Jess Lambrecht (University of Wisconsin) on Empowering Lifelong Learning Through Employer Collaboration

On today’s episode of the Illumination by Modern Campus podcast, podcast host Shauna Cox was joined by Jess Lambrecht to discuss the impact of strategic partnerships and the lifelong learning opportunities ahead for higher ed. 

Transcript

Voiceover:Welcome to Illumination by Modern Campus, the leading podcast focused on transformation and change in the higher education space. On today’s episode, we speak with Jess Lambrecht, who is Executive Officer of the Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Training at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. Jess and podcast host Shauna Cox discuss the impact of strategic partnerships and the lifelong learning opportunities ahead for higher ed.

Shauna Cox (00:02):Jess, welcome back to the Illumination podcast. I'm so glad you could join me today.

Jess Lambrecht (00:06):Awesome. Great to be here. Thanks, Shauna.

Shauna Cox (00:09):Absolutely. So we have a lot to talk about. There's a lot of stuff going on at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay where you're at, and we want to hear about it. So you recently launched a programming initiative in collaboration with three major companies in the region. Could you briefly share more details on this and the significance of creating it?

Jess Lambrecht (00:31):Absolutely. Happy to. And thanks again, Shauna. Yeah, I'm really excited. In my short term or short time here at the university, we have been able to launch a really great program to better serve our community. And truthfully, what I love about the role of continuing education is our ability to be flexible and to respond and create based on employer needs. So essentially, we had an employer who approached us and said, we have an issue with turnover for frontline staff, and they operate a 24 7 facility. And so training to get to their associates on a timely basis can be quite challenging. And so when they brought that concern to me, I thought, well, if it's good for you, why don't we make this even bigger and better? How can we expand the effort? Because we very much believe what might be good for one organization can really benefit our entire community.

(01:24):We launched a exceptional customer experience program. We also know that that type of programming is important for today's current working generation because they have challenges sometimes in the interactions that they have with customer facing roles. So to expand the effort, we worked with two other or three total organizations in the region who had a credible reputation in being high customer focused. And they helped build the content, which was the beautiful part about it, that their reputation and what their expectations are for their employees was essentially put within our learning system so that anyone can become more skilled in this space. And now we're able to branch out and not only benefit the companies who are asking for it, but now offer it to a much broader audience and something that we can all be proud of from a brand credibility and content experts.

Shauna Cox (02:19):Absolutely. And when we're looking at the modern day learner, they're really a lifelong learner. They're not there just for the four years. They're coming in and out, different times, different needs. And I want to connect those two pieces with the partnerships and ask you, how are these partnerships impacting student engagement and retention throughout that student lifelong learning journey?

Jess Lambrecht (02:45):Yeah. I think one of the other greatest benefits of this particular program, one, it wasn't that costly for us to build, so we were mindful about that aspect. But then more importantly, it was a program area that I felt was important for our current undergraduate student population that we can now deliver to them. And as an institution, we're highly focused on lifelong learning and want to help our current undergraduate population understand that a baccalaureate degree is meaningful and important. But we also know that in this era of technology, that access to information is very different. And so how do we help our current university student population understand that they need to continue to supplement and differentiate themselves with additional types of trainings that will continue to differentiate them no matter what market space they end up in. And so we're now offering this customer experience program to our students for no additional cost to help them be a part of that ecosystem and build a culture more importantly that they will need to continuously learn and add on where they can or as they need to, because we all navigate career path journeys in a variety of ways.

(03:58):So that's the exciting part, is we're engaging another audience that may have otherwise thought That's not for me when in actuality it is.

Shauna Cox (04:06):And I want to expand on the audience that might not be typically engaged and talk about the broader community here. And I think football fans may be excited about this depending on who they're cheering for. But you guys have a partnership of course, with the Green Bay Packers, which is particularly exciting as it engages learners of all ages. So could you briefly describe this program and the impact it's having on the community?

