Dakota Wesleyan to expand programs in Sioux Falls
March 19, 2021
Dakota Wesleyan University is bringing a new full college-level program to Sioux Falls.
The Mitchell university’s Learn & Earn program is a 16-month path to an associate degree with the opportunity to continue on to a bachelor’s degree.
The curriculum “is designed to prepare students to fill professional roles in the state’s largest city and surrounding areas while simultaneously earning professional certifications,” the university said in a statement.
“The first-of-its-kind program integrates classroom and online learning with professional work experience. Students enrolled will participate in a yearlong, part-time, paid internship while completing their professional certificates.”
The new initiative will launch in August. The plan is to hold classes at a downtown location, which is being finalized.
The DWU program is divided into four, four-month modules, including professional readiness, business fundamentals, management and marketing, and industry-specific areas. Weekly schedules will place students in a combination of two or three days in the classroom and two or three days at their internships, depending on which term they are enrolled.
Central States Manufacturing, CorTrust Bank and Weisser Distributing are among companies committed to allowing students to intern during the program.
This program meets students where they are,” said Fredel Thomas, DWU vice president of admissions and marketing. “Learn & Earn provides an opportunity for anyone to reimagine what higher education can look like. Students can literally ‘earn’ while they ‘learn’ at their paid internships and be ready to help fill workforce needs in the region in only 16 months.”
“CorTrust and many other financial institutions are in need of professionally educated workers who can enter the banking and finance business with a good grasp of professional practices,” Jeff Smith, CorTrust CFO and senior vice president, said in a statement. “Learn & Earn students will have the opportunity to complete an internship with CorTrust, and we will have the ability to consider hiring a well-qualified worker after they complete the program. It’s a win-win for us and for the student.”
Each student will be paired with a personalized and professional career coach to assist them throughout the program. The coach is the student’s liaison for whatever advice or service he or she needs to be successful, DWU said. Each coach will assist with classroom learning and will play a central role in the evaluation of student internship progress.
The Learn & Earn coordinator in Sioux Falls, Scott Schmidt, is working on securing additional internship sites and informing prospective students about the program.
“This highly innovative program has the potential to transform one’s ability to enter the workforce with the skill sets needed to positively impact work environments, (with) simultaneous feedback from both an educational and industry setting, complemented by the support system of the life coach,” he said. “This program is a recipe for continued student success and confidence.”
