Broader Impact Book

8/16/2019 Broader Impact Book

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In early 2011, the National Information, Security,and Geospatial Technologies Consortium (NISGTC) was adream. The proposal’s focus was on four informationtechnology (IT) specialty areas: networking and data communications,cybersecurity, programming, and geospatial technologies. At the end offour years, consortium colleges have achieved far more than thought possfar more than standard Department of Labor Trade Adjustment AssistanceCommunity College and Career Training (DOL TAACCCT) reports capture. Treport highlights these positive achievements.

When asked to consider leading the National Science Foundation IT-relatedCenters in applying for a DOL TAACCCT grant, the first person contacted waErich Spengler, the principal investigator for the Center for Systems Securit

and Information Assurance (CSSIA) based at Moraine Valley Community College. (See page 8 for more owork.)

Moraine Valley was the first college to join the group. Three other NSF IT Centers accepted the challeng

The National Convergence Technology Center based at Collin College; Bunker Hill Community Collegerepresenting the Broadening Advanced Technology Education Connections (BATEC) Center; and Del MaCollege that was then the lead for the GeoTech National NSF Center. Three other colleges that had previreceived NSF Advanced Technological Education grants also became NISGTC partner colleges.

The par tners collaborated to deter mine how best to address DOL TAACCCT priorities and also fund initiathat would make long-lasting improvements at each college to suppor t students well into the future. Eaccollege led efforts based on its strengths, and all colleges depended on the leadership of others in theconsortium.

Several consortium-wide initiatives stand out as pivotal:

• National Business and Industry Leader ship Teams (BILTs) co-led all our work, ensuring that ourcompleters would be workforce ready.

• Major equipment was purchased for our Virtual Laboratories—equipment that could not havebeen funded from our colleges’ budgets. This allowed students 24/7 access to virtual laboratorexercises.

• Online curriculum and e-books were created. • IT-specific tutors and career coaches supported participants in their studies and helped place

them in jobs.

Each college also had its own successes that are highlighted in this report.

Please enjoy reading about the improvements made through this DOL investment. The grant endsSeptember 30, 2015; final metrics and other updates will be found for the next several yearsat www.nisgtc.org.

Dr. Ann BehelerNISGTC Principal Investigator

Contents3

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INTRODUCTION

COVER PHOTOCollin College studentsChelsea Hall-Fitzgeraldand Joshua Dalton

BACK COVER PHOTOS(Left to Right) Collin

College students inIT class; Fast-TrackIT Bridge Course,programming robots, DelMar College; GIS mapping,Del Mar College

n College (Lead)dent: Dr. H. Neil Matkinortium Lead: Dr. Ann Beheler

evue Collegedent: Dr. David Rulect Lead: Judith Morel

er Hill Community Collegedent: Dr. Pamela Eddingerct Lead: Joyce Henderson

ar College

dent: Dr. Mark Escamillact Lead: John Nelson

ine Valley Community Collegedent: Dr. Sylvia Jenkinsct Leads: Dr. John Sands, Angela O’Donnell

alado Collegedent: Dr. Chris Bustamantect Lead: Mary Briden

Lake Community Collegedent: Dr. Deneece G. Huftalinct Lead: Adam Dastrup

LEFTConsortium MeetingCollin College April 2015

Introduction

Business and Industry Partnerships

Employer Relationships

Career Coaches and Tutors

Virtual LabStudent Testimonials

Collin College

Bellevue College

Bunker Hill Community College

Del Mar College

Moraine Valley Community College

Rio Salado College

Salt Lake Community College

Deliverables


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Members of 4 BILTs Co-lead NISGTC

The willingness of BILTmembers to advise

curriculum development,participate in campuscareer events, and hire

program completersdistinguished them

as co-leaders of theNISGTC.

NISGTC BILT Chairman Matt Glover (left) and Principal Investigator Ann Beheler thank GlennWintrich in 2014 for his leadership.

Four National Business and Industry LeadershipTeams (BILTs)—one for each career fieldcovered by the NISGTC—co-led the work overthe four years of the Department of Labor grant.The leadership role of the BILTs in the NISGTCfar exceededthat of typicalbusinessadvisorycouncils.

BILT membersclosely workedwith faculty toshape curriculain four ITacademic

areas,enthusiasticallycontributedtheir time forcareer events and other grant-related activities,and readily hired program completers.

This encompassing co-leadership role grewdirectly from the effective BILT processdeveloped by the National Science Foundation-

funded National Center for ConvergenceTechnology, which is also based at Collin College.

The employers on the NISGTC BILTs began theirwork in 2012 by identifying the knowledge, skills,

and abilities (KSAs) they expected graduatesto possess to be “workforce ready” in theshort term and in the future.

Faculty then cross-referenced existing curriculato these KSAs. Gaps became the basis fornew content. BILTs reviewed and approvedcertificate and degree programs that facultycreated or modified to ensure that KSAs werecovered. These programs then went throughcollege and state approval processes.

Overall the members of the BILTs providedup-to-date information and critical supportfor the NISGTC. At separate, quarterlymeetings BILT members involved in

programming, networking, cyber security, andgeospatial technologies offered guidance aboutthe curricula and student services that theNISGTC partner colleges developed to educatetechnicians. They also offered direction on theother deliverables of the grant.

susie davisson, job developer with gusto

More and BetterEmployer Relationsh

Since she began in 2013, Davissonhas visited more than 250 employers.

Susie Davisson was officially an NISGTC careercoach. As the task of finding jobs for studentstook shape, it was clear that her previous workexperience helping refugees find employmentwould come in handy. And she became NISGTC’s

job developer at Collin College.

Most of her visits in the Dallas metropolitan areabegan with her researching companies onlineand, then, showing up at the company andasking to speak with the highest ranking human

resources person or the IT leader.

“I’m a big believer in cold calling, which issales, but, it’s a little easier in the sense thatI’m ‘selling’ our students. It doesn’t cost theemployer anything. So the reception is a lotbetter from the employer end.

“Also, I firmly believe that it is a lot harder to tellsomeone ‘No’ in person,” she said.

Just showing up at IT employers has ledto serendipitous encounters. For instance,while Davisson chatted with recruiters at atelecommunications company, the head of itsnetwork operations center happened to walkby. Davisson was introduced and told himabout Collin’s IT programs. He followed up byinterviewing several students and hiring five.

Her in-person conversations with employershave also piqued their interest in participatingin NISGTC employer panels, mock interviewsessions, and job fairs. Sometimes theseevents led directly to interviews and job offersfor students. Often they helped nurture therelationship between the college and employer.

After more interaction employers often emailed job openings or called Davisson to see if sheor the other career coaches had students torecommend.

One large company that Davisson visited multipletimes without much response finally agreedin spring 2015 to participate in a job fair oncampus. The company’s representative tookresumes from 33 students at the fair and thencalled 20 for job interviews. In mid-September2015 the hiring process was ongoing

“I just think my purpose on this earth is toserve others. I used to be in the classroom...by what we’re doing here, with this grant, we’rehelping the next generation and their families.

We’re helping the students and the community,”Davisson said.

When they were hired by Salt Lake CommunityCollege (SLCC) to do NISGTC outreach andrecruitment, Dustin Fratto and JeremyBorrowman used “old-fashioned footwork” tobuild connections with prospective employersfor SLCC students who complete the geosciencecertificate and degree programs. The employerlist now numbers 250 employers.

