Year-End Roundtable – Part Two: Reporters

In this episode, part two of our two-part year-end roundtable series, Joe and guest co-host, journalist Paul Fain, chat with three of the top reporters in the apprenticeship space: Colleen Connolly, freelance journalist and regular contributor to Work Shift; Rebecca Griesbach, Senior Data Analyst at the Cowen Institute and former reporter for AL.com and Alabama Education Lab; and Kelly Field, freelance journalist and contributor to The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Hechinger Report. The discussions highlight the top developments in apprenticeship and job-embedded higher education from 2025, as well as the top developments to watch for in 2026.

Read Colleen's recent articles:

• "Caring for Patients for 26 Years—and Still Not a Nurse" in Work Shift
• "In Alabama, Nursing Apprenticeships Aim to Fix a Broken Career Ladder" in Work Shift
• "Nursing apprenticeships are starting to fix a broken career ladder, amid national shortage" in The Hechinger Report

Read Rebecca's recent article for AL.com: "Low-cost Alabama program takes new approach to train teachers: 'Transformational'"

Read Kelly's recent articles:

• "The Slow Rise of the Apprentice Degree" in The Chronicle of Higher Education
• "The US wants more apprenticeships. The UK figured out how to make them coveted roles" in The Hechinger Report

This episode was recorded on Dec. 15.

Music by Evgeny Bardyuzha from Pixabay.