Work-Based Learning (WBL) at PCC

• The 2025-2026 CTEOS survey of PCC alumni revealed that PCC alumni who had participated in WBL made over $8 per hour more on average compared to alumni who had not participated in WBL
• A 2024 report on underemployment found that internship participation reduced the odds of underemployment by nearly 50% for baccalaureate graduates, even after controlling for gender, ethnicity, and institution type, and these internship benefits were relatively consistent across different majors
• Students report increased confidence as a result of their WBL experience. A student who participated in PCC’s InternPasadena program said: “I feel confident entering my next work space because of the skills that I have obtained during the time span of my internship. I know that I can now confidently enter an office environment and have some basic skills about certain applications and task that I might be assigned. I was given projects that were very hands on and challenging, and they helped me grow so much.” 

When coordinating a WBL event, please consider implementing the following best practices in promoting/marketing your WBL event to ensure it is accessible to as many students as possible:

• PCC Events Calendar: Work with your department/division’s Calendar Manager to ensure the experience is added to the PCC Public Events Calendar
• Freeman Career Center Newsletter: Share the experience date, time, location, sign-up link, and promotional flyer with WBL Coordinator Shelby McIntyre (smcintyre1@pasadena.edu) – Shelby will coordinate to have it promoted in the Freeman Career Center newsletter and also work with you to ensure a check-in/data collection plan is included
• Social Media: If your Department/Division/Program has a social media account, share the event flyer and tag @pcclancer so that it can be shared on the campus’s main Instagram account
• Student Clubs: Review the list of PCC Clubs - we have many career-related clubs that can help spread the word to their members about relevant WBL events. Start by reaching out to the club contact email and Advisor
• Scheduling: When scheduling the event date/time, consider hosting the event during a class session (best practice for equity and access) or College Hour (12-1 pm Tuesday or Thursday)
• Targeted Email List: Use the Institutional Effectiveness Research Request Form to request a targeted list of ID#s in specific majors/courses for email outreach 

Why is WBL data collection and reporting important?

It can be helpful to remember the idiom: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Similarly, if amazing Work-Based Learning experiences are happening, but the data isn’t collected, how is the impact being measured, and how are we ensuring equity?

MIS reporting to the California Community College Chancellor’s Office is crucial because it allows us to measure impact, evaluate equitable access, and showcase all the incredible work happening at PCC to prepare students for positive workforce outcomes aligned with systemwide priorities.

For collecting and reporting WBL data, please refer to PCC's local guidance on what PCC qualifies as WBL and A/B/C Categorizations.

WBL Data Collection Best Practices

• PCC's IT Dept (which coordinates our MIS upload to the Chancellor's Office) requires us to collect and report data every term (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer) and also requires the data be submitted in a very specific format: either student ID#s of participants, or class CRNs (if a whole class is participating in the WBL experience)
• When hosting a WBL experience, please make sure to keep a record of each student’s name, PCC ID#, and PCC email address (this allows us to have a secondary source to verify data in the case of error or typos)
• For WBL events, RSVP or advance registration data cannot be used because there may be students who RSVP/register, but don’t actually attend. For data integrity purposes, we’re only able to include data for students who actually attended and participated in the WBL event, not just those who registered
• If hosting an in-person WBL event, please make sure to have a system for students to sign in with their PCC ID# at the entrance of the event to ensure everyone in attendance is accounted for. Assigning at least one point-person to manage this process is highly recommended. There have been events in the past that took a more passive approach of encouraging students to sign in, but without requiring it upon entrance, and it typically results in incomplete data due to missed sign-ins. 
  If hosting an online/Zoom WBL event, please make sure to collect PCC ID#s upon registration that can be cross-referenced with the Zoom attendee report to ensure the attendees are accounted for, and/or remind participants multiple times to sign in
• For course-embedded WBL, you can check if your course is already automatically tagged for WBL by referencing PCC’s Course-Level WBL Master List (please email Shelby at smcintyre1@pasadena.edu for access to this list). If your course is not tagged for WBL on this spreadsheet, please make sure to email Shelby during the semester/term so she can ensure your course is tagged correctly for WBL 
   
  WBL Coordinator Shelby is happy to assist with any questions, concerns, or strategizing for data collection. You are also welcome to borrow Shelby’s WBL QR Code Check-In foamboard posters to use at your event if needed. 

PCC’s WBL Advisory Group is a group of PCC professionals from various divisions, roles, and programs across campus, committed to supporting equitable access to high-quality work-based learning experiences (including supporting data capture as a primary means of assessing equitable access/outcomes). The group meets once per semester (Fall/Spring), and is open to everyone and anyone in our PCC Community who is passionate about equitable access to work-based learning and bridging education with industry and workforce outcomes.

Check out PCC’s Work-Based Learning Equity Dashboard to see the status of equitable access to WBL at PCC.

PCC’s Freeman Career Center includes an Employer Engagement Team that can support in creating & sustaining industry partnerships.

• For support or questions regarding our work experience/internship courses, faculty can contact our Internship Developers: Isabel Ochoa, iochoa12@pasadena.edu and Noel Gonzalez, ngonzalez89@pasadena.edu.
• For support identifying an industry professional or employer for a WBL experience you’re coordinating, please complete our Freeman Center Service Request Form

PCC has two major WBL professional development opportunities made possible by a Regional Project hosted by the Los Angeles Regional Consortium (LARC):

• 20-hour Asynchronous WBL Professional Development Canvas Course: This course, based on the San Diego Regional Consortium’s WBL PD course and developed for the LA region with enhanced focus on equity by PCC’s Suzanne Iwanicki, focuses on teaching faculty how to implement WBL in their courses. It covers the basics of WBL, best practices for equitable access, and culminates in a WBL lesson plan assignment. Reach out to WBL Coordinator Shelby McIntyre (smcintyre1@pasadena.edu) for information about how to apply for the next cohort completing this course.
• LARC WBL PD Series Recordings: This YouTube playlist features inspiring talks by speaker/facilitator Ahmad Mansour recorded during the Spring 2026 semester on various WBL-related topics, from data collection to equity.