“Basically we started from the g round up. Westarted online, looking for employers and got incontact with them. We then met them in personand talked about building internships andanything else they might be willing to contributeto the program,” Fratto explained. In additionto recruiting, Fratto is an adjunct geosciencesinstructor. In 2015 he was interim NISGTCprogram manager.

From these face-to-face meetings Fratto andBorrowman sustained relationships with 150engaged professionals who will continue to serveas resources for the geosciences program. Manyof these professionals now serve as classroomspeakers and adjunct instructors.

/// BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP EMPLOYER RELATIONSHIPS


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/// CAREER COACHES AND TUTORS

LEFT: Akram Amen, an NISGTC tutor at CollinCollege, assists a student with a problem.

Steven Lizotte was an SLCCNISGTC tutor for three years.

CAREER COACHES AND TUTORS

During his three years as a part-time geosciences tutor at SaltLake Community College (SLCC),Steven Lizotte used his retail salbackground to build interest ingeographic information systems(GIS).

To faculty he suggested waysto incorporate GIS technologiesin their courses. He pointed outthat the multidisciplinary skill set

these technologies use are now listed simply asGIS in job adver tisements. And he explained hothe GIS tutors, funded with the NISGTC grant,

could guide students on the GIS aspects of theiassignments.

Then when students taking environmentalstudies, geology, and biology stopped bythe open lab for help on those GIS-infusedassignments, Lizotte would encourage them toenroll in the introductory GIS course.

An average of 14 students per day accessed thGIS lab staffed by NISGTC-funded tutors. Usagegrew from 103 student visits in fall 2013 to362 in spring 2015. Lizotte said many studentsparticularly the older adults enrolled in geomatand geospatial certificate programs, camemultiple times during a semester.

SLCC has hired Lizotte to continue offeringgeosciences tutoring after the grant ends. AtSLCC he earned associate degrees in GIS andgeography, and is now pursuing a bachelor’sdegree.

His favorite part of tutoring occurs whenstudents work through a frustrating lessonto find an “emotional connection” betweenthe geospatial concepts and their personalgeography. “Then it just clicks with them, andit’s fun to see them become engaged with theiwork,” he said.

TUTOR BUILDSINTEREST IN GIS

GTC tutors’ assistance to students in beginning and advanced information technology (IT) courses was anaordinary service not previously offered at the consortium colleges. IT-specific tutoring is, in fact, rarely offered at- or four-year colleges.

location of NISGTC’s free tutoring in open labs or visible study rooms made it easy for students to ask questions

seek help before they fell behind in their networking, programming, geographic information systems, orersecurity courses.

preemptive intervention helped NISGTC participants stay on track and complete certificates and degrees.

information technology (IT) focus of career coaches and their capacity to provide individual attentiontudents was a unique aspect of the NISGTC.

Soon after studentswere recruited asparticipants in theNISGTC program, theywere contacted bya coach. During thisinitial conversation thecoach learned aboutthe students’ goals,then provided programand scheduling adviceto help accelerate theircompletion of credentials.

Coaches used a mix of constant face-to-face

meetings with students and follow-up phone callsand emails to offer tutoring, especially when afaculty member contacted them with academicconcerns about particular students.

Coaches utilized an “intrusive advising” approachthat had them contacting students periodicallyduring each semester to see how they weredoing in their courses and personal lives and toask if they needed any assistance.

Throughout the consortium, coaches employedemails, social media, and posters to encourageall NISGTC participants to attend careerevents. Coaches organized IT job fairs, speedinterviewing and mock interviews with ITemployers, employer panel discussions, andhall visits for students to meet with employersbetween classes.

Less visible but just as important, coachesconstantly funneled the resumes of qualifiedcompleters to employers who had expressedinterest in hiring NISGTC participants.

When students neared completion of theirprograms, coaches offered job-search, resume-writing and cover-letter-writing assistance; theyalso continued follow-up to verify employment.


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NISGTC Virtual Lab creates AmazingSpace for Learning

Networking InstructPraises Virtual Lab

Erich Spengler

VIRTUAL LAB

NISGTC’s Virtual Lab (VLab) is a technical andpedagogical feat that is serving thousands ofstudents.

In September 2015, 275 two-year colleges, four-year colleges, and universities had registered foraccess to the 250 virtual lab exercises createdby NISGTC partners.

The work of the NISGTC and the infrastructure ofthe VLab would not have been possible withoutfunding from the Department of Labor TAACCCTgrant. This investment will continue to make theVLab available to students well into the future.

The VLab’s safe “sandbox” environment makesit possible for students to practice networking,programming, geospatial technology, andcybersecurity skills separate from their colleges’networks.

Being able to access the VLab 24 hours a dayfrom anywhere with an internet connectionextends students’ learning, practice time andsuccess. The VLab’s flexible deployment and workplace-relevant exercises serve faculty too.

With the VLab,instructors are ableto automate theirlab managementand cleanup tasks,manage configurationfiles to demonstrateconcepts, and shareselected exerciseswith students.

The VLab facilitatesdifferentiation of

instruction so students who have masteredcertain content can advance while others repeatexercises. Consequently, students are more

engaged and faculty are less burdened withclassroom management tasks. Moraine Valley Community College serves as thedistribution point for supporting the VLab contethat was installed during the grant at each of thpartner colleges.

Collin College, Moraine Valley Community CollegeDel Mar College, and Bunker Hill CommunityCollege created lab exercises in their areas ofexpertise.

Rio Salado College included the PDF versions othe virtual labs for NISGTC’s online courses.

All colleges will be sustaining their VLabs.

Tom Lee, an IT faculty member at BellevueCollege, is a huge fan of NISGTC’s Virtual Lab(VLab).

With Bellevue students commuting across PugeSound on ferries or up to 50 miles on land, theaccessibility of the VLab was an “amazing” assefor students in the four-course CISCO networkinsequence he teaches. “That was a huge[advantage] to it because they could casuallypractice the exercises in their slippers at home,he said.

From his experience teaching the same coursesbefore and during the NISGTC, Lee observed

improvements in students’ grades, industrycertification exam passage rates, and jobplacements.

“Their degree of readiness was just vastlyhigher,” Lee said. When he surveyed studentsinformally about the reason, he said, “Theyindicated that the VLab resource actually gavethem a [vehicle by] which to hone their crafttoward the certification.”

SGTC REMEMBERSERICH SPENGLERErich Spengler was an innovative, big dreamer,and charismatic national leader in IT andcybersecurity. As he implemented cutting-edge innovations ormentored colleagueshe did not give up whenchallenges occurred.

Always willing to helpcolleagues across thenation, he was happiestwhen helping studentssucceed.

Erich was the force behind the NISGTC Virtual

Lab. He led the planning to implement virtuallab equipment at all the partner colleges and todevelop custom virtual lab exercises to supportNISGTC online curriculum. He would be proud ofthe consortium’s accomplishments.

Erich was a full-time professor of computerintegrated technology at Mor aine ValleyCommunity College.

In 2003 Erich was nameddirector and principalinvestigator of the NationalScience Foundation AdvancedTechnology Education Centerfor Systems Security andInformation Assurance (CSSIA).

Erich was diagnosed with cancer in late 2012.For almost two years he fought to live and

remained active in the work of the NISGTCdespite deteriorating health. His optimism ledmany to believe that he might beat the disease,but he did not. He passed away on November 11,2014, but his legacy lives on in the lives of thosehe touched.

