National Science Foundation Taps UMass Boston As Possible Regional Technology Site

By Leigh DuPuy

With flying colors, UMass Boston passed the initial hurdle in its grant application to become a regional technology center with area community colleges and K-12 districts. A team from the National Science Foundation (NSF) visited partner schools and attended a forum for education shareholders, including Chancellor Jo Ann Gora and Tom Chmura, vice president for economic development for the University of Massachusetts, at UMass Boston on February 24 and 25. Following their visit, program officers gave the university a favorable review, which will then go to the granting agency for formal approval. An announcement may be made sometime in mid to late April.

"We were very excited about NSF's visit to UMass Boston," said Chancellor Gora. "Creating a regional technology center is a terrific opportunity for us to further our mission of outreach and education through an innovative technology partnership."

"This project represents a unique opportunity to expand and connect the information and communication technologies in our Boston-area public institutions," explains Deborah Boisvert, IT curriculum coordinator in the Division of Corporate, Continuing and Distance Education, "Faculty across the partner institutions are excited about collaborating together to create the best learning environment for our region's students. Business and industry will also benefit through a better-trained workforce and a more responsive education system that is better able to adapt to their changing technical needs."

The initiative, known as the Boston Area Advanced Technology Connections (BATEC) Partnership, seeks to establish an Advanced Technology Education (ATE) regional center in Boston to help meet the strong projected demand for skills information technology (IT) workers, both regionally and nationwide. UMass Boston is partnering with institutions such as Bunker Hill Community College, Middlesex Community College, Roxbury Community College, TechBoston, the Metropolitan School to Career Partnership, and ten secondary schools north of Boston. Since early 2000, their representatives have been working together to map a plan for a coordinated regional IT education system – one that will attract talented students to IT careers, promote lifelong learning of IT skills, and support the workforce needs of the region's IT companies.

BATEC will focus on three goals: to refocus IT education to encourage and facilitate multiple entry and exit points; to expand regional professional development opportunities for IT educators at all levels; and to expand the capacity in the region to attract students from diverse backgrounds to IT training and help them gain employment in IT positions. The process will be documented so that the model can then be replicated in other regions.

Image: Chancellor Gora speaks during the National Science Foundation (NSF) site visit on February 24. Seated next to her is NSF's Gerhard Salinger. (Photo by Harry Brett)

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