RECORDED WEBINARS 2016

Susie Davisson worked as a Job Developer/Career Coach with the DOL TAACCT Round 1 Grant at Collin College.  Susie worked with grant participants in job preparation and job placement and became the grants lead job developer.

In her less than three years working on the grant, Susie made contact with more than 250 employers.  The relationships she developed led to employers participating in grant events such as employer panels, mock interviews and job fairs.

Prior to her role with Collin College, Susie spent over four years working as an Employment Specialist and Economic Empowerment Specialists with The International Rescue Committee.  Davisson is a native of Illinois and spent 16 years as an educator there.  She earned a BA from Eureka College and a MS from Western Illinois University.

Mike Lesiecki, PhD, is the director of the Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC) at the Maricopa Community Colleges. He is the Principal Investigator for a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education program. Mike has been the host and facilitator of over 200 professional development webinars, working with a diverse group of clients to provide materials, and training that enables students, faculty, and technicians to continuously master the evolving competencies in science, mathematics, technology, and communications required by the workforce of the semiconductor, electronics, and advanced manufacturing industries. Mike received his PhD in Physical Chemistry from Oregon State University and has 27 peer-reviewed journal publications and one patent. He has taught in university, community college, and high school settings and worked in high tech industries as well.

Ann Beheler has been in the Information Technology industry for over 30 years, and she is now responsible for Emerging Technology grants at Collin College. In that capacity she leads the National Convergence Technology Center, a $4.4 million National Science Foundation Center of Excellence. She has also recently completed an almost $20 million DOL TAACCCT grant. A major focus of these grants is sharing resources including initiatives, curriculum, equipment, and general best practices among 46+ colleges to improve programs nationally. Beheler has experience in industry, leading her own consulting firm, teaching the first vendor-specific networking degree program in Texas, and managing IT-related corporate divisions. She has prior experience as a Vice President of Academic Affairs and as a Dean. 

Gordon Synder is currently the Associate Director of National Center for Optics and Photonics Education (OP-TEC) funded via University of Central Florida and located in Waco, Texas. The OP-TEC Center is a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence.

He is the past Director of the sun-set National Center for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT Center, formerly the National Center for Telecommunications Technologies or NCTT) at Springfield Technical Community College in Massachusetts.

In addition to his work with the NSF funded Centers, he has served as the Verizon Next Step New England telecommunications curriculum leader serving on several technology boards around the United States including the Microsoft Community College Advisory Council, the Massachusetts Networking and Communications Council, and the National Skill Standards Board.

Snyder is the author of four engineering and engineering technology textbooks and has over 25 years of consulting experience in the field of communications and information technology. In 2001 he was selected as one of the top 15 technology faculty in the United States by Microsoft and the American Association of Community Colleges and in 2004 was selected as the Massachusetts Network and Communications Council Workforce Leader of the year.

Elaine Craft has served as Director of the National Science Foundation-funded South Carolina Advanced Technological (SC ATE) Center of Excellence since 1994. Currently, she is also PI for the NSF ATE Mentor-Connect: Leadership Development and Outreach project and a Co-PI for the SC ATE National Resource Center for Expanding Excellence in Technician Education. Craft is also founder and President/CEO of SCATE Inc., a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit corporation created to promote systemic change in Advanced Technological Education and help sustain the SC ATE Center of Excellence. Elaine received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mississippi and a MBA from the University of South Carolina.

Barbara R. Murray is the Executive Director and Principal Investigator for the National Science Foundation SMART (Southeast Maritime and Transportation) Center. Launched in 2010, the SMART Center is one of 40 National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF ATE) centers with a focus on developing strong industry and education partnerships to increase middle skill technician professions in the U.S. It is the only NSF ATE center solely focused on the maritime and transportation industry and it serves secondary school systems, two- and four-year colleges and global industry-leading employers across the Southeast region of the U.S. including Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. With renewal funding awarded in 2015, the SMART Center is scaling its success to educational institutions nationwide.

Developing an effective, replicable Maritime Technologies Career Pathway program and career outreach tools has been a primary focus of the Center’s work. The SMART Maritime Technologies pathway has proven to successfully educate and credential dual enrollment high school students, community college students, military members, re-careering adults, and women, enabling them to successfully pursue careers as middle-skill technicians in the maritime and transportation industry. Murray has served with U.S. DOL and DOT leadership to modify the DOL Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics (TDL) competency model and serve as a catalyst for industry collaborations to create national standards for industry-valued maritime education and credentialing.