Always willing to helpcolleagues across the nation,

he was happiest whenhelping students succeed.

Being able toaccess the VLab24 hours a day fromanywhere with an

internet connectionextends students’learning, practicetime and success.

/// VIRTUAL LAB


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Once you take the course here, preparing yourself for the ITworld—it’s a good start. - WILBUR TONY, Veteran, Bunker Hill

0 /// STUDENT TESTIMONIALS STUDENT TESTIMONIALS \

I have learned how this industryworks and what is wanted in anemployee. i have a game plan nowand i know the steps I need to takefor my career thanks to the workof the dol staff.

- DANNY CUEVAS, Moraine Valley

BETSY FELDMAN, Bellevue After I was laid off from a grant-funded academicresearch position, I went back to school to learnsome business skills. My DOL grant advisor helpedme rewrite my academic CV into an effective resumeand turn my boring cover letter into a succinct andeffective introduction. She helped me prepare forinterviews in the business world, and she informedme about open positions that suited my particularinterests and skills, including my current internshipposition at Costco Wholesale. All this was immenselyhelpful, but possibly the most important assistanceoffered was suppor t and encouragement, convincingme that I would be successful in making the transitionfrom academia to business.

CHERYL THOMAS, CollinBeing in today’s job market is vastly differentfrom what the job market was w hen I lastlooked for employment some twenty years ago.I felt increasing my knowledge in IT, a dynamicever-changing field, would improve my jobmarketability and increase my ability to earn a

higher income. Both have come true for me.

CHINTAN PATEL, Moraine ValleyPrior to attending Moraine Valley, Iwas a student at Oak Forest HighSchool and worked part-time. I reallyliked what [Moraine Valley] had to sayabout the opportunities available. I amcurrently working on computer andlocal area network technician, voice anddata specialist, and IT security specialistassociate degrees. I graduated with allthree IT degrees in May 2015. I joinedthe NISGTC grant program and wasexcited to learn about the additionalopportunities. Through a cohort I havemet top industry professionals, joinedtwo nonprofit organizations and have aprofessional mentor.

IAN MULQUEEN, Rio SaladoI was a full-time student and active member of theNISGTC grant and am now employed full time as acontractor with American Express in the IT SecurityRealm. I absolutely credit the people, resources, andgrant provisions for this amazing opportunity.

EVIN PRATT, Del Martworking is a key factor in the success of the GIS community. There is a lot ofrk that goes with this program, but in this particular field it is just the tip of theberg. The program also has been there for me the whole way with support andcouragement. The staff has gone out of [its] way to help with anything that Ieded. I feel confident that when I graduate I will have exceptional workplace skillscause of this program. Using the most up-to-date methods will be a real plus whencomes time to star t working. I think that this is perhaps the coolest fi eld in the world.

SAM DIAB, Moraine ValleyBefore I knew anything about the IT program or thedepartment in general, I had no idea what classes tfor my general IT major. Now, I am focusing on my sLAN classes, currently studying to get my A+ certifiExperience and education are the most powerfulcombination you can have on your side to being sucin IT, but passion is the fuel that drives you there anthe most important thing I learned from the DOL StSuccess Team.

MICHAEL ALVA, Del MarI had been a landsman for about nine yearsand have been involved in many aspects ofthe profession. I had always been interestedin the mapping aspect of my profession,and as a result I have recently taken arenewed interest in completing courseworktoward a GIS degree plan. I already hadthe good fortune of acquiring a GIS jobwithin my industry. The coursework that wecovered had the concepts and tools that I

use daily. These classes provided me thefoundation for being able to communicatewith the current GIS staff and incorporatethe logic of my prior experience into myday-to-day workload. Additionally I am ableto communicate some exploration andproduction land concepts to the GIS staffthat are difficult to understand without abackground in both fields.

MARGARITA WILLHELM, Del Mar

When I started in the program, I was an unemployed disaster contractorstumbled into the GIS program seeing what looked lik e interesting classewithout a clue of what I had in store. This program allowed me to make apositive change in my life and has showed me that I can personally affecaround me. I was able to tutor GIS and computer science. I l ove the conschallenge and the relationship I have developed with the other students.have several marketable skills awards, a certificate in computer programand I am very close to getting my associate degree in GIS.

THERESA KAINER, Del Mar After being a stay-at-home mother for 22 years, it was time for me to re-enter the workforce. When earned my bachelor’s degree in fi nance back in 1983, we used FORTRAN in my computer class. Neeto say, my skills needed updating! I read about the free fast-track technology courses in our localnewspaper. I enrolled in the second cohort. The education level in my group varied, but the patienceour instructors and tutors never wavered. I was moved by their desire to see each of us succeed. Tdidn’t just give us the answers; they made sure we understood the material. With renewed confidencabilities, I began work ing and am now the business coordinator for the grant.

DAN FOSTER, Moraine ValleyI am now a member of SecureWorks’ SecurityServices team, which combines the customerservice skills I developed over the long courseof my restaurant work with the baseline ofknowledge I’ve gained in the security classesat Moraine Valley. I know that without the helpand support of everyone at the college, Imight not have found myself presented withsuch a great opportunity. From here, I plan tocomplete my degrees [IT security and voice& data specialist], acquire more certificationsand continue learning as much as possibleon the job and on my own so I can continuegrowing and moving forward.

JEFFREY GRINDLE, Veteran, Moraine VaGoing back to school at age 50 was a big decisioit is turning out to be a great one. I spent 16 yein the United States Navy serving as an el ectrontechnician. Due to the diff icult economy, I beganworking on a resume and soon realized that all electronics that I had learned and taught in the were mostly obsolete. One of my daughters wasalready attending Moraine Valley so I applied. I hreally enjoyed the classes so far and have e ven able to use a few of our A+ class projects at thechurch at which I am the associate pastor.

RICARDO RODRIGUEZ,Moraine ValleyThanks to the grant, I am able toattend workshops, certificationreview sessions and a professionaldevelopment cohort. This granthelps me because I am givenaccess to resources that I normallywould not have and I am able toreceive help from the studentsuccess team.


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The daily availability of ITtutoring and the upbeatattention of career coacheswere the NISGTC servicesmost valued by the 102military veterans thatsigned up for Collin College’s Veterans andIndustry Partnership (VIP) Program who alsoregistered for the NISGTC program.

“It’s that tightness or that feeling that there’ssomeone out there who cares about themprogressing in their work,” said John Nguyenof what he saw as effective with veterans. A

retired U.S. Navyofficer with amaster’s degreefrom the NavalPostgraduate School, Nguyen wanted his newcareer to be “something worthwhile.” Uncertainwhat that would be but seeking a challenge,he enrolled at Collin through the VIP programto build on the IT background he had from theNavy. The VIP program is funded by the Texas

Workforce Commission. When career coachesexplained NISGTC services during a pr esentationin his first IT course at the college, he signed up.

“Sometimes it can be scary to make that jumpfrom what we’ve known for many, many years toa different environment,” he said.

NISGTC also provided a way for him to explorewhether higher education will be the way forhim “to make a difference” in his new career.

When a career coach told him that the collegewas looking for an NISGTC project manager, heapplied for the job and was hired.

