In an effort to enhance the Illinois Community College System and ICCB’s ability to track student outcomes in the workforce, ICCB and IDES are utilizing microdata in their statewide data systems to pilot a Community College Student to Career Outcome Data Web Tool. The IDES-ICCB pilot initiative has been shared with the Academic, Workforce, and Student Support Committee of the ICCB Board and authorized by the ICCB MIS/Research/ILDS Advisory Committee. Thirteen community college districts are piloting the Career Outcome Web Tool.
As background, IDES and the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) piloted the Career Outcome Tool in 2015-16 with 25,000 4-year degree graduates in 2010 from ten Illinois higher education institutions. ICCB and IBHE are working together with IDES to ensure there is a representative Career Outcome Tool for the entire Illinois higher education system.
ICCB Pilot
To ensure the Career Outcomes Web Tool meets the needs of the Illinois Community College System, a select group of community colleges are part of the pilot. Review, input, and refinement from the pilot community colleges is critical before roll-out of the tool is established for the entire community college system.
With the execution of the Shared Data Agreement between ICCB and IDES, ICCB transferred fiscal year 2010 cohort microdata representing the pilot community colleges deriving from its Centralized Data System to IDES. Specifically, two student cohorts are being analyzed as part of the pilot: 1) fiscal year 2010 student graduates with no subsequent enrollment activity in post-secondary education, and 2) fiscal year 2010 student graduates with subsequent enrollment activity in post-secondary education. ICCB demographic and program area of study data elements for each student record in the two cohorts are also provided to IDES. The pilot will occur through fall 2017.
Subsequent enrollment in higher education is determined by ICCB prior to the IDES data exchange by linking ICCB student data with National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) data. IDES, with assistance from dedicated staff at Illinois State University (ISU) links ICCB and IDES microdata to attach career outcomes and load matched data into the web tool.
Within the IDES hosted web tool in the SAS-VA environment, the pilot community colleges and ICCB each have a secure, single point of access to track summary student career earnings, career job stability, and area of instruction to career industries. Data within the tool are utilized by designated staff at ICCB, the pilot community colleges, and IDES specifically for the pilot. ICCB and the pilot community colleges will work with IDES to ensure the validity and reliability of career outcomes within the web tool. Additionally, review of web tool interactive visualization tools will occur with suggested refinement and additions sent to IDES.