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Best practices for Student Internships

At a recent meeting of the National Convergence Technology Center’s (CTC) IT faculty community of practice, known as the Convergence College Network (CCN), participants discussed paid internships. This agenda item was motivated by the National Visiting Committee, an annual review board that evaluates the CTC’s grant efforts, who consider paid internships a best practice. The…

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17 Things We Learned at the ATE PI Conference

Staff from the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) recently attended the National Science Foundation’s ATE Principal Investigators conference. This annual event each October offers an invaluable forum for ATE grantees from across the country to get together in person in Washington, DC to share best practices and plan future collaborations. This year, of course, the…

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2020 ATE Principal Investigators Conference

Traditionally, every fall the National Science Foundation ATE (Advance Technological Education) grantees gather at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. to attend the Principal Investigators (PIs) conference. However, this year, due to Covid-19, the 27th National ATE PIs Conference will be hosted October 19-23 as a virtual event. That’s right, all online! As a…

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Perspectives on Stackable Certificates

The National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) recently hosted a 30-minute webinar discussing the “hows” and “whys” of offering stackable certificates to IT students. “Stackables” are defined by the Department of Labor as “a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time to build up an individual’s qualifications and help them to move along a…

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Leverage Our BILT’s Expertise

Each May, the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) convenes its Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT) to update a detailed list of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). While most quarterly BILT meetings run 90 minutes, the May meeting runs closer to four hours. The BILT members work through the previous year’s KSA list line by…

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Strengthen Your Program with Updated IT Skill Standards

How do you keep your IT curriculum current with the evolving needs of the industry? The “IT Skill Standards 2020 and Beyond” (ITSS) project, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, works with IT employers and subject matter experts (SMEs) across the country to update skill standards for the most in-demand job clusters. Last…

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Learn more about the National Science Foundation’s ATE program

The National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s “ATE” program – the Advanced Technological Education program. ATE grants support technical education (e.g. curriculum, career pathways, faculty professional development, student projects) primarily at two-year educational institutions in the “high-technology fields that drive our nation’s economy.” Active collaboration with…

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Best Practices for Successfully Scaling Education Programs

The National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) recently recorded a 30-minute presentation entitled “Successful Scaling: Strategies to Expand the Capacity and Impact of Your Program.” This presentation was intended to be delivered in person in Portland, Oregon at the HITEC conference, but the coronavirus pandemic pushed that event online. (You can access recordings of the HITEC…

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Have You Seen the CTC’s Upgraded Website?

Drum roll, please. Your National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) website has a whole new look, powered now by the far more agile and dynamic WordPress platform. This transformation has been many months in the making, part of a strategic effort to develop a more user-friendly website. We want to make it quick and easy for…

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