Employed*64%

unEmployed*36%

*before participating in the grant

veterans148

TAA Eligible29

1,400Breakdown

of the

grant ParticipantsatCollinCollege

“There’s someone outthere who cares aboutthem progressing intheir work.”

NISGTCNUGGET1,154 participants utilized thecareer coach services. Coachesalso offered 65 workshops on 14topics that had 470 attendees.Tutors were busy too. Just since

January 2014, 220 studentsaccessed tutoring services,including 9 group tutoringsessions and 1,561 one-on-oneappointments.

student joins free veterantraining program, gets jobwith grant

To share the advice of NISGTC career coaches with a wider audience, Collin College

created a series of short videos with “Top 10 Tips” for resume writing, interviewing, and usingLinkedIn.

The videos feature Collin College’s NISGTC career coaches, each sharing a tip and theexplanation for its use. The videos provide a snappy distillation of the information provided ingreater detail in the 10-to-30-minute YouTube presentations on the same topics.

See www.youtube.com/NISGTC for all the videos produced during the project.

COLLIN COLLEGE \

Married couple Brandon Tinsley and GeniaJacobs-Tinsley liked working for the sametelecommunications company until they were bothlaid off along with 4,000 other people whose

jobs were sent off-shore.

They decided to use their TAA (Trade Adjustment Assistance) benefits to learn new IT skillsat Collin College. After they enrolled, Texas

Workforce Commission employees suggested theyparticipate in the NISGTC.

Both of the Tinsleys are glad they didand credit NISGTC’s career serviceswith helping them quickly obtain new

jobs.

“Working withDiane Ganze [anNISGTC careercoach] providedme [with] a freshperspective onhow to create an

exemplary resume to find my ideal job,” Genia said. Hyundai Capital hashired her as a senior recovery analyst.She has earned MCITP enterprise andservice administrator certificates, andcontinues to work toward an associate

degree in computer networking. In June 2015right about the time he was awarded associatedegrees in cybersecurity and computer networkingtechnology, Brandon started work at HP as a levelone senior security analyst.

A 2014 NISGTC job fair was key to Brandon initiallyobtaining a temporary position with another ITcompany. At the job fair he met a recruiter whocontacted him afterward about a level one helpdesk position.

During the interview, the company offered him asenior help desk analyst position. A few weeks laterhe was promoted to shift lead. Brandon thinks hiscollege credentials helped him obtain the full-

time position with HP. In addition to his associatedegrees, Brandon has CompTIA Security+certification.

“Life has just gotten better and better since2013. It was rough financially. Of course we tooktremendous pay cuts by doing TAA and going toschool, but in the end I think we felt and prayed itwould work, and it did. Now I’ve got a much better

job. I’ve got a real solid career,” Brandon said.

Life has justotten betterand better

nce 2013.”

NISGTC HELPS TAA COUPLE OBTAIN BETTER JOBS

Joh

Genia Jacobs-Tinsley and Brandon Tinsley

2 /// COLLIN COLLEGE


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“I had a great mentor growingup. I wanted to give back.”

JEFF VANDRIMMELEN, Osky Blue

Virtual Internshipsan Option for Time-Pressed Students

Mentors Provide No-Nonsense Advice

4 /// COLLIN COLLEGE COLLIN COLLEGE \

Collin College created virtual internships toprovide the learning experiences that occur withreal employer interactions for students whoseschedules or budgets do not allow for traditionalinternships.

“Most of our students have to work to put foodon the table,” explained Ann Beheler, NISGTCprincipal investigator. For these employed adultsthe challenges involved in scheduling a low-payor unpaid temporary internship around job orfamily responsibilities can be an insurmountable

hurdle.

For the virtual internships, instructor CopeCrisson organized the students in his AdvancedCCNA Case Study course into teams. “Theywere given the requirements of a pro formacompany’s network needs—basically arequest for proposals. Working in teams, theyhad to design a network that would meet therequirements, build a prototype using lab

equipment and simulator software, document thdesign, and present the design,” Crisson said.

Periodically during the 16-week semester thestudents interacted with an actual IT employervia a webinar tool. During these vir tual meetingwith their mentor, Tu Huynh, vice president ofIT at Comerica Bank, the students reported ontheir progress, discussed difficulties and receivguidance. In addition to these formal interactionthe students corresponded with the mentor viaemail and phone calls.

At the end of the semester the students presentheir project in-person to the mentor, membersof the NISGTC Business and Industry LeadershiTeam, and faculty.

“The virtual internship helped quite a bit with m

current job, as it was a good model for the typeof environments I’d be working on at my curren job,” said Taylor Knoblock. When he graduated 2013 with an associate degree, he was hired aa network engineer by a healthcare IT firm. Hissalary was immediately $15,000 higher than th$40,000 per year he had been making, and hereported in 2015 that he had received additionraises more recently.

Reflecting on the virtual internship experience,Knoblock said the interactions with the mentorexpanded his thinking and the end-of-the-semepresentation helped him learn the appropriateterminology to use when making sales pitches.

Crisson has found that the virtual internships habeen similarly valuable for other students, andhe plans to continue incorporating them in theadvanced course in the future.

Chelsea Hall-Fitzgerald was an art major, sportedrainbow-colored hair, and had a part-time job ina big box appliance store when she began hercomputer networking certificate at Collin College.Computer Information Systems Professor MichaelHarsh brought her to meet Ann Beheler as apotential mentor early in her studies. He thoughtshe had promise, but was concer ned she mightget lost in the nearly all-male classes.

Hall-Fitzgerald and Beheler, who is the NISGTCprincipal investigator, met regularly to discusstechnical and professional issues over a year’stime. When Hall-Fitzgerald had nearly completedher certificate course work, Beheler gave her theopportunity to talk about her studies in front of abusiness panel. As a result, she was encouragedby one business representative to apply for ajunior IT project coordinator position with AMXby Harman despite the listed requirement of abachelor’s degree.

The NISGTC career coaches and Beheler jumpedinto action.

They offered advice on updating her resume,peppered her with interview questions,suggested ways to improve her posture, andadvised her to make eye contact. Hall-Fitzgeraldhumorously recalls Beheler telling her to dye her

hair a single, more natural color, and not to wearthe rings she twists when nervous.

Hall-Fitzgeraldfollowed theeducators’advice. Shewon over theinterview panelwith her tenacity,excitement for IT,and professionalcomportment,said Matt Glover,senior director ofGlobal IT at AMXby Harman.

Her startingsalary was midfive-figures.

About the timeshe finished her associate degree in June 2015,she was promoted to network engineer andreceived a $10,000 raise.

As she works full time, Hall-Fitzgerald continuesto take classes toward her bachelor’s degree inengineering with a specialty in IT and a minor inmanagement with partial support from AMX.

Mentoring took several forms at Collin College.In addition to the attentive advising provided by careercoaches, members of the NISGTC team implementedone-on-one mentoring and two types of groupmentoring.

One-on-one mentoring involved faculty and staff members providing ongoing career guidance toindividual students. The group mentoring occurred in a capstone course where senior IT professionalsmentored small groups of students and through the Mentoring Partnership (photo on page 29).

Career Coach Tracy Clinton proposed the Mentoring Partnership to bridge the gap students sometimesexperience in the transition from college to employment. The progr am began in 2015 by matching fiveIT employers with one to two students each for structured career conversations over a 10-week period.Clinton provided outlines of career-related topics for the mentors to discuss at each meeting. Onestudent obtained a full-time job through a Mentoring Partnership connection and another was offered aninternship that led to a full-time job.

