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Project "Growth Opportunities through Learning and Doing" (GOLD), Seminole Community College's basic skills update program, enrolled 107 students at 2 manufacturing facilities from April 1995-February 1998. Employees from Siemens Telecom Network (formerly known as Siemens Stromberg-Carlson) studied offsite in a classroom equipped with 10 computers and educational software designed for beginning to advanced learners. Students worked one-on-one with the instructor who also stressed soft skills vital to the workplace. Instructors provided similar instruction but without the aid of computers for Parker Hannifin students in that company's training room. Project GOLD also provided customized courses that ran the gamut from problem solving to team building to stress management. Enrollment in customized courses totaled 477 employees. An evaluation assessed the project's achievement of its goal of obtaining a return on the employer's investment through the improvement of basic employee competencies required in the workplace and its underlying premise of identifying employees deficient in basic skills areas and, through instruction, improving their abilities, thus improving productivity. There is no doubt that the work being conducted by Project Gold is accomplishing its mission, within the constraints of available employee learners and corporate downsizing. The progress of the original Siemens Telecom employees, Project Gold, accomplished in 28 months what few full-time educational institutions could have, both in terms of score increments as well as overall communications and skill building. Project Gold has not been able to determine its impact as it relates to production figures at Parker-Hannifin. Reasons include: changing shift schedules and removing employees from the floor for customized training courses. (Appendixes to the evaluation report include the following: student demographics, anecdotal supervisor and student comments, summary of lesson plans, subject mastery lists, and instructor and student evaluations.) (YLB)

To gather data on the future educational needs for successful employment in Seminole County, Florida, a cooperative study was conducted by Seminole Community College and the Seminole County Public Schools. A sample was developed of 450 employers selected by types of businesses employing technology education graduates in Seminole, Orange, and Volusia counties. A list of questions for future telephone interviews were mailed to the chief executive officers of 285 firms, with interviews conducted with 63% of the sample. Study findings included the following: (1) the most desired non-technical job requirement was work ethic/appearance (48%); (2) with respect to retraining, 78% of respondents expressed a preference for training by in-house staff; (3) for firms indicating a preference for training by outside organizations, 27% indicated a preference for a series of non-credit college level seminars, 23% mentioned vocational programs linked to a public education institution, and 21% indicated a program linked to credit courses; (4) only 18% of respondents had employees hoping to pursue an associate degree; (5) the most commonly cited programs to fulfill training needs were technical education (16%), business/clerical/secretarial (14%), and computer training (12%); (6) with respect to anticipated hires, the dominant occupational needs were blue collar service, clerical/office/computer, and sales; and (7) 80% of health care firms indicated they would be employing more cross-trained personnel. Appendixes include the classifications of employers, the survey instrument, a phone contact summary, and results. (MAB)

A project developed an educational model to deliver academic remediation services to small businesses at a cost-effective rate by using a lead instructor and volunteer assistants. The first step was planning and implementing the tutor training segment. The class and accompanying manual were developed, and tutors were identified and trained in a 2-hour class. Simultaneously, the preemployment class and accompanying manual for students were being produced. A telephone survey of 24 businesses obtained information about businesses' basic skills needs, employment qualifications, and desired worker attributes. Student skills and employment interests were assessed using the Test of Adult Basic Education, General Educational Development (GED) Entry Survey, and COPS II Test. The preemployment class was offered to migrant clients nearing the end of GED or vocational studies and preparing to enter the job market. The lead instructor visited work sites, met with students and supervisors, and updated individualized educational programs. Trained volunteers were responsible for day-to-day program implementation. (Appendixes to the seven-page report include the following: correspondence and publicity materials; tutor training class lesson plans; tutor training workshop pre- and postassessment and evaluation; telephone survey; students' survey of needs; preemployment class lesson plans; certificates; preemployment class pre- and postassessment and student evaluation summaries; and evaluation forms.) (YLB)

In an attempt to handle the shortage of registered nurses (RN's), many institutions have designed articulation programs to move licensed practical nurses (LPN's) into RN programs. Research describes LPN's as nontraditional adult learners with family responsibilities who must work full-time while in school. Many are anxious about returning to the classroom. With these considerations in mind, some scholars in the field recommend that LPN-to-RN transition programs be separate from the second year of the RN program and that they be constituted to reflect the specific needs of adult learners. For example, these programs should be convenient and cost-efficient for a working adult; be limited to a few days a week; include only LPN's; have individualized learning components; and provide all necessary student learning support. To investigate the feasibility of a LPN-to-RN transition program, Seminole Community College (SCC) in Florida utilized the services of a direct mail service to identify LPN's and a telemarketing firm to conduct telephone interviews. Using a random sample of 500, 251 LPN's were contacted. The survey found that: (1) 62.2% were over the age of 40; (2) 71.3% had been practicing for 10 years or more; (3) 33.5% were employed in a hospital; (4) 15.5% were employed in a doctor's office; (5) 51.2% worked 40 or more hours per week; (6) 51.8% had an interest in studying part-time to become an RN; (7) 46.5% preferred evening classes, 31.8% day classes, and 21.7% weekends; (8) 57.4% preferred a 1 year, 20-hour per week program; and (9) the biggest reasons for delaying RN education were time, inconvenient class times, and cost. The study report includes the survey instrument and detailed results. (KP)