Jess Lambrecht (04:36):Yeah, absolutely. This was one of my favorite programs we launched in the last two years. It really came out of the idea of working with, again, a global brand with the NFL, right? And thinking, how can we align ourselves in a way that would be meaningful on a broader scale? And previously, the Packers organization had taught some credit bearing courses on the main campus, which was awesome, but because for a variety of reasons that had kind of lived out its time. And so I thought, man, wouldn't it be even better if we expanded that effort and brought it to a virtual audience and actually reached to our older adult population, our senior community in the area. And it's had huge success. We've sold out the last three terms of the virtual offering. And the coolest part about it honestly, is that we know that there are Packers fans all over the globe.

(05:32):And so for the first time in our history, we reached an international audience because we were connecting with the fan clubs in different parts of Europe and Australia, and they were hungry for the opportunity as well. And so the museum curator of the Packers was our main partner, and he designed the content, realizing that we needed to move beyond the brick and mortar space of their physical museum. And so now we're reaching an audience. And the other cool part I will add is the participants also get a pass to the Hall of Fame and to the museum so that when they're back in Green Bay, they can experience it for themselves on top of interacting in that course with former players, current players, key leaders within the organization, and feel like they've got a real human perspective on the evolution of the team and why it is one of the greatest teams, if not the greatest team in the NFL.

Shauna Cox (06:32):T otally not biased whatsoever. Love it. And so I want to touch on that aspect that you're talking about because clearly you guys have multiple touch points with various audiences across all different ages. And so in what ways do the partnerships shape or enhance the institution's brand from both that learner and community perspective?

Jess Lambrecht (07:45):

Absolutely. So before I got into higher education, I was in marketing and that was my background in training. And so I think a lot about brand equity, brand power, user experience, those pieces play a critical role in what I think we can continue to deliver on within continuing education in particular and being more responsive to employer needs in our region. And I think our desire as a university to continue to serve in this way has really helped elevate our profile in the community and building better partnerships, which is leading to incredible enrollment growth in our programs, especially within continuing education. I mean, we've become the second largest unit in the state. And to deliver programming that is responsive and distinctive enough that if anyone has interest in learning, what can we create and design in a quick turnaround space? Because I think that's the other aspect that is employers are demanding now, is they want to know that an institution can help respond, that they have a partner to deliver on their interests, which again, has resulted in some pretty big wins over the last few years.

Shauna Cox (08:59):And I think what's important to note is that through all of this, through the various programs that you've created it, you had an idea, you flipped the switch and overnight success, everything. You just happened so smoothly and easily. So I want to ask, what lessons have you learned from collaborating with local employers and what's required to maintain a successful and strong partnership that lasts years?

Jess Lambrecht (09:26):Absolutely. So I think a lot about maintaining the relationship over the duration, that there's not a definitive stop point, and it does require a lot more intentional communication and ongoing follow up. I don't want to be in a situation where it's a turn and burn and we produce what they want and then never come back and revisit it. I want to ensure that that relationship is established over the long, long-term, even if certain key players move in or out of roles, that the organization itself continues to feel like they're a part of the university community, and again, that we can help respond to them. So the different organizations that we've had really great success with include our economic development boards, our local chambers, our workforce board, different industry associations. The more that we can be present at events being seen in using our influence of social media aspects and whatnot. It's really helped to create a different framework of what and how we can deliver. And we're just much more thoughtful in our approach to foster those relationships on a daily basis. It's quite incredible. It's a lot of fun.

Shauna Cox (10:36):I love it. Well, Jess, those are all the questions that I have for you. But you know the rules by now. We can't let you go without a restaurant recommendation. You are of course in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Where do people need to go?

Jess Lambrecht (10:50):One of my favorites is the restaurant that's within Lambo Field. It is a frequent space that I visit. It's 1919 tap. It is a great place for great cheese curds, a great burger. And just to be in that environment is a ton of fun. And I welcome anyone to Green Bay to help be a part of our community.

Shauna Cox (11:12):Amazing. Well, as a Canadian, I can always appreciate a good cheese curd. Jess, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate Thank you, Shauna.