Award: $1.0 Million

Timeline: December 28, 2006 – December 31, 2008

Background:

The Joyce Foundation awarded funds to Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin for the “Shifting Gears Initiative,” aimed at developing strategies to shift policy within those states to better align state agencies, colleges, and other entities toward a better educated and more meaningfully employed workforce. Ivy Tech is the primary grantee in Indiana.  Other partners who are receiving a portion of the $1.0M funding include the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and the State Chamber of Commerce. 

The principal grant objective is to design and launch innovative remedial and postsecondary education alternatives for low-income working adults and to create a tool that allows for better analysis of statewide education and employment program outcomes.  Further, Ivy Tech, as the primary grantee, will work with State agencies to articulate policy alignment possibilities with TANF, WIA, TAA, and other entities.

The Joyce grant funds several projects including:

• The College for Working Adults Initiative designed to increase the number of Ivy Tech students who can complete their degree within two years and to engage more Indiana adults in community college education to meet current and growing demand for educated adults in the local economy.

• Indiana Workforce Intelligence System (IWIS) to link labor market data with secondary and postsecondary education data.

• Indiana Report Card Initiative led by the State Chamber, to develop a report card that can be used to convey system performance to the general public in a consumer-user friendly format. 

• Remediation Reform for Adults: Embedded Skill Development designed to help meet new performance goals at Ivy Tech and strengthen the remediation of under-prepared students, help them develop more effectively and more rapidly the basic skills they will need to succeed in college.