Chelsea Hall-Fitzgerald

Taylor Knoblock

NISGTCNUGGETCollin received Recognition ofExcellence for NISGTC work at thTexas Higher Education CoordinBoard quarterly meeting, January


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NISGTCNUGGETAll 735 students who signed

up for the NISGTC program atBellevue College and its afliate,Everett Community College, hada one-on-one, in-person intakesession with a career navigatorwho explained the tutoring andcareer services available to themthrough the grant.

“I am excited for thepossibilities that exist for

me now and value myeducation.”

Heather Rane is shown shaking hands with Bellevue CollegePresident David Rule when she received her associate degrein network administration in 2014.

NISGTC’s focus on IT employment and expandedrelationships with employers has been a boon foremployers as well as students.

“Employers were thrilled with the attention theygot,” said Judith Morel, NISGTC grant director atBellevue College.

After being contacted by the program’s careernavigators, IT employers joined the LinkedIngroup created to facilitate the workforceentry of IT students in the NISGTC program atBellevue College and affiliate Everett CommunityCollege. Employers posted jobs, participated in

conversations on the social media website, andeven offered advice to students.

Employers also contacted the career coacheswhen they had openings, knowing that thecoaches would send them candidates with the ITskills they were seeking.

Jill Thornton, the career coach assigned to workat Everett Community College, was particularlyeffective at connecting with the WorkforceInvestment Board of Snohomish County,

Washington; many of the 24 (as of June 30,

Everett Community College made the most of itsrole as an affiliate of Bellevue College’s NISGTCinitiative.

“It absolutely helped us to really r evitalize the

program,” said Ryan Davis, dean of Businessand Applied Technology at the two-year publiccollege in Everett, Washington, which is about 32miles north of Bellevue.

With NISGTC support, Everett for the first time inits history was able to provide students with IT-specific career services and tutoring. Staffing thecomputer lab with tutors allowed it to become anopen lab with extended hours of operation. Thecollege also revamped its IT curriculum based onother NISGTC partners’ programs.

Davis said the college leveraged all theseactivities to obtain federal funds and othergrants for new computer equipment. It also usedinternal funds to hire a full-time, tenure-track ITinstructor.

Davis credits Navigator-Career Coach JillThornton as critical to IT enrollment increasingfrom 50 to 80 full-time-equivalent (FTE)

students.

From its NISGTC grant, Bellevue College paidThornton and three tutors to work at Everett.They were incredibly productive, convening nine

job fairs and 25 other career events betweenDecember 2013 and May 2015.

“Knowing that she [Thornton] was there tohelp them [students] get internships and job

Bellevue FacilitatesIT job connections

opportunities was very key, plus her doing someof the outreach efforts was very powerful,” Davissaid.

“Not having that extra person to help studentsunderstand and navigate through, as well as tohave the outreach, we would not have been assuccessful. Could we have done the curriculumchanges? Yes. Would we have filled up ourclassrooms as a result of those curriculumchanges? No, that would have taken longer,”Davis said. Therefore, Everett will be retainingThorton when NISGTC ends.

Washington’s new funding formula rewardscommunity colleges with a 30% bonus for eachFTE in high-cost and high-demand programs likeIT. “Being able to grow the program, we’ve beenable to put the college in a very positive positionfor future funding as well,” Davis said.

NISGTC EasesMid-Career Change

After working for 18 years in retail and eightyears in banking, Heather Rane switched toinformation technology. It was the field she hadalways wanted to work in.

“I am excited for the possibilities that exist for menow and value my education,” she said.

At Bellevue Community College, Rane earnedthree certificates— Cisco support technician,Microsoft network support, and Microsofttechnology—on her way to earning an associatedegree in network administration in 2014.

“I was 100% supported by the grant servicesoffered and particularly by the Career Advisors

T.J. Bajwa and Amber Hisatake,” she said, addithat Bellevue faculty members also encourageher.

“For me experiential learning is so much moreeffective than simply word, text, audio, and visulearning. Though I value a full range of learnintools, being able to apply what I have learnedwas invaluable,” she said.

Despite her initial uneasiness about beginningcollege at middle age, Rane progressed so wethat Bellevue College hired her in 2013 as a

computer lab assistant and a technology servisupport help desk staff member. In 2014 shewas hired as a tutor and an assistant to thefaculty chair.

As she prepared her resume for a full-time jobsearch while working on her bachelor’s degreein system administration, Rane said, “I definitehave realized that I have learned a lot and beedoing a lot since I started.”

2015) TAA-qualified individuals who enrolled inNISGTC services came from this county where theunemployment rate was 4.3% in June 2015.

Everett CommunityCollege OverhaulsIT Program

6 /// BELLEVUE COLLEGE BELLEVUE COLLEGE \


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NISGTCNUGGETBunker Hill Community Collegeimplemented Career Connect,career management databasesystem, to inform all of its NISGTparticipants about IT employmopportunities.

Bunker Hill Community College offered multiple fast-track programs with NISGTCsupport, including a Fast-Track PC Hardware Support Specialist certicate program in2013.

Bunker Hill Community College’s NISGTCprogram revolved around fast-track certificateprograms tailored to meet the needs of differentstudent populations. These programs typicallywere longer certificates compressed intoapproximately a semester, and additional supportwas provided by faculty, career coaches, andtutors to aid student success.

“This model is being watched by otherdepartments,” said Bogusia Wojciechowska,Dean of Professional Studies at BHCC.

Most fast-track programs used the virtual lab

and were part of the stackable certificate modelwhereby students can stack smaller cer tificatesrepresenting increasing skill levels until theycomplete their associate degree. All the newcertificates were offered on campus. Twocommunity-based organizations—St. Mary’sCenter for Women and Children and the NewEngland Center for Homeless Veterans—eachoffered one certificate program that fit theirclients’ career goals.

The on-campus, single-semester Cisco CertifiedNetwork Associate (CCNA) certificate attracted

Fast-Track Programs tailoredfor Diverse Student Populations

the most enrollments. Students moved in cohortsthrough five three-credit courses and had theoption of either a one-credit keyboarding orcareer exploration course.

To help students handle the fast pace, NISGTCtutors and career coaches provided attentive,wrap-around services.

Impressive results from the NISGTC programat St. Mary’s Center for Women and Childrenprompted the non-profit agency’s leaders tostart a health care IT program based on thecurriculum model that BHCC used.

“I think it has been really quite amazing,” Wyvonne Stevens-Carter said of the 87%completion rate for the college credit courses.Stevens-Carter is director of education andemployment at the center, which provides job andhousing services for women who f ace “significantbarriers” due to homelessness, domesticviolence, substance abuse, or other difficulties.

Of the 66 women who completed the NISGTC-supported Microsoft certificate courses, 67%have jobs with employers such as John Hancock,

State Street Corporation, and the University ofMassachusetts.

From 2012 through 2014, BHCC IT instructorstraveled twice a week to St. Mary’s Center in theDorchester neighborhood of Boston to teach one15-week course per semester. It prepared thewomen for entry-level help desk jobs.

In January 2015, BHCC and St. Mary’s revisedthe program for faculty to deliver all five ITcourses for the Microsoft certificate program asan intense six-month 16-credit sequence.

