A proposal submitted by researchers at North Carolina State University, including Audrey Jaeger, executive director of the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research and a W. Dallas Herring Professor, will be considered for inclusion on a panel at SXSW EDU 2025 through the event’s public PanelPicker voting process.
The proposal, titled “Connecting Working Learners to the Jobs of the Future,” will highlight interdisciplinary and cross-sector efforts to address the multifaceted challenges that working learners face as they enter the workforce. The panel will also highlight promising practices and lessons learned in the areas of instructional innovation, statewide public policy, transformative leadership, and effective approaches to engaging adult learners.
The participants of the proposed panel will:
- Learn about strategies for developing non-academic qualifications for working learners and the challenges in this area
- Learn how partnership strategies and value propositions are implemented at community colleges.
- Learn strategies to connect underrepresented workers with jobs, developed by people with systems expertise and life experience.
The public has until August 18 to vote and voice their opinions on ideas for the sessions, including the proposal from Jaeger, Helen Chen, senior vice provost for instructional programs and professor of computer science, and Sarah Hall, director of the Institute for Emerging Issues.
30% of the points for all submitted proposals will be determined by public voting. The remainder of the points will be determined by the evaluations of the SXSW EDU Advisory Committee and SXSW EDU staff and will determine which presentations will be selected for the event, which will take place March 3-6 in Austin, Texas.
