University of Arkansas
Tara Fletcher-Gibbs, left, and Amy McCarthy completed online job training funded by Reimagine to advance their careers.
Sometimes a person needs a boost to succeed, especially during a global pandemic.
The Reimagine Arkansas Workforce Project provided that boost to 3,659 people who live or work in Arkansas.
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Education awarded $13.6 million to the Arkansas Workforce Development Board and the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services to benefit Arkansans who would find the cost of job training a barrier due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The U of A’s Division of Career and Workforce Development and several state partners administered the project. The U of A set its initial goal at 2,000 participants.
Tara Fletcher-Gibbs of Fayetteville was eligible for federal funding available to pay for online job training through Reimagine. Fletcher-Gibbs worked two part-time jobs, which meant she didn’t receive the benefits typically offered with only full-time employment. She enjoyed her jobs, especially the one she had with a local theater company, but she didn’t have a college degree, which limited her options.
“I wanted to stand out and be wanted full-time,” she said. “Having some kind of art training on my resume was on my bucket list. I have all kinds of art experience.”
He Reimagining the Arkansas Workforce Project The project provided eligible applicants with free online training with a choice of programs in 15 industry clusters ranging from clinical medical assistant to software developer to advanced manufacturing. The three-year grant period with a one-year extension expires in September, and the project stopped accepting new applications recently as the final participants finish their programs. The role of the U of A Global Campus’ Professional and Workforce Development division was to help assess statewide skills gaps for in-demand occupations, develop online training programs, and deliver training designed to help Arkansans return to or thrive in the pandemic-era workplace.
Tara Dryer, senior managing director of Career and Workforce Development, said the Reimagine program met its goals and more.
“We enrolled nearly twice as many applicants as we had originally planned and saw time and time again that these training courses made a difference in people’s lives,” Dryer said. “This grant project allowed the Career and Workforce Development Department to fulfill our mission of providing training to individuals in a fast and efficient manner to enable them to participate in the local economy and improve the quality of life for themselves and their families. Additionally, we developed strong partnerships with workforce agencies across the state necessary for Reimagine’s success. These partnerships will help us continue to serve Arkansans.”
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Two things happened simultaneously that led Fletcher-Gibbs to land a full-time position at the theatre company, but her new job was not art-related. TheatreSquared found itself in a bind when its full-time graphic designer took a leave of absence and Fletcher-Gibbs enrolled in a Digital Arts Certificate program funded by Reimagine.
With what she was learning in the online certificate program, Fletcher-Gibbs dove headfirst into helping the theater company.
“I was able to do everything they needed,” she said. “It was the coolest experience right from the start. I met the expectations and deadlines of my career. It was really nice to have that experience among my coworkers that I already felt comfortable with.”
Since that experience with the marketing team, Fletcher-Gibbs has been promoted to a full-time position as a finance office assistant. The certificate gave Fletcher-Gibbs the skills to take action and prove she is a good employee, and allowed her to achieve her goal of having art education on her resume. She continues to work on her art at home.
“I’m so grateful that this program existed in the first place,” she said. “If I hadn’t been able to save the day last year, I wouldn’t have been given a full-time job. It put me on the map as a reliable and responsible person.”
Andrea Newby, TheatreSquared’s director of marketing and communications, agreed.
“Tara Fletcher-Gibbs, with her exceptional skills honed through her Digital Arts Certificate, became an invaluable resource for TheatreSquared, especially during our most hectic periods,” said Newby. “Her mastery of Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop allowed her to not only meet deadlines, but often exceed them, delivering high-quality work ahead of schedule. Her creative input and design expertise played a crucial role in the resounding success of our annual Gala.”
Serving others
Kerry Garcia, a grant compliance specialist for professional and workforce development, has helped thousands of Reimagine participants on their way to that boost. At least one person in each of Arkansas’s 75 counties has signed up for Reimagine, Garcia said, from population centers in northwest and central Arkansas to smaller towns across the state.
Of the 3,659 people who signed up, 81%, or 2,976, were women and 30%, or 1,207, were 55 or older, Garcia said. Another 34%, or 1,252, were jobless at the time they applied. Members of minority populations accounted for 56%, or 2,033, of participants. The total included 15 residents of neighboring states who work in Arkansas.
Staff members created 10 new online job training courses with input from Arkansas business and industry representatives. The top five industry groups with the most enrollments were health care, 1,860; technology, 525; business, 514; project management, 179; and manufacturing, 95.
“These training courses have allowed program participants the opportunity to upgrade their skills and gain new and exciting employment opportunities,” Garcia said. “My position gave me the chance to speak with many of them and see how they overcame obstacles and worked hard to improve their career prospects. Reimagine would not have been successful without people who had the vision and determination to change their lives.”
Garcia was the lead application reviewer and first point of contact for the Reimagine Arkansas Workforce Project. She was responsible for processing all applications, determining eligibility, and enrolling individuals in the program, and now focuses on assisting participants as they complete their training programs. She was named Global Campus Employee of the Quarter last August for her work at Reimagine.
Sheila Bowerman, academic records specialist at U of A Global Campus, also worked with many of the Reimagine participants and communicated with them regularly via email. She said the highlight for her was feeling their excitement when they successfully completed their program.
“We have heard many times from participants how much they have enjoyed the program, how it has helped them improve their lives, and how much it has meant to them that we have been there throughout their enrollment,” Bowerman said. “Being able to offer participants a means to overcome difficulties, to offer them hope, encouragement, and the confidence to change their lives means a lot to me. Every completion of the program is a victory; every participant who has completed it is celebrated. It has truly been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career at the U of A.”
A new beginning
Another participant, Amy McCarthy, framed her certificate of completion from the Medical Billing and Coding course and hung it on a wall in her Harrison home. She is a mother of five adults and was looking for a career she could quickly get into. An internet search yielded medical coding as one of the top results and she found the U of A Reimagine program when looking for programs to get certified in that field.
McCarthy enrolled and began the course in September 2022, her first time attending school since 1990. She finished in January 2023 and spent another two months preparing for the certification exam. With that goal accomplished, she began working in medical billing and coding in May. She is currently furloughed, but hopes to return to work in her chosen field soon, occupying her time with a data entry position for now.
“It’s very interesting,” McCarthy said of medical billing and coding. “I quite like it. There are a lot of directions you can go. I was a stay-at-home mom for over 25 years. I had some odd jobs, but I never had a career. My kids are all grown up and doing their own thing. I thought, ‘What are you going to do now?'”
His success has provided a good example for some of his children and friends.
“You can do it, whatever it is,” McCarthy said. “You can go back to school, you just have to do it. It can be hard to switch to something new when you’re used to doing one thing. Being able to do it so fluently was amazing.”
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