
So I think for workforce, there's a little bit for everyone. Yeah. And it kind of meets you where you're at today.

00;04;21;10 - 00;04;37;04
Daniel McLemore
Well, there's something to be said, too, about lifelong learners. People that, you know, maybe they have a degree already. But, you know, I never went into the accounting side of things. And I'd love to know the QuickBooks piece or, you know what? I'd love to just get a couple little welding classes and figure out how to how to do some, some little take and make welding in the backyard.

00;04;37;04 - 00;04;37;14
Daniel McLemore
You know.

00;04;37;20 - 00;04;38;29
Kristin Walker
That's the lutely. Yeah.

00;04;39;01 - 00;04;56;28
D'Wayne Shaw
And it's and and what Kristin was mentioning about starting her own Etsy business or things of that nature. All the entrepreneurs that we have out there, are working with computer systems in their house. And it's like, you know, and they need a little information on how to protect, how to protect their information and antivirus software and things that nature.

00;04;57;02 - 00;05;03;22
D'Wayne Shaw
And those are short little courses that while, you know what, you're going to help them with their own entrepreneur businesses and things of that nature.

00;05;03;28 - 00;05;22;27
Daniel McLemore
Yeah. And sometimes when I explain what workforce courses are the people that I'm talking with, I talk to them about, you know, it's like going to a restaurant and you see everything on the menu, and there may be things that are already prepared, stuff that's on our calendar to constantly offer, but then we can offer a lot of additional courses that maybe it's not on the calendar yet, but hey, if you want us to make it, we're here for you.

00;05;22;27 - 00;05;35;04
Daniel McLemore
And we've got people, then we've got connections. So, a lot of times they're they're looking at that and going, well, if there's not a course schedule for it, we can't do anything with that. But is that do you see that being the case sometimes?

00;05;35;06 - 00;05;59;04
Kristin Walker
Yeah, I would say that that's also kind of a best practice through any two year school. Is that anything new typically starts through workforce because it's flexible, because we are, responsive. And we don't have all of the, timelines as a college semester that yeah, we can be responsive, but it's also part of our mission, especially when Duane talks about our employers.

00;05;59;04 - 00;06;34;02
Kristin Walker
I mean, that is part of what our mission talks about and expects us to be both in Orange County, but across the state is to help employers respond proactively, hopefully not always reactively, to whatever changes might be going on that any one of us can give. An example, we had lunch with someone on Friday about a company staying in Texas through an expansion, and when those opportunities are given, to the state, the state looks at a two year college and says, how can you respond?

00;06;34;07 - 00;07;15;23
Kristin Walker
How can you work with this employer to ensure that they stay in Texas? They expand in Texas, and sometimes it's even about a company relocating to Texas. So but I don't want the conversation just to be about employers, because this really can just be about individuals who want to invest in themselves or want to invest in our community, that, we can provide avenues to train up support, get them even connected to resources, whether it's the Small Business Development center over in, Port Arthur, or, even bankers and people to support any type of funding for a small business to be started.

00;07;15;26 - 00;07;38;26
Daniel McLemore
Yep. And that that kind of went into my next question, which was, how do these programs align with the needs of our local and regional employers? You know, because we are looking at, meeting the needs of, of not, like you said, not just the community member specifically, but the employers in our region too. So how do how do we as a, as a college, help design and align our programs with our local and regional needs?

00;07;38;28 - 00;08;05;11
D'Wayne Shaw
We do have employers that reach out. Recently, I've had, conversation with, with Dow Chemical, because they have a specific area they would love to see, a new certification, developed at LSC at AE for for a lab tech, position. And so we're work, you know, so we're working as, as Kristin said, the best place to start a lot of these certifications.

00;08;05;18 - 00;08;24;01
D'Wayne Shaw
While this may work into a certification that ends up being part of a an associate's of science degree, the workforce side of it is a great way to start that, to be able to develop those courses and build that out. So, so to answer your question, having that direct connection with those employers and sitting down with them and saying, what is it that you need?