Consisting primarily of data tables and charts, this report on the Hunt Club Center (HCC) at Seminole Community College (SCC) in Sanford, Florida, presents information on course offerings and full-time equivalency (FTE) production for academic years 1987-88 through 1991-92; HCC area demographics; and student characteristics during fall terms 1990 and 1991, respectively. Study findings include the following: (1) the majority of courses, student enrollments, and FTE generation at HCC are for college credit; (2) college credit courses have had a greater enrolled class size than noncredit classes; (3) though sporadic, growth at HCC has been fueled primarily by evening classes; (4) generally, student FTE's increase in response to increases in course offerings; (5) HCC is located close to the highest growth areas in Orange and Seminole counties; (6) while the lower income areas of Orange county may resemble the more traditional sources of community college students, such areas have a much smaller population than their Seminole county equivalents, and targeting these Orange county areas may limit enrollment growth potential; (7) over 25% of HCC enrolled students are attending on a full-time basis and are enrolled in college-credit courses; (8) approximately 50% of HCC students also attend SCC; (9) in all types of courses, HCC students generated more FTE at HCC than at SCC; (10) the majority of HCC college credit and college preparatory students enrolled exclusively in evening classes, while the majority of continuing education and vocational/technical students enrolled exclusively in day classes; and (11) the HCC student body has a greater percentages of white students than SCC. (PAA)

A model for long-range planning designed to maximize involvement of college personnel, to improve communication among various areas of the college, to provide a process for evaluation of long-range plans and the planning process, to adjust to changing conditions, to utilize data developed at a level useful for actual operations, and to have utility in meeting internal and external long-range planning requirements is described in this paper. Use of the model requires only two college committees, one composed of the directors of the instructional areas, the director of library services, and a representative of the student development office, and the other composed of the college president and his cabinet. The first committee establishes the basic planning document and the second reviews the document and suggests revisions where appropriate. The management systems officer, not a member of either committee, is responsible for providing necessary data to both committees, converting information in the committees' plan into data for use in the program budget model, operating the program budget model, and serving as a consultant to the committees. This model is felt to reduce many of the shortcomings associated with the planning process while insuring maximum participation/representation of various college constituencies. A flow chart of the model is included. (JDS)

This study compared the effectiveness and efficiency of two alternative methods for determining the status of graduates of Seminole Community College. The first method involved the identification of graduates, design and mailing of a questionnaire, and analysis of response data, as mandated by the state. The second method compared computer data maintained by the institution to that of the Florida State University System and the State Department of Commerce. Social security numbers of students were common to all three data sets and allowed for identification of a graduate in terms of either further education in a State University System institution or employment/unemployment status as defined by the Department of Commerce. The computer comparison method was somewhat constrained inasmuch as students pursuing an education out-of-state or in private colleges could not be followed-up and the Department of Commerce data was limited to persons eligible for unemployment compensation. However, low cost, a higher rate of response, consistency of statewide data collection and reporting, and elimination of the response bias inherent in questionnaire surveys were felt to more than offset any disadvantages. Tabular data are included in this paper showing comparisons between the results obtained using the two alternative methods and pooled results. (JDS)

Cost-income studies are designed to serve two functions in instructional program evaluation. First, they act as the indicator of the economic value of a program. This economic value in conjunction with the other educational values needed in program evaluation allow for the most realistic appraisal of program worth. Second, if the studies show a program to be loss-producing, the constraints used in the study and the elements of the study itself often indicate prescriptive measures for program health. This document examines some of the methods and problems of conducting cost-income studies. Before a cost-income study begins, there should be an agreement with users as to the time frame of the study, the definitions of the elements of the study, and the general methodology. Income elements should include student income, a state support, and any other definable income. Expenses should include direct costs, department and college-wide overhead, cost of equipment, and depreciation. All cost data included in income and expense items should use only the monies of the general current funds of the college, and not federal or nonrecurring funds. Appendix A of this document gives an example of a cost study of a hypothetical program. Appendices B and C provide examples of cost-income formulas. (NHM)

This study investigated changes in student curriculum choice at Seminole Junior College (Florida) A code system was developed for 72 curriculum choices (23 in terminal degree areas), grouped into 19 broad clusters. A computerized Student Flow Matrix was then constructed to display the first and second term curriculum choices of 1,391 students who had a valid curriculum code for both the fall and spring 1973-74 semesters. Three hundred sixty-five (26 percent) of these changed their curriculum code to the extent that they appeared in a new curriculum cluster. More students changed their classification to General Degree (Transfer) than to any other curriculum. The 108 students making this change accounted for 30 percent of the changes overall. However, 82 students (22 percent) left General Degree (Transfer) for other curricula, the largest number of transfers out. On the whole, this pattern of transfer in and transfer out was duplicated in Business (14 percent in and 13 percent out), Education (9 percent in and 9 percent out), and Social Sciences (8 percent in and 8 percent out). Only one other move accounted for more than 5 percent of those changing; 6 percent left Health for other curricula. As would be expected, the areas of Business, General Degree (Transfer), and Education contained the largest number of students. (Author/NHM)

The Florida Community College Inter-Institutional Research Council (IRC) has developed a computerized budget simulation model which can help administrators determine the general fiscal impact of alternate approaches to resource utilization. This model uses three basic systems and one generalized subroutine, based on the budget requirements of the Division of Community Colleges of the Florida Department of Education. The first system generates a listing of expenses in instructional program areas, including advanced and professional, occupational, developmental and community instructional services. The second operates on support systems, including community service, academic support, student support, institutional support, and plant operation and maintenance. The third combines the output of the first two systems with revenue data to generate a statement of the ending fund balance. The subroutine uses base line data on salaries to produce budget year salary data for the instructional and support systems of the model. Although extensive input loading is required for each area of operation, most factors in the loading are required for any budget, and once the loading is complete only a few factors are changed at any time. The model produces good program budgets, or can be used in conjunction with the line item budget to assure eventual balance. (Author/NHM)