PROVIDENCE – Less than a year after becoming Curry College’s new president, Jay Gonzalez needed to find a way to make his Milton, Mass.-based institution stand out and be competitive among other area colleges, especially with Curry just outside of the prominent college hub that is Boston. He and his staff, in reviewing feedback from
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R.I. POSTSECONDARY COMMISSIONER Shannon Gilkey wants to see how Curry College's "job guarantee" program plays out before suggesting local colleges have similar initiatives. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]
R.I. Postsecondary Education Commissioner Shannon Gilkey told PBN local institutions are closely partnering with companies to train the future workforce, even though colleges are not offering “guarantees.” One example he noted is the paid education and training delivered by CCRI at the Westerly Education Center for General Dynamics Electric Boat that leads to a job at the submarine manufacturer. He also referred to a tightly coupled nursing program at URI, RIC and CCRI with clinical simulation experience, which leads to students quickly getting jobs out of that program due to the high demand for nurses, he says.
Gilkey says Rhode Island’s colleges, while don’t offer a job guarantee that Curry has, are motivated to replicate in scale locally so that institutions are living up to the responsibility of helping students succeed beyond college.
“We need to make sure that every credential we’re producing is tightly coupled to the good jobs and in the region,” Gilkey said.
Bryant officials also feel that the Smithfield-based university does more than enough to prepare students for life after graduation and has the numbers to back up their claim. According to data Bryant provided, 99% of its students are employed or in a full-time graduate program within six months of graduating. Additionally, Bryant graduates, per the university’s data, earn 36% more than the national median salary and their median starting salary is $72,500.
Edinaldo Tibaldi, Bryant’s mathematics and economics professor, told PBN the university also offers students a one-credit internship opportunity as they go from their first year to the second, as opposed to waiting until their junior year before interning. Bryant’s Amica Career Center, Tibaldi says, is open to supporting students along the way to build their resumes, to create a social media presence, career fairs to help them prepare through mock interviews and the curriculum.
While Tibaldi feels Bryant should invest resources to prepare students for success, he does not believe the university adding a job-guarantee program is necessary given Bryant’s track record of return on educational investment.
“We do a pretty good job in preparing them for professional success and that has been our North Star,” Tibaldi said. “I don’t see that changing.”
But with local colleges connecting with various area companies and businesses to create workforce opportunities for students and employee pipelines, would a job-guarantee program be additionally beneficial in Rhode Island both for colleges and the economy? R.I. Department of Labor and Training Director Matthew Weldon told PBN he does see the idea of local colleges offering job guarantees as a “huge benefit” to the local economy if it is successful.
Weldon feels the state’s small size could position Rhode Island well to be successful in job-connecting programs similar to Curry’s. He also says employers have to be engaged in curriculum development and priority areas to make sure they’re connected to the programs and the programs are delivering results that will benefit the local economy.
Gilkey says he is going to pay close attention to what Curry is doing with its job-guarantee program because he says it is “an interesting way to say to students ‘we mean what we say.’ ” When asked if he feels there is merit to what Curry is offering and if Rhode Island can benefit from it, Gilkey says it’s too early to tell.
“I want to see what the effects are and how Curry does with it. We should be paying attention to it,” Gilkey said.
Gonzalez says it will take a few years for Curry to fully know what percentage of graduates have been placed in jobs within six months. The first class the new program will apply to is the class that started this past year, he says. Gonzalez did say he knows Curry’s enrollment will increase next year because of high interest in the new job-guarantee program.
When asked if other local colleges should have job-guarantee initiatives, Gonzalez says every college has to decide for itself what it’s offering students, what its strengths are, and what it's trying to accomplish. But he wouldn’t be surprised if more colleges take Curry’s lead if the program generates positive results, he says.
“I know students and families think this matters. We hope at Curry, it’s going to make a difference,” Gonzalez said.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at