00;08;24;07 - 00;08;42;27
D'Wayne Shaw
And in this case, they reached out to us and, and there was a gap there in their industry. And so it's just not just Dow it's other of other chemical companies and and refineries down, down along the coast that we're where we are here that need those, those types of lab technicians. So, so that's, that's a good example of how we would do that.

00;08;43;00 - 00;09;13;11
D'Wayne Shaw
But we also use, those employers, employees as instructors in some of our courses whenever we start, working with those types of things. So they're going to be they're going to be training people on the industry, as is being, you know, as I guess, at the level that they're working at that point in time. So, so it's, so these are, you know, using those employees as, as faculty members for us, as adjunct faculty members in these workforce courses keeps us really connected with the industries, too.

00;09;13;18 - 00;09;31;23
Daniel McLemore
Yeah. And that that goes a lot to to talking about our, our faculty members that teach these courses, too, because these are not just, you know, everyday people that decided, oh, I want to go teach something. Right. These are people that have probably got, some of the most experienced, information in our business, in our area, and they're coming back and saying, I've got something to provide.

00;09;31;23 - 00;09;43;17
Daniel McLemore
How how can I do this? What what avenues can I do? And sometimes even these programs that we have come based on somebody coming to us saying, I have this knowledge, how can I how can I disperse this to people? Right, right.

00;09;43;20 - 00;09;57;20
Michelle Hammerly
Yeah. Are a lot of our workforce faculty are, still working? You know, they're not retired. They're still working in their in the industry in their professions. And they have decades of experience that they're sharing with our students.

00;09;57;22 - 00;10;15;00
Daniel McLemore
Yeah. And we had a we had a recent episode, talking a lot about that in our electromechanical and our machining program and stuff too, where there's just, there's experience with people that you know, they their legacy is the knowledge that they've gained. Right. And they want to find a way to, to, to spread that. So, I love that about education specifically.

00;10;15;03 - 00;10;43;22
Michelle Hammerly
So I also wanted to add to with our business partners, we, we have opportunities to provide new classes with our business partners, but we also have several business partners where we're providing continuing education. So, you know, these folks are already in jobs with their with their, employers. And we've got a lot of faculty on staff that can go out into these companies and provide the continuing education that's required for their discipline.

00;10;43;24 - 00;11;02;26
Daniel McLemore
Yeah. And that actually goes right into this next question too, which is the the question about flexibility. You know, we that's one of the things that really stands out about our workforce programs is their flexibility. And how do those courses really support the working adults, the career changers or even individuals looking to upskill, upskill quickly?

00;11;02;29 - 00;11;34;10
Michelle Hammerly
I think we've already talked about, our workforce programs don't necessarily have to follow an academic calendar so we can stand up a new program pretty quickly. A lot of our programs are offered in the evenings, you know, for, adult learners working adult learners. And we also, have some courses on the weekends. So, you know, as we mentioned earlier, it's we can offer them throughout the day if we want to, evenings and weekends again to meet people where they're at in their lives right now.

00;11;34;13 - 00;11;54;26
D'Wayne Shaw
And the idea that Michelle mentioned before as well, of us being able to go into an industry or go to a partner and actually provide courses at their location, talk about convenience. Yeah. That that industry partner doesn't have to take someone, let them off work to come to AE to, you know, to come for their update, their required update training.

00;11;54;29 - 00;12;04;01
D'Wayne Shaw
They get to stay right there at that location and that flexibility that we have to be able to go to those locations is a is a huge benefit to those employers.

00;12;04;03 - 00;12;23;00
Daniel McLemore
So how do these programs serve as it's kind of like any, a fast track into the workforce or really even as a stepping stone into further education to AE, you know, we talk a lot about, what are the terms that we use internally is, for credit or not for credit. And a lot of times people don't quite understand that concept, but what does that mean?

00;12;23;00 - 00;12;28;09
Daniel McLemore
And how do we get people to understand that it's that this is something that can open up additional doors?