Before the classes began, Stevens-Carter andthe instructors were concerned that the fast pawould be too challenging. However, instead ofdiscouraging the women, it seemed to motivatethem to study together and use the technologyto learn.

She said, “They developed this really greatcohort. It was just a transformation in theirabilities, in their understanding, in theirconfidence. It was amazing.”

Student Vivian Showel said the program “wascomplicated, but it was worth it.” She had beenout of work for a year before taking the NISGTCprogram. Shortly after finishing it, she was hireas a receptionist at St. Mary’s Center.

She, too, thinks the camaraderie among thewomen made a huge difference. “It wasn’t likeeveryone was out for themselves. If someoneneeded help, we would try to help them out.

We would try to work as a team—to get thingscompleted because it was tough—and just sticit out to finish.”

IT SKILLS TAUGHT ATWOMEN’s CENTER

“This grant did help,” said Antonio Padilla,training manager of the Veterans TrainingSchool that the nonprofit center operateswith transitional and emergency housing. Theapproximately 350 veterans who reside at thecenter receive meals, as well as employmentand clinical services. Padilla found that theNISGTC program was especially beneficial forolder veterans whose education benefits hadexpired years ago.

Only one other college has offered a programwith credit courses at the center in recentyears. Padilla said, “Bunker Hill’s was morecomprehensive and more detailed.”

Faculty Teach HardwareCertificate Courses to Homeless VeteransFourteen veterans earned a 16-credit PCHardware Support Specialist certificate throughthe NISGTC-supported program that BHCC facultytaught at the New England Center for HomelessVeterans.

The certificate qualifies the veterans for entry-level jobs in technical support and on helpdesks. In the summer of 2015, four of thosewho earned certificates were enrolled in othercourses at BHCC, one had recently completed a

paid internship, and four others were preparingto take the CompTIA A+ cer tification exam.

All 37 veterans who participated in the collegecredit NISGTC program at the downtown Bostoncenter were homeless at the point they enrolled.

The modular format of the NISGTC programmeans that even those who did not completeall six courses earned college credits and willbe able to finish the certificate requirements oncampus or online in the future.

8 /// BUNKER HILL COMMUNITY COLLEGE BUNKER HILL COMMUNITY COLLEGE \


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NISGTCNUGGETThe GEO Academycurriculum createdthrough the NISGTCgrant earned theextended Del MarNISGTC team the 2015GEO For All-GlobalEducator of the YearAward from the OSGeoFoundation.

The implications of GIS impressed Leonel Deleon, Del Mar College

student, while he recorded insect data for a r esearch study.

Laredo Brings Diverse Populations to GIS

GrandmotherPursues GIS Career

Del Mar StudentsFind InternshipsTransformative

0 /// DEL MAR COLLEGE DEL MAR COLLEGE \

Annette Crossno is one determined grandmother.

At the age of 45 she enrolled in school with whatshe describes as a strong desire “to make adifference for me and be a good example for myfamily.”

During weekday mornings she took classesfor her general education development (GED)high school equivalency certificate, and inthe afternoon she took classes in Del Mar

Through the NISGTC, Laredo Community College,Del Mar College affiliate, offered geographicinformation systems (GIS) courses in variousformats to serve traditional students and workingprofessionals.

“Our intent is to focus on what the wor kforceis looking for,” said Sergio Lujan, an instructorin the Computer Aided Drafting and Design(CAD) program at the college in Laredo, Texas.The college’s formal affiliation with Del MarCollege for the NISGTC occurred as a result ofLujan attending a GIS professional developmentworkshop at Del Mar in 2013.

At that time he was preparing to teach

Introduction to GIS, the first GIS credit course thecollege offered to CAD students in fall 2013. Anintermediate GIS course was added for credit inspring 2014.

“Our intention was to get the students up to twolevels of GIS so when they went to apply for jobs,they would have at least an understanding ofwhat GIS is,” Lujan explained.

On the advice of Phil Davis, then Del Mar’sNISGTC lead, Laredo began a one-year, five-course GIS certificate program in January 2014.So far, eighteen students have completed Laredoprograms.

Then in response to requests for shorter, non-credit courses, Laredo offered an intermediateGIS course that four working professionals andtwo traditional students took in summer 2014.

Afterward several of those students joined the

certificate program. In fall 2015, nine studentswere enrolled in the credit GIS course.

Internships are key points on the career mapsof Leonel Deleon (pictured right) and AlbyCartwright (photo on page 29), Del Mar Collegegeoscience students who participated in theNISGTC.

In the spring of 2015 Deleon completed an

internship with a Texas A&M AgriLife Researchteam that used GIS technologies to calculate thepresence of crop-damaging insects in cotton,sorghum and corn fields. His internship wasfunded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The data Deleon collected in the fields and themaps he made to show the concentration of

three different types of insects were shared withfarmers to inform their pesticide use. “After DelMar I plan to apply for a job with AgriLife just tosee what it’s like to do GIS on a full-time basis.This has changed my direction in life,” Deleonsaid.

Cartwright, who had four GIS internships whilecompleting her associate degree at Del Mar, likesthe combination of working outdoors and in anoffice, and on teams and alone that GIS careersinvolve. For her final internship she compiledSouth Texas precipitation data for the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

She plans to pursue aGIS career after earninga bachelor’s degree.“Before the internships,I wouldn’t have beenable to tell you what Iwanted to do in my life,”Cartwright said. “They

defined what I’m looking for.”

College’s IT-GISEssentials Program.The continuing education program uses a fast-track format to teach cybersecurity, geospatialtechnology, programming and networking, anddata communications.

“She’s a non-traditional student who had agrueling schedule, and her transportation washer bicycle,” said Christina Alvarado, NISGTCcareer coach. “It took tenacity, perseverance,and a commitment to reach her goal to finish thprogram on a very high note,” she said.

When Crossno’s bicycle was stolen on the dayshe had an Intro to Database test, Crossno didnot miss class—she got a ride to school with aclassmate. Afterward her classmates put theirmoney together to buy her a replacement bikefor $50.

“I cried! It was the first time I had experiencedthat much generosity. It touched my hear t andinspired me,” Crossno wrote in a testimonial

about the IT-GIS Essentials Program.

By completing the five accelerated courses thatcount toward the IT-GIS Essentials certificate, shearned 32 continuing education units. She planto pursue her career goal of becoming a GIStechnician.

“It took tenacity,perseverance, and acommitment to reachher goal to nish theprogram on a very

high note.”CHRISTINA ALVARADO

“This haschanged mydirection in

life.”


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“If I hadrealized howempoweringschool was Iwould havefought toothand nail to dothis years ago.”

NISGTCNUGGET

“The cohort has given me theopportunity to meet and learnfrom talented industry leaderswith decades of knowledge andexperience. The Student SuccessCenter offers resources that fewfour-year institutions offer to anyof their students.”

- ANTHONY RAMIREZ

Moraine Valley Community Collegedropped certicate and graduationapplication fees after an NISGTCpilot test. The test found that feesaffected students’ decisions to claimthe credentials they had earned.Without the fee, hundreds morestudents received IT certicates inenhanced and new programs.

Bridget Nee

MORAINE VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE \

MVCC’s five day Test Fest encouraged students prepare for and take industry certification exam

Historically, the traditional college-age studentswho are the majority of MVCC’s students,have not taken the networking and other IT,cybersecurity, or geoscience-related certificatioexams.

