Developing Partnerships, Programs, and Pathways for Community Engagement and Opportunity - April 2027
-
Register
- Non-member - $599
- Member - $499
Course Description
Strong partnerships and community engagement are essential to expanding educational opportunity and ensuring colleges and universities remain responsive to the evolving needs of learners, employers, and the communities they serve. This course explores strategies for developing collaborative partnerships, designing community-responsive programs, and creating educational pathways that support workforce development, lifelong learning, and institutional mission.
Participants will examine how online and professional education units identify community needs, engage internal and external stakeholders, and build sustainable partnerships that create value for learners and institutions alike. Through practical examples and collaborative discussions, learners will explore approaches to program planning, market analysis, outreach, and partnership development that strengthen community impact while supporting organizational sustainability.
Designed for professionals involved in workforce development, community engagement, partnership development, and program innovation, this course provides practical tools for creating educational initiatives that expand opportunity and respond to changing community and workforce needs.
What You Will Explore
Community and Workforce Needs
Assess changing learner, employer, community, and institutional needs to identify opportunities for new programs and partnerships.
Partnership Development
Explore strategies for building trust, establishing shared goals, and sustaining collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
Programs and Pathways
Design learner-centered educational programs and pathways that expand opportunity, strengthen workforce relevance, and support institutional mission.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Assess community, workforce, and institutional needs to identify opportunities for new partnerships and educational programs.
- Develop strategies for building and sustaining collaborative relationships with community organizations, employers, and institutional stakeholders.
- Design learner-centered programs and educational pathways that expand access, opportunity, and workforce relevance.
- Apply market research and outreach strategies to engage target audiences and strengthen community impact.
- Evaluate partnership and program outcomes to support continuous improvement and long-term organizational sustainability.
Course Structure and Expectations
This instructor-supported course is delivered over four weeks. Each week combines asynchronous coursework with a one-hour live Zoom session that provides opportunities for faculty guidance, collaborative discussion, peer exchange, and application of course concepts.
Asynchronous Coursework
Complete readings, case studies, reflection activities, discussions, and applied assignments within each weekly module.
Weekly Live Session
Participate in a one-hour Zoom session each week to discuss examples, examine challenges, receive faculty guidance, and learn from peers.
Applied Partnership Planning
Use course tools to assess an opportunity, identify stakeholders, and develop practical strategies for a program, partnership, or educational pathway.
Connect Learning to Community Impact
Participants will apply course concepts to a real or potential initiative within their own professional context, helping them move from identifying community needs to developing actionable partnership and program strategies.
Who Should Enroll?
This course is designed for professionals who develop educational programs, cultivate partnerships, engage communities, or support workforce and economic opportunity.
Community Engagement Professionals
Strengthen your ability to identify community priorities, engage stakeholders, and develop initiatives that create shared value.
Workforce and Partnership Leaders
Build sustainable relationships with employers, community organizations, and institutional partners around shared education and workforce goals.
Program Developers and Innovators
Design relevant programs and pathways informed by market research, learner needs, institutional priorities, and community context.
Angie Kamath
Dean - NYU School of Professional Studies
NYU School of Professional Studies Dean Angie Kamath has had a distinguished career in government and higher education. Amplified by her deep expertise in partnering with industries on skills-based education and workforce development, Kamath is a champion for fostering equal opportunities through higher education and workforce programs that provide immediately applicable skills in hospitality, real estate, and functional business leadership, among other growing and emerging fields.
Kamath is an expert on workforce development and skills-based training, providing foresight with grounded research expertise in the future of work. Passionate about developing programs with industry leaders, she has created partnerships with national and local organizations to advance access to education.
While in her role as dean at the nation’s largest urban public university, City University of New York (CUNY), Kamath was responsible for continuing education and workforce development programs. In addition, she oversaw grant-funded opportunities that sought to improve the skills, career prospects, and outcomes of targeted industries such as IT, finance, healthcare, and municipal government. Kamath also led several workforce development and training programs that addressed the future of work in New York City and beyond.
Before her role at CUNY, Kamath served as an executive vice president and executive director at Per Scholas, a national IT job training nonprofit in South Bronx. There, she was responsible for launching the social enterprise team, which was tasked with generating fee-for-service revenues. In addition, she oversaw the New York training operation that trained and placed over 500 individuals each year in middle-skills jobs in the IT field.
Prior to Per Scholas, Kamath worked as deputy commissioner at the NYC Department of Small Business Services for seven years, overseeing adult workforce programs that served more than 100,000 New Yorkers each year during the Bloomberg administration.
Kamath holds a BS in Business Management from Cornell University and an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School.
