A New Name for a Broader University Commitment

At Cleveland State University’s Division of Continuing and Extended Education, we recently decided to change our name to the Division of Lifelong Learning and Workforce Development as we became part of a new CSU initiative, The Talent Hub.

Our goal was to select a name that reflected a conviction that has become central to our work. It is the understanding that learning does not end when someone earns a degree and does not happen only at the beginning of a career. We also wanted the name to identify a place within the university where CSU learners may enter education through multiple pathways. We know that adults arrive at and return to education for many reasons, and we wanted a name that clarified our role in supporting them throughout a lifetime.

That is our mission within CSU. Supporting people as they pursue workforce credentials, complete degrees, prepare for advancement, respond to technological change, or seek further education and training for any of the many other reasons people return to learning throughout their lives.

Our place within CSU’s Talent Hub helps us operationalize this mission. The Talent Hub brings together education, workforce development, and regional economic opportunity. Within that larger effort, our Division can help create clearer connections among learners, academic programs, employers, and the knowledge people have already gained through work and experience.

For employers, the new name should come with a practical expectation: The Division will not only support our learners but also the employers that hire them. We do this in many ways, including partnering to develop industry-recognized certifications, providing corporate training, and using cohort delivery to connect employees with education.

None of this work can be accomplished by one division acting alone. We will work with CSU’s colleges and faculty, enrollment teams, and external partners. Our role is to help make the connections easier to see and navigate between noncredit and credit learning, between experience and recognized knowledge, and between education and continued advancement.

While we believe the Division of Lifelong Learning and Workforce Development is a clearer description of our work and the mission we have set for ourselves, it is also an obligation. We must build educational pathways that people can enter at different points in their lives. We must make the university’s expertise more accessible to employers and working adults. And we must ensure that learners who come to CSU through workforce education understand themselves as part of the larger student community. One University. One CSU Learner.

That may be asking a lot from a name, but we believe the name, The Division and CSU are up to the task we have set for ourselves.

Wednesday Workforce Edge will address different aspects of the growth we see for the Division of Lifelong Learning and Workforce Development as part of the CSU Talent Hub throughout August. Subscribe to get notified whenever a new edition is available.

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