00;12;28;11 - 00;13;02;24
Kristin Walker
Yeah. Well, that's one of the things that, again, I believe is part of our mission is to work with the student. Well, I guess we've said it. We take students where they are, whether, again, it's an employed individual or a student that, is investing in themself and said through workforce, it's flexible. It's usually, also an economical decision that you can take a short course, and get skills to take that next step to build upon, your learning.

00;13;02;26 - 00;13;16;12
Kristin Walker
And so one of the things that we are doing across the state through workforce, is working with employers to take any of their internal training and.

00;13;16;15 - 00;13;42;29
Kristin Walker
Provide an opportunity for their employees then to go through the training as an employee, but also then come to LSCO and possibly receive credit for prior learning. So when we talk about Noncredit and credit workforce, continuing education is noncredit. But when you talk about going to college credit courses in seeking a degree or a college certificate, it requires credit classes.

00;13;43;01 - 00;14;09;29
Kristin Walker
So we take that, employee who is working at any one of our local employers or really an employer across the state. They receive training as part of their employment practice to learn the the knowledge and skills to do the job they were hired to do. And through working with LSC, we would take that curriculum and say, this is the value of it for a college credit certificate.

00;14;10;02 - 00;14;14;13
Kristin Walker
That then leads to a college credit degree. Does that answer your question?

00;14;14;15 - 00;14;35;18
Daniel McLemore
I think it does. Yeah. You know, it's that concept of, once you have the itch, you just kind of have to keep scratching it, too, because I think, I think a lot of times when we get students into these programs, they, they almost reignite into this learning concept to like, oh, I didn't something I didn't know, right?

00;14;35;21 - 00;14;56;11
Kristin Walker
Or I didn't think I could do it. I never thought I could. This was a college level class. It was so quote unquote easy. It was easy because you're maybe invested in you. Right. You were learning something new, but you were also learning something about yourself. And so I think that really is that's, to me, the hidden gem within workforce education.

00;14;56;11 - 00;15;30;16
Kristin Walker
The students that we usually get to touch are the students who had no idea that they could do it. Whether it's the employee that's being upskilled and learning something new to expand their company's business to expand their company's site and location and the magnitude of business, or it's that individual who now has found himself in need to career pivot because fill in the blank, whether they move like, health reasons, something they've brought it's they've been they've come to us to pivot.

00;15;30;19 - 00;15;39;24
Kristin Walker
And so in they just didn't realize that they were strong enough, smart enough, had the tenacity to do it. And they do it. And then they're like, what can I do from here?

00;15;39;26 - 00;15;40;09
Daniel McLemore
Right.

00;15;40;10 - 00;16;10;01
Kristin Walker
Where can I go from here? And what we've really done within workforce education, any one of our programs, a student can take that workforce course and apply it to a degree, whether it's our CDL program that we would that we offer through workforce education, you can take that license and apply it and receive college credit towards multiple college credit certificates and associate's degrees.

00;16;10;04 - 00;16;14;23
Kristin Walker
And the same thing in our health professions area. I think that's something we take pride in.

00;16;14;26 - 00;16;38;06
Michelle Hammerly
Yes, I did I did want to mention health professions. Christine, a very specific recent example is we had a student that, she had a clean, cleaning business. She was, cleaning homes, and she wanted to make a change. So she took our phlebotomy class, and which is one of our popular health care classes. She took our phlebotomy class.

00;16;38;06 - 00;17;02;02
Michelle Hammerly
And, as soon as that class was over, she got hired by a major, health care company right here in the Golden Triangle. So, you know, you started the question about fast track. Yeah. And she's gone from, you know, her personal business of cleaning homes to now she's in the corporate world in health care. And, as a phlebotomist.

00;17;02;03 - 00;17;20;07
Michelle Hammerly
And that's going to be endless opportunity for her, you know, now that she's in that profession. So, that's a real good example of someone who, is already working but wants to make a change and just a new skill. Like, for me, she was able to do that.

