Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Audio interview: Flavia Colgan brings the Empowerment Tour to the Dallas Public Library

By John P. Meyer

eLearners.com is a collective of 200 colleges and universities offering online degree programs ranging from Associate to Ph.D. They've just kicked off what they're calling the Empowerment Tour (a.k.a. the Career Stimulus Package), with Dallas as their second stop amongst the forty cities they'll be visiting over the next couple of months. (The tour ends in Los Angeles on Sept. 7.)

Acting as ambassador for the tour, and for the concept of online degree programs as a way of getting more adults back into the workforce through improved education, is Flavia Colgan. Colgan served as Chief of Staff for the Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania after graduating from Harvard University. More recently, she's been a correspondent and political commentator on MSNBC, CBS's Early Show, Extra, Travel Channel and FOX News. She is currently an associate editor for the Philadelphia Daily News and has served on that paper’s editorial board.

So what's the Empowerment Tour all about? It's a way for eLearners to publicize their affililate programs by putting their own career counselors and motivational speakers in front of people all over the country. It's the contention of Colgan and the tour organizers - including Terence Thomas, executive vice president for marketing at eLearners - that America is falling farther and farther behind the curve in terms of the percentage of adults with college degrees. Thomas quoted President Obama as saying that, by 2016, four out of 10 jobs created will require a bachelor's degree or higher.

To sweeten the pot in terms of attracting the attention of the populace, eLearners is offering (via eight of the colleges it represents) 100 full-ride scholarships, which folks can apply for in person during tour appearances or online.

When I arrived at the Dallas Public Library, the big RV (along with its support vehicle) had just pulled up on the south side of the building facing City Hall. Before the career counseling squad could even get set up, one fellow - Matthew Smart (new to Dallas by way of Fort Wayne, Ind.,) - was already quizzing them on the sorts of services they were offering. He told me that the career coach he spoke with gave him some tips and pointers about what to do and say during a job interview. Smart said he wasn't sure just what was going on, but came outside the library to see what was up, mostly in the hope that they were there to help people find jobs. (Which - in a way - they sort of are.)

Shortly thereafter, Terence Thomas took the podium in front of a couple of dozen folding chairs, mostly occupied, to introduce Flavia Colgan, who he referred to as "passionate about education." Colgan's brief introductory remarks ("Education is no longer a luxury - it's a necessity") were followed by an invitation for attendees to meet with the career counselors waiting at tables set up nearby. Colgan concluded by stating that the goal of the Career Stimulus Package was the removal of the barriers to education involving time, confidence and money. She spoke of education as a democratizing force.

Following her remarks to the small but appreciative audience, Colgan sat down with me in a quiet corner of the library to answer a few questions. You can listen in on our conversation via the appended audio file.

You can also hear what Terence Thomas had to say about eLearners.com, when I caught up with him outside the library following the presentation.

On Tuesday, June 16, the Empowerment Tour moves its RV to the Studio Movie Grill at Royal and Central, where Flavia, Terence and the career counselors from eLearners will be at your service from 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.

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