Presented By: Heather Butler, Virginia Western Community College
Co-Authors: Ben Casteel, Virginia Highlands Community College
Eric Kaufman, Virginia Tech
Adam O'Neal, Virginia Western Community College
Mallory White, Virginia Western Community College

According to data published by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), a significant disconnect exists between students' perceived workplace skills and their employers' perceptions of the students' skills. Based on this, Virginia Tech's Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education faculty have partnered with the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) under the Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL) project, and this session will highlight insights gained from the partnership. Under the five-year USDA-NIFA grant, which began in 2020, agriculture faculty at three community colleges within the VCCS have been incorporating teaching strategies and activities that bridge workforce and academic skills. With guidance from supporting faculty at Virginia Tech, the VCCS agriculture faculty have created and implemented Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) activities addressing eleven employability skills identified by the APLU study. Students work in teams through problem-based activities addressing such skills as effective listening, communicating accurately and concisely, asking effective questions, workplace conflict resolution, and building professional relationships. Students are also able to earn digital badges in each of the eleven employability skills using the Open Badges platform, that may be downloaded and used on the students' LinkedIn profiles, Indeed, and other digital portfolios. Through consistent use of PDSA strategies and learning badges, faculty have been able to track and improve retention in their agriculture programs. As a result of this partnership, the participating faculty have created a sustainable, state-wide VCCS Agriculture Peer Group to continue sharing strategies that advance workforce skills in agricultural courses. Participating faculty have been encouraged by the positive results based on student feedback and translation of workforce skills into subsequent courses. In the remaining year of this partnership between the VCCS and Virginia Tech, participants will develop long-term objectives to maintain and strengthen these new partnerships, producing graduates with both strong academic and durable workplace skills.