00;17;20;10 - 00;17;35;15
D'Wayne Shaw
Yeah. I, if I'm not mistaken, that same student very much like what you were like. Both of you were saying, as soon as she got done with it, she said, what's the next level that I can take? You know, maybe. Can I get to a nurse aid from here? So, yeah. So it did it did feel that, hey, I did that.

00;17;35;22 - 00;17;44;25
D'Wayne Shaw
And and now I've got a job in this industry and now I can find another skill and do another short course and maybe step up to the next piece. So those are the really exciting pieces.

00;17;44;25 - 00;17;54;08
Michelle Hammerly
Yeah. Her, her one course with us, got her foot in the door and as Duane say, now she's got endless opportunity and health care.

00;17;54;10 - 00;18;26;14
Kristin Walker
Yeah, yeah. And maybe even a job not working for herself. So with benefits, whether that's vacation or health or, family care. But it also may be an employer who supports learning, and growing. And so then would support her going back to school and increasing her credentials, whether it's the certified nurse assistant, or anything else that then leads to a medical, medical assistant, or.

00;18;26;16 - 00;18;35;16
Michelle Hammerly
She'll be able to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement. Right. You know, internally within our new company. Yeah. And keep going. And we're encouraging her to do that.

00;18;35;20 - 00;18;54;04
Daniel McLemore
And that's something we could even talk about to a lot, is, you know, there's there are a lot of companies that do reimburse for, for education. And that's something that that we highly encourage people to go ask their employer and ask and say, hey, are you offering anything for education credits? Because, a lot of times they are.

00;18;54;04 - 00;18;55;16
Daniel McLemore
And you just have to ask, right?

00;18;55;20 - 00;18;57;29
Kristin Walker
Right. Yeah.

00;18;58;02 - 00;19;06;28
Daniel McLemore
So what what would you say kind of excites you about the future of workforce and continuing education here at LSCO?

00;19;07;00 - 00;19;30;18
Michelle Hammerly
I what's exciting for me is that, you know, we're here sitting on Lamar State College orange campus, but we've got a footprint now in several different communities, beyond Orange County. And that excites me because we can take our classes on the road now. Of course, we have a lot of online classes, so it doesn't matter where you live, you can access those courses as well.

00;19;30;18 - 00;19;41;02
Michelle Hammerly
So I think, I think our future is really bright in terms of expanding, you know, off the campus here and into other communities.

00;19;41;04 - 00;19;58;27
D'Wayne Shaw
I do think the future partnerships that that's what excites me about it. I know, AVP Walker and I, I've been working, you know, I have had the opportunity to start working on some statewide pieces. I'm new to this area. I'm very excited about working with some of the industry folks, that I'm had not been as familiar with.

00;19;59;00 - 00;20;14;11
D'Wayne Shaw
I think those partnerships are. And the ability to have those partnerships are going to lead to more opportunities for additional students. That that that may not even know that these things are out there. And I think that's, I think that's kind of what excites me the most about it right now.

00;20;14;14 - 00;20;42;12
Kristin Walker
Yeah, I would agree. So, our center in Polk County has great opportunity with some of the major employers within that region to, train up for expansion, to upskill, current current employees, but also to take those who were training as part of their employment obligation to their employer and possibly convert that over to credit for prior learning.

00;20;42;12 - 00;21;07;12
Kristin Walker
And so lots of opportunities in, in and around Polk County to serve both our employers, but our students to continue to invest in themselves. And then Dwayne mentioned statewide. So we we have several different agencies at the state level that we're working with. As many know how all of our listeners know Lamar State College, orange is one member of the Texas State University system, one of seven.

00;21;07;15 - 00;21;38;11
Kristin Walker
And so we're continuing to work with our other member institutions to provide, an opportunity to their students and their communities, just like what we do here in orange. So whether it's through short courses and workforce education and then converting those, courses, licensure certifications to college credit opportunities, some of our member institutions. And so, so, the future is bright, for statewide partnerships.

00;21;38;11 - 00;21;48;17
Kristin Walker
And we're, we're really excited to be able to take that message on the road and to support not just our mission, but the mission of the Texas State University system.

