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Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)

Employability Skills

NCTC's Quality Enhancement Plan was approved by SACSCOC in September of 2021. The program, Aspire To Be Hired, is focused on developing students' employability and marketable skills in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses. These skills prepare NCTC graduates to enter the job market and succeed in their careers.

Mission

North Central Texas College’s Quality Enhancement Plan, Aspire to Be Hired, focuses on employability skill development for students through evidence-based training modules embedded into curriculum and structured support services. The program provides students increased marketability and preparedness through building awareness of the importance and impact of employability skills, improved ability to articulate these skill sets, and opportunities to apply the professional skills and knowledge. The overall goal is to remove barriers and reduce the skills gap for long-term student success.

Abstract 

North Central Texas College’s (NCTC) Quality Enhancement Plan, Aspire to be Hired, develops Career and Technical Education (CTE) students’ employability or “soft” skills: communication, critical thinking, leadership, collaboration, professionalism, ethical decision making, emotional intelligence, and problem solving. The QEP supplements CTE students’ academic education and technical training by teaching them how to develop, articulate, and apply these skills to improve students’ long-term marketability. Specific employability skills are chosen by each division and embedded in students’ coursework and developed through engagement with the Career Services office. The Dean of CTE proposed the QEP’s topic, and it was selected by the college’s faculty, staff, and administration from several proposals in fall 2019. The QEP is informed by scholarly best practices and the expertise of the college’s CTE faculty, academic faculty, the Career Services team, and industry partners. 

The NCTC Quality Enhancement Plan: Aspire to Be Hired

The plan sees to further develop Professionalism in NCTC Students through INTENTIONAL and FOCUSED Employability Skill Instruction and Career Coaching to:

  • Increase student’s AWARENESS of employability skills and professional development

  • Develop students ability to DESCRIBE and DISCUSS employability skills

  • Provide practical APPLICATION of employability skills and knowledge to better prepare NCTC students for Success in their Careers

Program Goals

The NCTC QEP seeks to further develop problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork, communication, ethical decision making, and leadership through intentional and focused employability skills instruction within the curriculum, as well as structured support services focusing on these areas of professional development. Through the QEP implementation, these employability and professional skills will be taught, fostered, and demonstrated to students. This will be accomplished through the Intentional Instruction and Coaching of Employability Skills, to:

  • Increasing student’s awareness of employability and professional skill development.

  • Develop student’s ability to describe and discuss employability skills.

  • Practical application of employability skills and knowledge.

 Quality Enhancement Plan Report

 

Contact us.

For more information about NCTC's Quality Enhancement Plan, please contact the QEP Director, Amy Klohn, at aklohn@nctc.edu