Enhancing Workforce Pathways at Youngstown State University’s College of STEM with Genius Learning
Addressing Workforce Training Challenges at YSU
A workforce pathway management system enables universities to design, manage, and scale credential programs aligned with industry demand. By centralizing pathway tracking and reporting, institutions can improve learner outcomes and workforce readiness.
Youngstown State University’s (YSU) Workforce Education and Innovation (WEI), a unit within the College of STEM, plays a pivotal role in equipping learners for technical careers that fuel the Mahoning Valley and greater Northeastern Ohio regional economy. Notably, as demand grew for short-term credentials, advanced pathways, and employer-sponsored training, the administrative load on staff increased, thus creating the need for a system like Genius to handle enrollments, courses, and funding more efficiently. These inefficiencies created barriers to growth and hindered the ability to fully demonstrate program impact. Seeking a more streamlined and scalable approach, YSU began evaluating technology platforms that could centralize operations, improve data accuracy, and offer robust reporting—ultimately finding the right fit with Genius CE.
To learn more, we sat down with Erica Shirilla, MBA, Assistant Director, Online Skills Accelerator in the Workforce Education & Innovation (WEI), STEM department at Youngstown State University.
How has Genius helped your program better support STEM learners or workforce pathways?
Genius has been instrumental in streamlining our enrollment, tracking, and reporting processes for noncredit workforce courses. It has allowed us to efficiently manage a wide range of workforce training courses, from short-term credentials to more advanced pathways. By providing a central platform for tracking non-credit programs, it helps us ensure that learners pursuing upskilling and reskilling have clear, documented progress and outcomes, which is critical for career advancement.
What’s one way Genius has improved how your team tracks or reports on learner progress and outcomes?
The reporting functionality in Genius has been invaluable. We can quickly pull data quickly pull data on enrollments, completions, and certifications, which helps us meet state reporting requirements and respond to data requests from partners. Having all of this data in one place saves us significant time and improves accuracy.
Can you describe a specific process that’s become easier or more efficient with Genius?
One major improvement is how we enroll and manage employer- and third-party-funded learners. We now manually enroll participants, track their progress, and tie enrollments to separate funding sources — all within Genius. Before Genius, staff tracked this on spreadsheets, which created room for error and confusion.
What’s one way Genius has improved how your team tracks or reports on learner progress and outcomes?
Genius has given us a smoother registration process for external learners, which has helped us reach more people who might not have had access before. Because we can track completions and certifications more reliably, we can also demonstrate our impact to partners and stakeholders, which helps us build stronger relationships and grow enrollment.
From Bottlenecks to Scalable Success
By replacing fragmented, manual processes with a single, integrated platform, Genius enabled YSU’s Workforce Education & Innovation (WEI) unit to significantly improve operational efficiency, data accuracy, and reporting speed. These enhancements not only reduced administrative workload but also empowered the university to expand access to workforce training, meet compliance requirements with confidence, and showcase measurable results to industry partners. As a result, YSU now grows enrollment, increases certifications, and strengthens its role as a key driver of regional workforce development.
