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 Responding to the kinds of needs detailed in MPICT’s Phase 3
report, the California Community College (CCC) Chancellor’s
Office has awarded the MPICT team a grant to establish a
statewide community college collaborative dedicated to
improving community college ICT education in California.
This new California Community College ICT Collaborative,
funded indirectly with Federal Perkins Title 1B funds, will
gather representatives of each of the 10 California
Community College Regions and work to improve ICT education
at all 112 of California’s community colleges. California
community colleges are the largest higher educational system
in the U.S., so this is difficult but badly needed and
impactful work.
MPICT PI Pierre Thiry will direct the new ICT Collaborative,
which will be able to hit the ground running because it can
build on prior work by MPICT. MPICT’s team in California
will be engaged in CCC ICT Collaborative work.
Karen Stanton from College of the Canyons will be working
with the collaborative as Southern California Regional
Coordinator. Many know Karen from her work with the Cisco
Academy Training Centre (CATC) there.
On September 29, 2011, the ICT Collaborative had its first
meeting at the California Community College Chancellor’s
Office in Sacramento. Paul Barth from the Chancellor’s
office, who is the visionary and champion in the creation of
this new collaborative, and Ron Selge, the CCC Chancellor’s
office Dean of Career Technical Education (CTE), welcomed
the group and helped explain the motivation and guidelines
for its creation, together with Van Ton-Quinlivan, the CCC
Vice Chancellor for Economic and Workforce Development, who
joined us at lunch.
California Community Colleges are uniquely positioned to
affordably develop the California workforce to fill many
jobs in ICT that are currently open because of difficulties
in finding people with appropriate knowledge and skill sets.
Doing so will have a direct impact on California economic
recovery. These are good jobs, and they enable the
productivity and success of all kinds of organizations. It’s
strategically important and smart, and that’s why this was
funded, even in this period of reduced education funding.
The morning was spent developing a common understanding,
nomenclature and motivation for engagement within the
Collaborative. The afternoon was spent reviewing and
developing plans for Collaborative activities. This week,
descriptions of ICT related programs at all CCCs were
completed and contact information for faculty in ICT related
programs at all CCCs was gathered, so the Collaborative can
communicate directly with relevant
faculty throughout the State.
The ICT Collaborative will be co-hosting an annual
ICT
Education Winter Conference in San Francisco with MPICT.
Back to Q3 2011
Newsletter |