Angela O’Donnell, NISGTC administrative directosaid exam fees and students’ incompleteunderstanding about the value employers placeon industry certifications have been factors in tlow participation rate.

To change this trend, NISGTC success coachespromoted the Test Fest for several weeks inadvance of the June 1 to 5, 2015, meetingdates using flyers, postcards, emails, and videoThe video announcements were broadcast ontelevisions in front of and in the hallways of thecollege’s Technology Center.

The success coaches were pleased when 141people attended one or more of the multi-hoursessions that MVCC faculty led for eight differencertification exams.

As an additional incentive for the Test Festparticipants to follow through and take the

exams at the PearsonVue testingcenter on campus, the college’sbookstore provided 15%

discounts on the vouchers it sellfor the various exams.

Sixty-six people purchasedvouchers at the bookstore to takthe exam.

While living in a domestic violenceshelter, Bridget Nee became a full-timestudent at Moraine Valley CommunityCollege (MVCC). It was 2014. She was50 years old, recently divorced, andready to make big changes in her life.

She started taking courses inparalegal studies but was soimpressed by what she learned duringa Women in Technology boot campand a cyber security seminar that sheswitched majors to cybersecurity.

As an NISGTC participant Neeconnected frequently with tutors and

student success specialists. “If I everhave a question and don’t know whereto go, I just ask them and they steerme in the right direction,” she said.

They also helped her work through her fearsthat she would not be able to find a job due toher age and many years out of the workforceby encouraging her to sign up for the ITProfessional Development Cohort. The cohortprogram focused on soft skills and providedopportunities for small groups of students tointeract with IT employers.

“After the fall cohor t, I have been given thechance to network with industry pr ofessionalsand am no longer worried about that at all,” shesaid of her job prospects.

In 2015 Nee had an unpaid internship and wascontinuing to take courses toward her associatedegree. Her short-term plans include preparingfor industry cer tification exams; her long-termgoal is to earn a bachelor’s degree.

“If I had realized how empowering school was Iwould have fought tooth and nail to do this yearsago. I see school as my ticket out of poverty, andI have discovered that I love learning,” Nee said.

With the competition for IT jobs intensifying, MVCCcreated the IT Professional Development Cohortto improve students’ soft skills for interviews andother workplace interactions.

Two groups of networking students—24 infall 2013 and 25 in fall 2014—met for six-hour sessions on multiple Fridays for detailedinstructions on writing resumes, interviewing for

jobs in person and on the phone, networking withIT professionals, communicating effectively, anddressing for success. About half of the studentswere close to graduating; others had taken justtwo networking courses.

NISGTC success coaches worked in collaborationwith the Illinois Technology Foundation to providespeakers from Dell, CompTIA, Cisco, and VMware.The foundation also donated fee vouchers for thestudents to take industry cer tification exams.

During panel discussions and individualpresentations IT professionals shared insights

IT Learning Empowers Bridget Nee from their careers. They also explainedemployers’ expectations for job candidates andthe technicians they hire.

Students interacted with employers during mockinterviews and informal lunches.

The fall 2013 cohort visited the MicrosoftTechnology Center in Chicago, Illinois; the fall2014 cohort toured Cisco’s Experience Center inRosemont, Illinois.

According to information the students sharedwith the NISGTC success specialists, 14 of the2013 cohort were employed in the semesterafter the program and four had obtainedinternships. Ten of the 2014 cohort wereemployed and one had an internship in 2015.

Professionaldevelopment cohort

Test Fest BoostsIndustry CertificatExam Preparation

2 /// MORAINE VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE


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NISGTCNUGGET

“Auto award means thatstudents do not haveto apply for it to be

awarded.”

Course and program approvalprocess cut from one year to ten days.

Henry Mai, a student and paid lab manager, worked in the CiscoSouth Mountain Community College with NISGTC Tutor Ken Goo

The retention rates for NISGTCstudents at Rio Salado College andits afliates ranged from 87% to 94%depending on the program.

RIO SALADO COLLEGE \

NISGTC Cuts red tape for credentials

While taking networking courses atSouth Mountain Community College,NISGTC participant Henry Mai excelled intwo Cisco competitions.

He received the second highest U.S.score in the 2013 Cisco Networking

Academy NetRiders Competition, aninternational contest with more than10,000 competitors.

His prize was a study trip to theheadquarters of Cisco Systems Inc. inSan Jose, California. There he and 18other finalists, whom Cisco calls “Future

Architects of the Internet of Every thing,” learnedfrom company engineers and executives.

On the Cisco video about the NetRiderscompetition Mai said, “My networking instructormade me realize that by understanding peopleand helping them achieve what they want, youare able to achieve what you want.”

Rio Salado’s NISGTC program initiated apilot study for auto awarding cer tificates andassociate degrees in the Maricopa CountyCommunity College District.

“Auto awardmeans thatstudents donot have toapply for it tobe awarded,”Briden said.

With the newprocess college personnel review students’records upon program completion. If allrequirements for the certificate of completion

student excels in cisco competitions

Mai was also on a two-person team that won thCISCO Networking Expert Battle category agains76 teams. That competition at the University of

Advancing Technology tested students’ technicaskills and innovative approaches on varioustasks.

eader Instigates Quickurriculum Approvalrocess

By sharing information and collaborating withcolleagues working on other grant-fundedinitiatives, NISGTC leaders at the MaricopaCounty Community College District expanded the

reach of each initiative to benefit unemployedand underemployed students more fully.

By reaching out to colleagues who were workingon the Walmart Brighter Futures 2.0 Project,Briden learned that this grant could help withtuition and fees for industry cer tification examsfor low-income students. Nineteen NISGTCstudents qualified for this assistance.

Leveraging NISGTC Multiplies BenefitsNISGTC also collaborated with Estrella MountainCommunity College, a Maricopa college, andfour other Arizona colleges to advance the workof the Arizona Sun Corridor Get Into Energy

Consortium, a Round II TAACCCT grant initiative.

By working together on cur riculum the twoDepartment of Labor grant initiatives created acore certificate that responds to the needs ofboth IT and energy employers.

As part of its NISGTC work, Rio Salado Collegecut the course and program approval processwithin the Maricopa County Community CollegeDistrict (Maricopa) from one year to 10 days.

The fast-track curriculum approval process forgrant-funded programs was the brainchild ofMary Briden, NISGTC grant director at Rio SaladoCollege. She suggested it after realizing it wouldbe nearly impossible to complete Maricopa’smulti-step, year-long approval process for newcurriculum and meet the Department of Labor’s

expectation to create programs and enrollstudents in order for them to quickly return tothe workforce.

When Maricopa’s leaders readily agreedto Briden’s idea, she drafted the expeditedprocess in consultation with faculty. It allowsfor new curriculum—courses, certificates, anddegrees—developed specifically for grant-funded programs to go direc tly to the district’sCenter for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation(CCTA) for immediate analysis.

When CCTA verifies that the proposed curriculumfollows current Maricopa standards, it passes

and/or the associate in applied science degreehave been met then they are automaticallyawarded.Briden explained that historically IT studentshave focused on industry certifications, rather

than college certificates and degrees.

They enrolled in colleges to learn theknowledge necessary to pass industrycertification exams and often skippedfilling out the paperwork that collegesrequire to have certificates and degreesnoted on their transcripts.

