In this week’s interview we caught up with Patrick Horning, National Tribal Strategic Alliance Executive, for the University of Phoenix. In this video Patrick talks about their Tribal Strategic Alliance Agreement (TSAA) program and how it helps people from Tribal organizations achieve their professional and education goals.
Patrick will always be the first one that will tell you that his goal nor his team’s goal is recruitment; rather it’s about creating a resource so that anyone in the Tribal gaming and hospitality industry, from new front line team members to senior executives can prepare themselves for the next opportunity and create a true career path. He does this working closely with Tribal organizations to set up programs that are not only unique to the individual but to the organizations as well.
Key talking points:
- The TSAA Program is not a discount program but serves a greater purpose for those in the program to graduate with little to no student debt. This is not only open to Tribal members, but employees working for a Tribal organization.
- Because of the resources available through the University of Phoenix’ Tribal operations team, data shows that their Tribal students progress significantly higher at the end of their first year than non-tribal students!
- The university has launched a pilot program that is geared to impact employee retention. Tribal organizations are using education as a means to create a career instead of a job as it puts team members in a position that when openings happen, the organization has the opportunity to promote from within.
- It’s not all about getting a degree. The university promotes whatever is necessary in order to get the employee or the Tribal member to a point where they now have a better opportunity for that next job and to support the enterprise in helping them with their retention efforts. That can mean taking professional development courses or certification courses.
If you work for a Tribal organization and are interested in upskilling or reskilling to be prepared for that next career move or if you are an organization interested in providing your team members with a variety of educational resources please contact Patrick Horning directly: Patrick.Horning@phoenix.edu.