00;21;48;20 - 00;22;02;02
Daniel McLemore
Yeah, I love it. Really love it. So for someone that's listening who's maybe unsure whether a traditional degree or a workforce credential is right for them, what advice would you give them?

00;22;02;05 - 00;22;24;25
D'Wayne Shaw
So, so this is this is kind of a this is a one of those pieces that's kind of close to my heart. Right. Because I have worked in continuing education for for quite a long time. And for me, I have to look at all education is workforce education and bear with me. I understand people are going to be like, not not just not this English class.

00;22;24;27 - 00;22;43;03
D'Wayne Shaw
Well, if you're if you're if you're not taking a course at a college, that's going to eventually in some way, shape, form or fashion help you in your job or to get a job or to be better prepared for any workforce, whatever it is. Then then then you have to ask yourself, why are you taking that course?

00;22;43;10 - 00;23;18;08
D'Wayne Shaw
And if it's for just if it is for personal enrichment, then great. Then you know exactly why you're taking that course. But if you look at your timeline, you know, whatever you say, advice to someone, look at their timeline. How quickly do you want to get into workforce? What level are you trying to enter the workforce at? I think those are kind of you're deciding factors, as do I want to look at a, a quick short course workforce education piece like CDL, or do I want to look at a, a logistics associate's degree because it's not necessarily driving the truck that I need to be a part of, but I would be

00;23;18;08 - 00;23;38;05
D'Wayne Shaw
more interested in, you know, being a dispatcher and working in a more of a logistics level. But I needed understanding of that. So, so for me, if I was going to advise somebody, first of all, I like to make sure people understand that workforce education, we talk about it being key. I will I don't like to talk about noncredit.

00;23;38;05 - 00;23;52;12
D'Wayne Shaw
That's a dirty word for me. So it's key. And a lot of times when we say key, we think that it's, you know, that's continuing education. But for me it's also career education and potentially, you know, critical education.

00;23;52;14 - 00;23;53;13
Daniel McLemore
About to say critical education.

00;23;53;13 - 00;24;07;28
D'Wayne Shaw
It is. So all of those things are key. And I believe there is great value in it. And that's why I refused to use the, the noncredit words, because there is credit and there is value to, to every one of these courses.

00;24;08;00 - 00;24;09;28
Daniel McLemore
Very much so.

00;24;10;01 - 00;24;28;24
Michelle Hammerly
And I would say, Daniel, if you're listening, reach out to us. You know, one of us sitting here at the table, reach out to our advising team, you know, here on the campus, if you're if you're looking at our website, and there's you're looking at the, the academic courses, you know, looking looking at our whole website with everything we offer.

00;24;28;26 - 00;24;36;06
Michelle Hammerly
And you're just not sure. Reach out to us. We'll definitely get you, connected with the right person in our resource pool to talk to.

00;24;36;08 - 00;24;53;05
Daniel McLemore
Yeah. And that's one thing I think is really strong about AE. Is that, you make a phone call and you can talk to somebody and they'll help you. You know, they're not going to convince you to to to bite off more than you can chew. Right. We're all about student success here. We're all about taking it one student at a time.

00;24;53;07 - 00;25;18;19
Daniel McLemore
But about getting each student what they need specifically for moving forward and advancing, because that's what ultimately our job is to do, is to make sure that the product we're providing, the education we're providing, is giving you that next stepping stone. So, well, thank you all for joining us and for sharing how workforce and continuing education programs here at AE are creating real opportunities for students and our community.

00;25;18;22 - 00;25;38;01
Daniel McLemore
And to our listeners, if you're looking to build new skills, explore a new career path or take your next steps towards your goals, AE is workforce and continuing education programs may be the perfect place for you to start, so be sure to keep up with the latest Gator Bites podcast episodes on the website, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

00;25;38;07 - 00;25;43;08
Daniel McLemore
Thanks for tuning in and we look forward to bringing you another conversation soon.

00;25;43;11 - 00;25;44;13
D'Wayne Shaw
Thank you. Thanks, Daniel.