Previously Murray serves as Director in Workforce Development for Tidewater Community College (TCC) in Virginia Beach, Virginia, a position she held for 12 years. She has more than 15 years of experience bringing together industry partners and developing programs to met current and projected workforce training needs in both credit and non-credit formats. Murray developed and led the Registered Apprenticeship programs at TCC where she oversaw apprentice-related courses and curriculum development for more than 1,200 registered apprentices. Recognizing the success of the registered apprenticeship programs in the state, the Commonwealth of Virginia passed legislation that provides annual maritime apprentice scholarship funding for students to take specific, required industry coursework; the Commonwealth provided over $700,000 for those scholarships.

Murray has been awarded and managed federal education grants from the U.S. Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI), the Commonwealth of Virginia, NASA, and most recently the National Science Foundation ATE program grant that funded the creation and renewal of the SMART Center.

Ann Beheler has been in the Information Technology industry for over 30 years, and she is now responsible for Emerging Technology grants at Collin College. In that capacity she leads the National Convergence Technology Center, a $4.4 million National Science Foundation Center of Excellence. She has also recently completed an almost $20 million DOL TAACCCT grant. A major focus of these grants is sharing resources including initiatives, curriculum, equipment, and general best practices among 46+ colleges to improve programs nationally. Beheler has experience in industry, leading her own consulting firm, teaching the first vendor-specific networking degree program in Texas, and managing IT-related corporate divisions. She has prior experience as a Vice President of Academic Affairs and as a Dean.

John Sands has over 30 years of experience in teaching and developing curriculum in the areas of Data Communications, Information Technology and Information Assurance. He currently serves as the Principal Investigator/Executive Director of the Center for Systems Security and Information Assurance (CSSIA), an NSF/ATE National Support Center. He holds several industry certifications and also runs a consulting firm in the area of Information Security and Wireless Communications. As a department chair, full time faculty member, and academic researcher, he has developed and taught numerous online technology courses using an integrated virtual teaching and learning environment. Dr. Sands has served as the executive director of one of the most successful Cisco System – Network Academy Training Centers in the country. He also possesses a very strong background in developing and implementing online curriculum for both students and faculty and has been the recipient of several awards in the area of innovation and teaching.

Lori Wingate is the Director of Research at The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University (WMU). She has a Ph.D. in evaluation and more than 20 years of experience in the field of program evaluation. She directs EvaluATE, the National Science Foundation-funded Advanced Technological Education Evaluation Resource Center, and has led a variety of evaluation projects at WMU focused on STEM education, health, and higher education initiatives. She is an associate member of the graduate faculty at WMU and has led about 50 webinars and workshops on evaluation in a variety of contexts. Additionally, she provides technical consultation as a subject matter expert in evaluation to the Center for Global Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ann Beheler has been in the Information Technology industry for over 30 years, and she is now responsible for Emerging Technology grants at Collin College. In that capacity she leads the National Convergence Technology Center, a $4.4 million National Science Foundation Center of Excellence. She has also recently completed an almost $20 million DOL TAACCCT grant. A major focus of these grants is sharing resources including initiatives, curriculum, equipment, and general best practices among 46+ colleges to improve programs nationally. Beheler has experience in industry, leading her own consulting firm, teaching the first vendor-specific networking degree program in Texas, and managing IT-related corporate divisions. She has prior experience as a Vice President of Academic Affairs and as a Dean. 

Elizabeth Halweg is an instructor at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton Wisconsin. The college provides high quality learning experiences to enhance the lives of the students and the economic development of Northeast Wisconsin. Elizabeth holds a MS degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Vocational and Technical Education and a BS degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in Management Information Systems. After 20 years of work experience in the Telecommunications field, she is now an instructor of Information Technology at Fox Valley Technical College and has been there since August of 2000. As a strong proponent of STEM education, Elizabeth started the GirlTech summer camp at Fox Valley Technical College to expose young girls to STEM technologies. In 2008, Elizabeth became involved with the Convergence Technology Center as a Mentored College and now supports the National CTC as a Converged College Network (CCN) board member and Co-PI on the grant. Elizabeth is committed to meeting established targeted goals in expansion of the CCN to 60 members and the virtual delivery of high-demand converged technology courses.