Associate degrees awarded through the RioSalado NISGTC program articulate to threeuniversities.

the curriculum on to the governing boardfor approval. Courses created for grants areidentified in the course catalogue as closedcourses with specific end dates.

In order to make sure the 10 certificates and3 degree programs Rio Salado developed forthe NISGTC would be available to students in

the future, they also went through and gainedapproval through the usual process thatinvolves review by multiple committees known asinstructional councils.

“We have found out that it [the fast-track] hasnot been an issue because all the instructionalcouncils know that it’s tied to the grant, it hasmet the standards, and they will have input whenthe program goes through the regular curricularprocess,” Briden said.

4 /// RIO SALADO COLLEGE


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6 /// SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE \

“SLCC made surethat students were

knowledgeableand procient in

the use of the latesthardware and

software available.”

• 3 New CertificatesGeomatics Certicate of Prociency Geospatial Technology Certicate

of Prociency

Certicate in Geospatial Technology(ArcGIS Desktop)

• 1 New DegreeGeospatial Technology Associate in

Applied Science

• Utah’s first entirely onlineGIS certificate program

Access E-Books through the Open

Geography Education website at

www.opengeography.org/etextbooks.h

Martina Nelson

Before movingto Utah,MartinaNelsontookdraftingclasses atan Ohiocommunitycollegeand somegeneral

education courses at a university. Knowing

first-hand the skills-based education thatcommunity colleges provide, she enrolled inthe surveying and geomatics program at SaltLake Community College (SLCC). She alsosigned up for the NISGTC program.

With the help of Walt Cunningham, associateprofessor of surveying and geomatics, and othermentors, Nelson earned an associate in applied

science degree in land surveying with honorsin 2013. After obtaining her Utah Professional

Surveyor License,she purchased ParkCity Surveying. Itwas the firm whereshe worked whileenrolled at SLCC.

In 2015 she hiredtwo SLCC surveyingstudents whom sheconsiders “a perfect

fit” for her firm.“The curriculumand equipment SLCCprovided was the

most up-to-date and the teaching and mentoringprovided was first-rate. SLCC made sure thatstudents were knowledgeable and proficient inthe use of the latest hardware and softwareavailable, and this is critical for the success of aland surveying company,” she said.

NISGTC Participant Buys Firm,Employs Students

The NISGTC program was the impetus for AdamDastrup, NISGTC co-lead at SLCC, to write free

e-books for the nine geography, geospatialscience, geology, and surveying coursesimpacted by NISGTC.

His efforts have saved students more than$206,918 since August 2013.

By design, the TAACCCT-funded NISGTCsupported tutoring, career services, educationalequipment, and curriculum development; it

NISGTCNUGGET

open lab andtutoring centerfoster interest in gis

The Geosciences Tutoring Center that Salt LakeCommunity College created for the NISGTC wassuch a powerful innovation for students andfaculty that the college plans to continue offering

geo-specific tutoring.The NISGTC team at SLCC learned so muchfrom starting a geographic information systems(GIS) open lab and the specialized geosciencestutoring center that they have developed ahandbook for other educators to follow.

The center offered in-person, one-on-onetutoring and a text-based, online service to

students enrolled in five geoscience coursesand in other science and technology coursesthat have started incorporating GIS. Eachsemester the usage of the 25-stationcomputer lab and classroom grew from 103student visits in fall 2013 to 362 in spring2015.

The center’s location in the geosciencesdepartment and near the college’s ScienceResource Center, where other STEM tutoringis available, made it visible and convenientfor students to drop in with questions andpersonalized tutoring. The GIS lab is also usedas an instructional space by faculty for a varietyof courses and programs within the department.

During the course of the NISGTC grant, the

availability of the open lab and the competencyof the staff attracted the interest of studentsfrom other majors who visited the center tolearn informally about GIS technologies.

Christopher Johnson, an assistant professorin the Geosciences Department, reportsthat the center and its tutors provided a“mechanism for career advancement forstudents.” He cited geology majors as oneexample. Most of them now have a basicunderstanding of GIS thanks to the servicesprovided by the NISGTC.

E-books savestudents money

did not cover students’ tuition or books. Withthe program’s focus on unemployed andunderemployed adults, Dastrup began to createalternatives to expensive textbooks and othereducational resources. He believes that the

cost of traditional textbooks are becoming aneconomic impediment for many students.

Dastrup says the free e-books that he puttogether are more dynamic than typicaltextbooks because of the embedded interactivetechnologies and up-to-date content he includeThey are compatible with mobile devices, and aused in face-to-face, flipped, blended hybrid, anonline instructional settings.

With SLCC moving toward using free e-bookscampus-wide, the college plans to maintain theOpen Geography Education website after theNISGTC grant ends.

The e-books along with the other curriculummaterials developed by NISGTC are availableon the free open source National Training andEducation Resource website (www.nter.collin.edand Skills Commons (www.skillscommons.org),which has been designated by the Depar tmentof Labor as the repository for the TAACCCTprogram.


15/17


16/17

45,970 Student-CourseUses of the Virtual Labs

Goal of 2,000

NISGTC received astandout award for

excellence in it

PROFILES.OPEN4US.ORG/TAACCCT

eMadeline P

Graphic desTricia Co

Project ManChristina

Collin County Community College District is an equal opportunity institution andprovides education and employment opportunities without discrimination on thebasis of race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin disability or veteran status.

For more information contact ACCESS at 972-881-5898V/TDD. For persons withhearing or speech impairments please use the Texas Relay Services when ofces ordepartments on campus do not list a TDD number. The Texas Relay number is 1-800-735-2989 (TDD). “This workforce solution was funded by a grant awarded by theU.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The solution wascreated by the grantee and does not necessarily reect the ofcial position of theU.S. Department of Labor. The Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties,or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information,including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy,continued availability or ownership.”

This work by the National Information Security and Geospatial TechnologiesConsortium (NISGTC), and except where otherwise noted, is licensed under theCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license,visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.

These are accomplishments for several key deliverables through

6/30/15. Data through the end of the grant will be available onwww.nisgtc.org for several years after the grant concludes on 9/30/15.

Number of Participants 6,166 (Goal of 5,861)

Increase in Number of Underrepresented

5% (Goal of 4%)

Credit Hours Completed of those Attempted During 1st Academic Year

92% (Goal of 75%)

Students Who Enrolled Consecutively from their Initial Term 77% (Goal of 60%)

Virtual Labs Exercises in4 IT Specialty Areas

250 (Goal of 200)

Students Transferring to

Western Governors University or Other Traditional University504 (Goal of 100)

Students Receiving Advice from a Career Coach

3,800+ (Goal of 2,500)

Virtual Internship/Externship Capstone Courses Created*

4 (Goal of 4)

NISGTC ConsortiumBy the Numbers

New/Enhanced Online Courses

Integrated into College Portals 202 (Goal of 100)

Students Completing New IT Fast-TrackTraining

1,218 (Goal of 850)

IT-Specic Entrepreneurship Courses

Posted on Repository 3 (Goal of 2)

Boot Camps Delivered

17 (Goal of 15)

108 Courses creatGoal of 1

*See postcard detailing Virtual Internships/

Externships at www.nisgtc.org/bilt.html.

programming29courses cyberse18courses

networking16courses geospat25courses

cross-specialty20courses

0 /// DELIVERABLES DELIVERABLES \


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Documents

Broader Impact Book