Alamo Colleges District: 2024 BEST Award Winner, #8

This higher education institution's students aren't the only ones learning.

Artificial intelligence is a red-hot topic. That's why the talent development team at Alamo Colleges District implemented new learning experiences last year to educate staff about the growth of AI and its many capabilities and limitations for both instructors and students. "We recognized that AI presents unique challenges and opportunities, prompting us to create and provide valuable resources to our faculty and staff," explains Esteban Ramon, learning and TD specialist at Alamo Colleges.

The institution offers an array of educational opportunities and learning models, rendering AI and its many usages particularly relevant. Alamo Colleges encompasses five independently accredited colleges and eight education and training centers in the greater San Antonio, Texas, area and serves more than 100,000 students via a workforce of nearly 6,000 employees. Its "customers," or students, earn certificates, attend short-term training programs, and pursue associate and bachelor's degrees. With so many moving pieces, keeping leaders current on the latest technologies that affect learning and information sharing is critical.

In developing AI education, the TD team "listened to our faculty and staff who, early on, requested training on using AI because they saw its potential to help students meet their learning outcomes and for faculty and staff to create more efficient work processes," says Ramon. Toward that end, the TD team organized a workshop featuring Anna Mills, a distinguished AI expert and writer. The event attracted 125 participants last August, demonstrating the strong interest in and demand for AI knowledge within Alamo Colleges.

The TD function also developed a workshop to provide faculty with a foundational understanding of large language models, such as ChatGPT, and their potential applications in the classroom. Since the workshop's launch in April 2023, 128 faculty members have successfully completed it.

"This approach ensures that our new educators are well prepared to leverage AI in their teaching methods, aligning our talent development efforts with our overarching mission and the evolving needs of our institution," Ramon states. "Students benefit from gaining practical experience using tools that local employers are articulating as essential skills for potential talent."

That strategic initiative has played a crucial role in the institution's journey toward fostering innovation and staying competitive in the higher education sector.

Training from the top down

AI training is just one example of how Alamo Colleges committed to taking a future-forward approach to upskilling employees. The institution also rolled out key initiatives aimed at addressing the unique challenges that its high-level employees face.

"The launch of the Strategic Leadership Institute (SLI) and other supervisor training initiatives attracted increased participation from senior leaders," explains Ramon. Those programs equip leaders with advanced strategies, "fostering a culture of growth and resilience impacting the entire organization," he adds.

Buy-in was immediate: Nearly all eligible senior leaders—91 percent—attended SLI, underscoring the senior leadership team members' strong commitment to their ongoing development.

One aspect of SLI, the Leadership Academy, catered to the needs of deans, directors, and department chairs. The academy hones the skills and behaviors necessary to become a leader who inspires others to follow willingly, and it delves into identifying individual strengths that propel leaders forward and highlights areas of improvement, says Ramon. The initiative exceeded the TD team's goals with an inaugural cohort of 58 leaders.

As senior leaders embrace L&D to augment their abilities, an openness to learning filters down to employees in the trenches at Alamo Colleges, who willingly embrace new training opportunities that the TD team presents. The new Effective Managers Training Program offers supervisors, managers, and team leaders a comprehensive understanding of their personal tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses as leaders, empowering them to evolve. It enables participants to identify and leverage their strengths, communicate proficiently with their teams, and lead with confidence and clarity.

The Aspiring Leaders Program, accessible to all faculty and staff interested in pursuing leadership roles, focuses on establishing a solid foundation in leadership principles and addressing shared challenges that emerging leaders encounter. "It also provides a straightforward, scalable process for leadership development and encourages collaboration at all levels of the organization," Ramon notes.

Holistic education

While designing training opportunities, the TD function keeps the institution's students top of mind. Last year, the TD team focused on better informing staff about resources available to students.

For example, the newly launched Faculty Instructor Awareness of Student Parent Resources Program informs employees about opportunities for student parents—such as support services and flexible scheduling options—and "fills a critical gap ... to keep them on the path to successfully completing their educational and career goal, achieving social and economic mobility, and in many cases, creating generational change through education," says Ramon.

Education at Alamo Colleges is not limited to professional growth opportunities. Embracing a focus on employee well-being, the TD team launched an initiative aimed at preventing anxiety, stress, depression, and burnout. AlamoWELL, the company's health and well-being program, "stretched us as an organization to develop the whole person," explains Ramon. In seeking to meet employees' development needs aligned to both the mind and body, "we launched implementation of the Calm app to 2,500 employees, with an opportunity to extend the offer to five family members and friends," he says. The results have been remarkable, according to Ramon, with an 87 percent engagement rate, a total of more than 62,000 sessions, and nearly 426,000 mindful minutes logged within the reporting year.

From AI to applications and everything in between, the TD team at Alamo Colleges District keeps employees up to date, well informed, and ready to lead others into the future of education.

View the entire list of 2024 BEST Award winners.