These community colleges offer programs that help older adults transition to encore careers.

Encore career programs awarded grants under the Community College Encore Career Initiative sponsored by Civic Ventures and MetLife Foundation for offerings in 2009-10:

• Community College of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh, Penn.) – CCAC will train dislocated professionals as certified medical office managers, an occupation expected to grow nationally by 16 percent through 2016. Students will move into the growing regional health care field working in physicians’ offices, medical clinics, medical practices and hospital health care facilities.
• Community Colleges of Spokane (Spokane, Wash.) – This college will develop a program to help older adults make smooth transitions to green jobs through a course that helps participants explore the nature of green jobs, learn how to become employed or enroll in additional certification training.
• Grand Rapids Community College (Grand Rapids, Mich.) – This college will build on past success to expand local employer connections through a new employer training program and will launch a course that increases the employability of students for encore careers in health care.
• LaGuardia Community College (New York, N.Y.) – Older immigrants who have worked professionally in the social services and health care fields in their native countries will be recruited for training leading to employment as community health workers, providing people in underserved New York City communities with needed health information and services from experienced, bilingual workers.
• Ohlone College (Newark, Calif.) – Seasoned electricians, general contractors and tradespeople will receive training as mentors and team leaders for economically disadvantaged youths entering the green collar workforce. Some “Green Encore Fellows” will receive intensive solar energy training to design and install green energy systems and be placed with employers who have an urgent need for skilled supervisors and trainers.
• Rio Salado College (Tempe, Ariz.) – This college will increase the number of adults over age 50 enrolled in teacher certification programs through marketing and recruitment efforts with AARP and local partners.
• Southeastern Community College (Whiteville, N.C.) – The college’s Green Pathways Project will reach out to older low-income and dislocated workers whose traditional income sources have disappeared and provide them the skills necessary to apply for emerging green encore careers linked to the county’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.
• Union County College (Cranford, N.J.) – Support systems are now strained for hard-to-employ individuals including an increasing pool of ex-offenders in need of jobs. Union County’s Workforce Specialist Academy will prepare older professionals and volunteers as adult educators to fill the gaps in adult basic education, workforce development and prisoner re-entry services.

Community Colleges participating in the “50 Plus Initiative” sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and The Atlantic Philanthropies:

• Chaffey Community College in Cucamonga, Calif., will train boomer volunteers to mentor and tutor under-prepared students to help them be successful in college
• Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, Wash., will offer an environmental science programs along with a volunteer on-site project for boomers exploring sustainability. Classroom lessons will focus on restoring wetlands, forests and an oak savannah.
• Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Ill., will offer workforce skills certification programs to students over age 50 for new careers in high-growth jobs in health care and education.
• Luzerne County Community College in Nanticoke, Pa., will provide courses and services to encourage new job skills development and entrepreneurship for 50-plus students.
• Northern Virginia Community College, located near Washington D.C., will offer programs on retirement, personal finance, entrepreneurship, technology literacy and good health.
• Richland College in Dallas, will assess learning needs for boomers and help them redefine their lives, as well as offer retraining for experienced workers.
• Santa Fe Community College in Gaineville, Fla., will help train baby boomer nurses to become instructors for nursing education programs.
• St. Louis Community College in St. Louis, Mo., will establish pilot workshops on four campuses to help boomers transition to the next phases of their lives with courses in travel study, art classes and other interests.
• Wake Technical Community College in St. Raleigh, N.C., will offer afternoon college classes that cater to plus-50 students.
• Western Dakota Technical Institute in Rapid City, S.D., will develop and pilot a national training model for boomers who want to become seasonal rangers and interpretative guides at national parks.

Community colleges receiving AACC grants to serve as mentors for the program are:

• Cape Code Community College in West Barnstable, Mass., has conducted focus groups and surveys with boomers to identify courses and volunteer opportunities. The college will expand current programs and establish a talent bank that matches older students with civic and service opportunities.
• Central Florida Community College in Ocala, Fla., will develop course offerings that lead to new employment opportunities for older adults, including online business classes, individual and corporate tax preparation courses, training in less physically demanding medical fields such as medical transcription and intergenerational computer courses.
• Century College in White Bear Lake, Minn., will help boomers retiring from professional and supervisory positions apply their leadership skills as community volunteers. They will also help older professionals retrain for new jobs in health care and technology.
• Clark College in Vancouver, Wash., will redesign its small business development curriculum to offer second careers through business ownership at a wine and cooking school for wine hobbyists and food enthusiasts. In addition, a joint program with the Area Agency on Aging will train in-home caregivers.
• Community College of Spokane Wash., will help older workers upgrade or gain new skills and receive retraining to fill regional job vacancies. The college will also expand course delivery to rural areas through distance learning.

For more details about their offerings, see “Community Colleges Prepare Boomers for Their Encores” and “Community Colleges Aid Encore Transitions.”