ABA Registered Apprenticeship Hub Partner Interview Protocol

OMB Control Number:1290-0NEW

OMB Expiration Date:

Apprenticeship Building America Portfolio

Implementation study of the ABA Category 4-Registered Apprenticeship Hub grants

Partner Discussion Guide

INTRODUCTION 

 

We are researchers with [The Urban Institute/Social Policy Research Associate}, a nonprofit research organization based in [Washington, DC/California] which conducts policy-related research on a variety of social welfare and economic issues. 

 

This project is being conducted under contract to the U.S. Department of Labor. Our visit here today is part of the Evaluating Registered Apprenticeship Initiative (ERAI), a national study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor to understand the Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) investments in apprenticeship. The study will surface new evidence on efforts to expand and diversify registered apprenticeships and to inform policymakers and practitioners on how these grants are helping to solve issues in workforce systems, particularly around barriers to employment for traditionally underrepresented populations. A major aim of the study we are here to talk about with you to today is to learn more about the Registered Apprenticeship Hub grants, designed to support the establishment, scaling and expansion of Registered Apprenticeship programs. In each grantee we visit, we will be speaking with grant administrators and staff, program partners (including employers), and Technical Assistance customers.

Privacy Statement:   We know that you are busy, and we will be as focused as possible and will only ask questions that are relevant to your experience. We have many questions and will be talking to many different people, so please do not feel as though we expect you to be able to answer every question. Your participation in this interview is voluntary and you may choose not to answer some or any of our questions. We will do everything we can to secure the privacy of the information you provide but ask that you consider using headphones or finding a private space to talk so that other people cannot hear or see this conversation.

We believe the risks of participating in this study are minimal.

We believe there are no direct benefits to you, but we hope that the findings from this study will benefit the Apprenticeship Building America Portfolio project by providing research insights on how Hub grantees are helping employers design, develop and deliver programs and are supporting the expansion of apprenticeship programs.

My colleague and I will be taking notes in order to document what we hear during our discussion, and we may record this discussion. We will not share these notes with anyone outside of our research team, including the Department of Labor, and we will destroy these notes after the end of our project. When we compile our reports, the names of individual respondents will not be included. If we choose to quote you, you will only be identified by your title. You will not be quoted directly by name in any of our reports. While it is possible that you might be identified by your title, we will do our best to minimize the chance of that occurring. 

Finally, to help us accurately capture the information you share, we would like to record this interview. The recording is just a back-up for our notes and will be kept within our small research team. The interview recording will be deleted once we have developed a full set of notes from the interview.

OMB Burden Statement: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1290-0NEW. The time required to complete this collection of information is estimated to average 60 minutes, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed and complete and review the collection of information. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to [email protected] and reference the OMB Control Number 1290-0NEW. 

 

Do you have any questions for me?  

[If we decide to record the interview] Are you okay with us recording the interview to improve the accuracy of our notes?  

Do I have your permission to begin the interview? [BEGIN INTERVIEW IF CONSENT GRANTED]

1. Please tell us about you and your organization/company. What does your organization/company do? What is your role (e.g., employer, technical assistance provider, workforce or education organization, etc.)? Pre-fill information from survey, where available.

2. What is your organization/company’s prior experience working with and supporting apprenticeship initiatives/expansion efforts?

3. What is/are the goal(s) of the Hub you are supporting?

4. How did you learn about and get involved with [grantee name] as part of this grant project? What are your/your organization/company’s roles and responsibilities under the grant? How does partnering on this grant support your organization’s/company’s goals?

5. We want to understand a bit more about your organization/company’s roles and key services your organization is delivering under the grant. Please describe:

1. amount of subgrant/funding your organization is receiving,

2. role and key services your organization is delivering under the grant as part of Hub partnership network,

[Probe for potential roles:

• Planning and design of Hub activities

• Registering RAPs

• Developing Pre-apprenticeship Programs

• Marketing and Outreach of RAPS/pre-As

• Developing curriculum and credentials

• Delivering related instruction

• Delivering technical assistance to customers/employers

• Engaging employers (other than through TA)

• Enabling access to supportive services for apprentices

• Providing connections to other workforce development initiatives

• Facilitating work-based learning opportunities (for pre-apprenticeship)

• Providing incentive funding to employers

• Employer partner

• Conducting employer outreach/engagement

• Helping with apprenticeship program or curriculum design

• Serving as an apprenticeship sponsor

• Serving as a pre-apprenticeship sponsor

• Serving as a related training instruction provider

• Providing support services for apprentices]

3. level of involvement/time commitment required.

6. What has the partnership structure, including cross-organization collaboration, under this grant looked like? Did the lead grantee play a role in organizing partner involvement?

7. How have partners collaborated during the grant to support rapid development, scaling and deployment of RAPs?

8. What are the benefits of partnership from your perspective with [grantee organization] and the broader network of organizations in the Hub?

9. How long did you work/have you worked with [lead grantee]? What ongoing assistance did [the lead grantee] provide as part of this grant? What kind of assistance was provided? How was the assistance provided?

10. [[For employers/potential sponsors:] Did you eventually start a Registered Apprenticeship/pre-apprenticeship program? Please describe the program. [If no program started yet:] Where are you in the process? Why did you decide for or against starting a program?

11. Are there any challenges in engaging with the lead grantee organization to carry out the activities of the grant?

12. Did you experience start-up or early implementation issues (e.g., difficulties hiring staff, problems engaging other organizations, lack of employer interest/engagement, lack of potential participant interest, external (environmental) factors? Please discuss each challenge, including how it affected grant implementation, if and how the challenges were overcome.

13. How has your partnership with the lead grantee changed (if at all) over the course of the grant to date?

14. How is the partnership network you are involved with advancing equity in apprenticeship (if relevant)? What are specific strategies your company/organization is using to advance equity in apprenticeship?

15. What is your knowledge of the technical assistance resources developed under this grant? If relevant, what is your perception of their utility/usefulness and how they are being used in alignment with the goals of the grant?

16. How satisfied are you to date with your experience as a partner on this grant project? What has worked well or was most useful? What did not work well or was less useful? [Ask for examples of both, if relevant.]

17. Has the knowledge you developed from participation in this grant helped you meet your organization’s/company’s goals? If yes, how so? If not, why?

18. Do you think the investment of your organization’s/company’s time and resources as a partner on this grant project has been worthwhile? What outcomes have you seen to date?

19. If you had to summarize, what are your key accomplishments to date through this grant project?

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