Taking the Guesswork Out of Program Revisions

Providing training for the workforce is a priority for many, yet colleges are experiencing declining enrollments and not meeting the demands of a swiftly changing workforce. McHenry County College (MCC) is taking steps to provide revived education opportunities to help close the skills gap. They reached out to WIDS to lead the process.

MCC program faculty teamed up with experienced WIDS Consultants for an in-depth assessment of the program and course outcomes. The Program of Study process began by engaging local employers in a WIDS-facilitated, virtual DACUM. The DACUM results provided the foundation for making program and course revisions.

WIDS consultants guided faculty through the analysis of the DACUM, discussing where current program and courses align and where skill-related gaps (opportunities for improvement!) exist. The consultants leveraged the WIDS model, process, and software to lay out improvements to program and course outcomes for MCC faculty. WIDS experience leading program and course revisions opened the eyes of MCC faculty to focus on the end goal of preparing students for the workforce and keep the many details organized.

MCC faculty made well-informed decisions using the DACUM results, validated by the WIDS program to DACUM mapping. Further, using the WIDS Pathways feature in the software helped MCC communicate credential alignment with job opportunities and program by clearly bundling job information with the designated learning requirements.

At the end of the process, MCC confidently implemented revisions to programs and courses, armed with valuable documentation supporting changes and the educational pathway for learners. Students and faculty no longer need to guess which courses are appropriate for education and occupational success.