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In a time of increasing competition and economic pressures, employers are faced with difficult recruitment and retention challenges. Learning Plans are a tool used by many organizations to link business needs with individual career development interests, thus potentially engaging and retaining employees for longer periods. Learning plans benefit both employers and employees, as they build a sense of ownership and motivation through communication and negotiation. Self-directed learning allows employees to take responsibility for their own learning and career development, as it involves a level of personal investment. Employers reap the benefits through supporting and investing in their employees, which leads to an increase in skill development, motivation, and productivity. How did Learning Plans come about?

"Invisible Transfer Students February 28, 2012 - 3:00am By Mitch Smith Enrollment managers have long spoken about the mobility of students, citing the high number of credits transferred in and out of their colleges and grumbling that federal graduation rate calculations fail to account for those transient degree-seekers. Data released today by the National Student Clearinghouse back those assertions, showing that a third of those who were first-time college students in 2006 had attended at least one other institution by summer 2011. The study followed 2.8 million full- and part-time students of all ages at every type of institution. Students were counted as transfers if they enrolled at a second institution before earning a degree. Thus, students who moved to a four-year institution after earning an associate degree were not counted, but university students who took a community college class over the summer were. High school students who enrolled in concurrent enrollment courses were not counted as transfers. The Clearinghouse researchers found that a quarter of those who transferred did so more than once and that the greatest number of moves, 37 percent, took place in a student's second year. It also found that 43 percent of transfers were to public two-year institutions, making them the most common transfer destination for students from every type of institution except other public two-year colleges. This study, unique in including part-time students and in following students who might transfer several times, joins a small but growing body of research on the mobility of students. The findings don't surprise Clifford Adelman, a senior associate with the Institute for Higher Education Policy whose research agenda includes national transfer patterns. Loyalties to a particular institution or location, which can discourage transferring, have long been eroding, Adelman said. He calls the phenomenon "geomobility" and said it has called attention to ineffi

"There are two things Clint McElroy knows about community-college students: A huge number of them don't stay in school. And many of them-who are often the first in their families to go to college, and who must juggle work and parenting-don't understand how to balance all those demands while studying at the college level."

"Good teaching and exposure to students from diverse backgrounds are some of the strongest predictors of whether freshmen return for a second year of college and improve their critical-thinking skills, say two prominent researchers."

WASHINGTON -- Whether they called them "near-completers" or "ready adults" or "stop-outs," the educators and policy experts gathered here today agreed that people who have earned most but not all of the credits they need for a college degree should receive more attention.