# Working Group Notes — Microcredential Program

**Branfield Community College**
**Meeting:** 2026-04-22
**Attendees:** Provost, Workforce Dev Director, Chair of Industry Advisory Board, two faculty leads (Data Analytics, Healthcare Admin), Financial Aid Director

## Why we're doing this

Regional employer survey (Q1 2026) showed 340+ unfilled mid-skill jobs in the three-county area. State workforce board approved a $1.4M grant if we can launch by fall 2027 with at least three tracks. Existing AAS programs are too long for working adults — average completion 3.5 years.

## What we're building

Six-month stackable microcredentials. Three tracks at launch:

1. **Data Analytics** (SQL, Excel/Power BI, intro Python). Faculty lead Marisol Reyes. Strongest employer demand. Will be MVP — first to launch, used to validate format.
2. **Healthcare Admin** (medical coding, EHR systems, patient workflow). Faculty lead Dev Patel. Aging population in region drives demand.
3. **Sustainable Construction** (green building practices, retrofit basics, code compliance). New faculty hire required.

Stackable means credits transfer into related AAS or BAS later if the student wants.

## Decisions made today

- **Data Analytics is MVP.** Launch fall 2027, others phase in spring/fall 2028. Validate format before scaling.
- **Hybrid delivery.** Two evenings/week in person + asynchronous online. Board rejected pure-online (concerns about adult learner outcomes data).
- **Stipend program.** Up to $3,000/student for low-income students, funded from the state grant. Means-tested.
- **Industry Advisory Board** has approval authority on curriculum. Three employers committed (regional hospital, mid-size data consultancy, county housing authority). All three commit to interview every graduate.
- **Cohort cap: 24 per track per term.** Driven by classroom size and faculty load.

## Open questions

- Childcare for evening sessions — can we partner with the campus childcare center? Deferred to next meeting.
- Marketing — provost wants to know cost per enrolled student before approving budget. Need workforce dev to model.
- Do we offer a tuition payment plan in addition to the stipend? Financial aid director thinks yes; provost wants to see uptake projections first.

## What we're NOT doing

- Not pursuing pure-online delivery (rejected — see above).
- Not launching all three tracks at once (rejected — risk concentration, faculty bandwidth).
- Not building employer-customized cohorts (rejected — too operationally complex for MVP).

## Next steps

- Workforce Dev: marketing cost model by 2026-05-15.
- Provost: childcare partnership exploratory conversation.
- Faculty leads: draft data analytics curriculum outline by 2026-06-01.
- Reconvene 2026-05-20.
