ISIEC GED Exam Prep Program

The purpose of the ISIEC General Education Development (GED)/High School Equivalency (HSE) Preparation Program is to prepare interested CU staff members to obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to pass the official Colorado Department of Education GED or HSE test and earn their State of Colorado high school diploma equivalency.

During the Spring of 2022 four members of the Infrastucture and Sustainability Inclusive Excellence Committee (ISIEC) gathered to apply for a grant in hopes of purchasing a set of loaner computers and having funds available to cover exam costs for front line staff who wished to pursue their GED but needed support and potentially some funding.  A $4,000 grant was awarded in June of 2022 and we  aggressively moved forward to create a program with a target launch date to to coincide with the Fall 2022-23 academic year.

Step 1 – Applying for the CU System grant

A five member team, Shawna, Nancy, Kerry, Jessica and Sandra, of CU Facilities Management staff met to draft the grant proposal and submit it.

Step 2 – Plans and preparations to solidify a sustainable program.

The grant was awarded and we met to begin laying out a path and marketing tools.

• In early July previous discussions during preparation of the proposal were consolidated by Shawna into a Syllabus that outlines the program, path to pursuing participation, and expectations for those who elect to participate in the program.  Check out the draft syllabus here.
• Kerry and Shawna met to discuss marketing ideas.  Initial plans include promotion on the Facilities Management Employee Website, promoting to supervisors of front line staff as a professional development opportunity for those on their teams, roll out to senior leadership to highlight the new program and foster support and discussions with their teams.  Shawna created a short overview of the GED program and part CU ISIEC members would play in supporting staff on this journey.  Committee members served as voiceover characters for the final video.

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  After discussions with a number of areas in Human Resources and training, as well as support services on campus we landed on a program to support our staff through online learning.  We will continue to seek out a way to offer in classroom options for staff who prefer this modality, however we have found that the online option seems to fit best for most of our front line staff.

Step 3 – Program launch

I wrote a step by step process to guide mentors on the committee through supporting a GED candidate into the program.  Documents and a tracking spreadsheet live on Teams where all committee members have access to the documents and progress of the participants.

• ISIEC committee members who wrote the grant were the first mentors, however as the program is grows other members on the ISIEC committee have been briefed on a potential upcoming need for mentors to support GED participants as they join the program and prepare for their GED.
• As of January 2023 we have eight staff participating in the program.  We are finding one of the most difficult parts is getting the front line staff to attend the bi-weekly mentor meetings to update their mentor on progress and their needs.