The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)
29
7
"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: Chicago, IL
Founded: 1974
Mission: CAEL pioneers learning strategies for individuals and organizations. We advance lifelong learning in partnership with educational institutions, employers, labor organizations, government, and communities. CAEL works to remove policy and organizational barriers to learning opportunities, identifies and disseminates effective practices, and delivers value-added services.
Tags:
national, workforce development, policy, higher education services, research, consulting, career advising, green economy, resource services, 2010
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Pamela Tate.
Joining CAEL in 1987, Pam has become nationally and internationally recognized for her work in facilitating workforce education and training programs among educational institutions, business, labor and government and for her efforts in assisting colleges and universities to develop systems of Prior Learning Assessment and quality assurance in adult learning programs. In 1996, Pam was acknowledged for a career devoted…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio:
n/a
Total Revenue:
$19,286,613
From the Nonprofit
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Contact Info
Address:
55 E Monroe Street
Chicago, IL 60603, USA
Story:
Working adults are pursuing college degrees, how is CAEL helping in this initiative?
The stereotyped image of the college student as one who is 18-23 years old in residential, full-time study is being challenged by a new reality.
The U.S. economy is now information-driven and a college degree has become an increasingly important credential in the marketplace, both for new entrants into the labor force and those already employed.
Working adults who want to succeed in the present economic climate are pursuing a college education in increasing numbers, and they are becoming a fast-growing part of the undergraduate population at college campuses across the country.
Many traditional colleges and universities struggle to adapt to this changing student marketplace, but find themselves burdened by traditions and practices that prove ill suited for adults.
CAEL is addressing this issue through its Adult Learning Focused Institution (ALFI) Initiative, the goal of which is to help colleges and universities improve learning opportunities for working adults and the employers who support their education.
At the center of this initiative is a framework CAEL created to assist colleges and universities in meeting the unique needs of their adult students. This framework, entitled CAEL’s Principles of Effectiveness for Serving Adult Learners, describes policies and practices institutions of higher education can adopt to make educational opportunities more accessible and remove obstacles from the path to degree completion.
(Read more about the Adult Learning Focused Institution initiative at: http://www.cael.org/alfi.htm)
Expert Reviews of The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)
Evidence of Impact Summary:
This organization has been credited with training and retraining employees for roles within growing industries like energy.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
Most experts cited leadership and staff as major assets. Others noted their marketing and operations were strong as well.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
Areas for potential improvement are varied regarding this organization. Program design, staffing, advocacy, communications, and scalability are mentioned.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
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Impact |
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They have pioneered and demonstrated many programs on engaging the adult population, primarily the under-educated, into initial "training" and have successfully helped companies and organizations through career ladders and lattices, to shift their employee's focus to lifelong learning. | ||
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They develop a pipeline of workers for the energy industry. Its programs ensure that newly hired employees enter the industry with the necessary skills. It also re-trains current employees so that they can keep their skill set relevant to the changing technology. | ||
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They've effectively partnered with a diversity of key stakeholders to develop and implement practical, effective lifelong learning solutions. | ||
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They have strong leadership in changing life-long learning and career pathways for adult workers. | ||
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They have had an impact to support policy changes at the state level. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Leadership |
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They also have great leadership in Pam Tate and Gabi Zola. The have a strong social network with many marquis organizations, both nationally as well as at the state level. | ||
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They have strong leadership and good, conceptualized ideas. | ||
Program Design |
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They offer online education programs and are both contextualized and credit bearing. Their members represent more than two-thirds of the energy industry. | ||
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This is a fantastic organization. They understand that people want to be the drivers of their own careers. People want to follow their aspirations not just do work that fits their skills. No one, even those with low educational levels, wants to do work that they don't like--it stagnates careers and produces poor work environments. CAEL understands this best of any organization nationally. | ||
Marketing & Operations |
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Marketing and operations are strong. | ||
Leadership & Staff |
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They have strong staff and leadership. | ||
Staff |
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CAEL has the strength of serving displaced workers directly and letting those experiences drive policy advocacy and innovation. They are full of smart people. | ||
Focus |
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They have a great niche market on adult learning and a good reputation with employers. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Program Design |
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They have an innovative organization, and with all innovation there is a great deal of R&D and focus on marketability. As demonstrations are undertaken, more effort needs to be built into the design phase as to the "sustainability" of the program or service after testing. Proving a concept is one thing, making it a viable social innovation is the next step. A second area again may be diversification. As a nationally recognized organization, they need to continue to innovate. Much like the private sector, Apple with its iPhone, or Amazon and Kindle, they are poised to create transformative changes vs. incremental change. | ||
Communication |
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They could track and publicize the longer term results of their programs. | ||
Advocacy |
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In their policy/advocacy work, they are engaging a broader array of partners and advocates. | ||
Staff |
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They are too expensive and sometimes limited staff. | ||
Scalability |
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They could increase capacity to do more with credit for prior learning. | ||
Resources |
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Their policy work seems under-resourced at the expense of some potential breakthroughs. | ||
Visibility |
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I would like to see CAEL be more visible in the greater workforce community. | ||
Leadership
Pamela Tate
President and CEO
President and CEO
From the Nonprofit
The nonprofit has not added any comments yet. If you are a representative of this nonprofit and would like to leave a comment, please email us at
feedback@myphilanthropedia.org
with your request.
