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BILT Summit was a smash success

By Mark Dempsey | May 15, 2023

Earlier this month the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) convened a free two-day workshop on the essentials of the BILT (Business and Industry Leadership Team) Model. This “BILT Summit” welcomed 43 faculty and administrators from 18 schools across 9 states to the Frisco, Texas campus of Collin College. Interest in the event was overwhelming – we had to move the workshop from a traditional 24-seat classroom to the campus conference center to better accommodate everyone.

Employer members of the National CTC's BILT (Business and Industry Leadership Team) attend a job skills vote meeting. Behind them in the conferene room are faculty and administrator attendees at the BILT Summit workshop.

The BILT Model offers a structured approach to engage employers so they can help steer curriculum development and keep programs looking ahead as business needs evolve. The BILT Model’s goal is to provide faculty with expert guidance to make sure students learn the future-facing skills they need to be “workforce ready.”

Each BILT Summit team prepared an “action plan” of next steps for implementing and adopting the BILT at their home school. These action plans included items like establishing new BILTs, recruiting more employers to join a current BILT, considering the adoption of the “crosswalk” process to compare employer needs with curriculum content, exploring ways to use free online tools for job skills voting, and meeting with senior administration to discuss moving to the BILT model.

Attendees not only learned about the essential elements of a successful BILT, they also workshopped specific strategies for how to recruit the right employer to join your BILT, how to develop a “pro forma” job skills list to use with your BILT to prioritize entry-level job skills, and how to manage the annual KSA job skills vote meeting. On the second day of the workshop, attendees sat in on the National CTC’s annual KSA vote to see the BILT “in action.”

Two other highlights of the workshop:

* A Zoom lunch panel discussion with six members of the National CTC’s BILT (from across the country)

* An extended icebreaker session kicked off the workshop to help energize the room and encourage collaboration across the school teams. The group first played “human bingo” and then undertook the marshmallow challenge (see photo below). Preliminary survey results report that 23 of 25 respondents (92%) made brand new connections at the BILT Summit.

Learn more about the BILT model in this 25-minute webinar.

Employer members of the National CTC's BILT (Business and Industry Leadership Team) attend a job skills vote meeting.

Faculty and administrator attendees at the BILT Summit workshop participate in the "marshmallow challenge" icebreaker team building exercise.

Laptop screen showing six employer members of the National CTC's BILT (Business and Industry Leadership Team) pparticipating in a Zoom panel for faculty and administrator attendees at the BILT Summit workshop.

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