Posts by Mark Dempsey
Perspectives and Successes from IT Administrators
The National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) spends a lot of time working with IT faculty, whether through professional development events like Working Connections or through quarterly meetings with the 60 schools in the Convergence College Network (CCN) that features best practice sharing. But twice a year, the CTC allows administrators the opportunity to get more…
Read MoreStudents Attend STEM Educator Conference
The National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) has long been one of the sponsors of the annual High Impact Technology Exchange Conference (HI-TEC). This past summer, the conference was in Salt Lake City, but it’s been all over the country. Recent HI-TEC conferences assembled in Pittsburgh, Portland, Chicago, and Austin. One of the unique features of…
Read MoreWhat We Learned At HI-TEC
The National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) had a large presence at the recent High Impact Technology Exchange Conference (HI-TEC) in Salt Lake City, Utah. CTC grant partners disseminated best practices and shared resources through two pre-conference workshops (“Big Data Visualization and Analytics” and “New, Free, Virtual Labs in IT/Security”) and four breakout sessions (“Using Business…
Read MoreCongratulations to our Tireless BILT Chairman
Matt Glover, the chair of the National Convergence Technology Center’s (CTC) unique “BILT” (Business and Industry Leadership Team), won the prestigious Industry Recognition Award at this summer’s HI-TEC conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. Big congratulations to Matt on this important achievement. Matt – the Chief Technical Officer of Le-Vel Brands – helps the CTC…
Read MoreA Success Story for Virtual Labs
One of the benefits available to “Level 1” members of the National Convergence Technology Center’s (CTC) Convergence College Network community is access to free Network Development Group (NDG) online virtual labs to support A+, Net+ and Security+ courses. Since 2016, these CTC virtual labs – hosted by grant partner schools Collin College, Georgia Southern University,…
Read MoreLessons Learned from NCWIT
Shortly after attending an impressive presentation by NCWIT (National Center for Women in IT and Technology) at a conference in Pittsburgh, the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) joined the organization and became part of NCWIT’s “Academic Alliance.” If your school isn’t already a member, consider joining today. The “Academic Alliance” is 100% free. In return,…
Read MoreBusiness Feedback on the Future of IT
Regular readers of this blog know that the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) believes strongly that annual job skills validation meetings with business experts are an essential element in making sure IT curriculum aligns with workforce needs. At these meetings, industry business councils – called “BILTs” (Business and Industry Leadership Teams) by the CTC –…
Read MoreNational CTC Funded for Another Five Years
The National Science Foundation has awarded the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) a $3.9 million renewal grant to spend the next five years addressing the ongoing shortage of skilled IT workers. This new grant will run through June 2022 and focus on emerging technologies – led by cloud computing and software-defined networking, plus the rapid…
Read MoreNew Approach to Transferring Workforce Courses
The University of North Texas (UNT), a grant partner of the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC), continues to develop its innovative Bachelor of Arts in Information Technology (BAIT) program. The manager of the BAIT program – principal lecturer David Keathly – recently delivered a webinar to interested faculty and administrators from the CTC’s community of…
Read MoreThe Essentials for a Thriving Community of Practice
We recently delivered a conference breakout presentation on the National Convergence Technology Center’s (CTC) successful community of practice (CoP) called the Convergence College Network (CCN). In addition to discussing case study specifics about this group of 60 schools across 23 states and the IT faculty members that drive it, we also looked at an interesting…
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