Join the CTC at HITEC in Atlanta

As usual, the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) will have a huge presence at the upcoming High Impact Technology Exchange Conference (HITEC). This year’s conference will be held in Atlanta July 24-27. HI-TEC – supported by the National Science Foundation – is a national conference on advanced technological education where secondary and postsecondary educators, counselors, industry professionals, trade organizations, and technicians can update their knowledge and skills. It’s always a fantastic conference – we hope to see you there.

Register to attend HITEC here.

The National CTC will be offering two pre-conference workshops:

* “BILT for the Future: How to Keep Looking Ahead So Curriculum Stays Current with Workforce Needs” (Monday afternoon, July 24) looks at the Business and Industry Leadership Team (“BILT”) model that provides a structured approach to engaging employers to steer curriculum development and keep programs looking ahead as business needs evolve.

* “Showing Your Work: Best Practices and Strategies for Energizing Dissemination and Outreach” (Tuesday morning, July 25) offers a look at the CTC’s successful dissemination strategies, which has been guided by the outreach consultant Nelly Group, LLC. Attendees will learn about adapting new practices for creating and sending monthly e-newsletters, sharpening website content to boost engagement, and creating successful social media strategies.

Beyond this, the CTC will present two breakout sessions:

* “The BILT Model: Maximizing Employer Relationships to Make Students Workforce Ready” (Wednesday afternoon, July 26) provides a shorter overview of the BILT model that will be explored in detail at the Monday pre-conference workshop.

* “Best Practices for Planning and Hosting Successful Professional Development Events” (Thursday afternoon, July 27) discusses best practices and implementation strategies from the CTC’s extensive experience offering faculty professional development events, from lengthy in-person workshops to streamlined 30-minute webinars. This presentation will include a deep dive into the planning and hosting of the popular Working Connections series that’s been running in North Texas since 2002 and attracts faculty from across the country.

All this, plus the CTC will have a presence in the exhibit hall booth and will be showcasing student work from our IT community of practice with a special poster session.

The photo on this blog post shows the 10th birthday celebration for the HITEC conference back in 2018 when the event was held in Miami.  Gathered around the cake are some of those who helped originally found the conference.  The CTC’s own grant PI, Ann Beheler, is second from left.