NSF-funded Training Hosted by Convergence Technology Center (CTC) for IT Community College Educators
LIVE 3-Day Online Immersion Training
Event on December 14-16, 2015
Based on proven practices, the online curriculum includes the "best-of-the-best" of our strategies, culled from our 5 National Science Foundation (NSF) projects and 20 years of success helping educational institutions recruit and retain female students in STEM programs. Our work has been highlighted by NSF for showing significant achievement and program effectiveness.
Application Deadline: November 20, 2015
This NSF-funded hybrid online and in-person Bootcamp hosted by the Convergence Technology Center (CTC) is FREE for teams of 6 community college IT educators. The event will be streamed live online while your team is encouraged to get together in the same room in person to complete the exercises together. Classroom space, lunch, and mileage reimbursement are available from the CTC for some teams from North Texas. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling admissions basis and the training fills quickly, so apply early.
In this video, your trainer Donna Milgram shares a "confession" about a lab strategy that will help your female students:
Watch this short video to learn how to help your female (and male) students be more successful in their STEM courses.
It's possible to nearly double the female students in your STEM classes.
How our past WomenTech Educators Training participants transformed their STEM classrooms:
Pam Silvers, Chairperson of Computer Technologies at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, in Asheville, NC, credits the live WomenTech Educators Training she attended with changing her approach to female enrollment and helping her to nearly double the female students in her engineering and technology programs from 39 to 72.
~ Pamela Silvers, Chairperson, Computer Technologies, Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Asheville, NC
"Participating in the IWITTS training refined my skills as an instructor and administrator to be an agent of change in this realm. Because Computer Networking and Information Technology was not on the radar of many women, the tools that were given to us by IWITTS for reaching out to students for our entry level class were very effective. And those changes have been institutionalized in my department. Thanks to our work with IWITTS, female enrollment in my department has risen from 19% to 33%."
~ Pierre Thiry, Principal Investigator, Mid-Pacific ICT Regional Center, City College of San Francisco,
San Francisco, CA
"Before [attending the WomenTech Educators training] I had a lot more success retaining women in my database class than in my introductory programming classes -- actually I wasn't retaining any women in my introductory programming classes. They were all dropping. That was a big win for me, that I had an increase in retention of females in my introductory programming courses."
~ Barbara DuFrain, Associate Professor, CS, Engineering and Advanced Technology, Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, TX, increased female enrollment in her introductory programming courses by 62% and female and male completion by 45%.
"Completely made me re-evaluate the approach that we have been taking. I realized the many mistakes and plan to make changes that I learned from the training. Great information!"
~ Hector Yanez, Division Director of Engineering, Texas State Technical College, Harlingen, TX increased female enrollment from 11% to 37% in his Computer Drafting & Design Technology Program.
The WomenTech Educators Online Bootcamp: Empowering Educators to Recruit and Retain Women in STEM, is the online version of my popular annual In-Person Live Event. This December 14-16, 2015 WomenTech Educators Bootcamp hosted by the Convergence Technology Center will be a special hybrid online and in-person version of my 3-day Bootcamp. The event will be streamed online while your college's team is encouraged to get together in the same room in person to watch the training and complete the exercises together.
I have taken the knowledgebase of my WomenTech Educators Training, which includes a successful system created from my 5 National Science Foundation (NSF) projects and 20 years of experience helping educators recruit and retain more women in STEM, and presented it in an easy-to-access interactive format that packs in as much information as possible.
Over the course of 3 days, you'll be immersed in my powerful WomenTech Educators Training program and learn all 20 of the required elements of my system. You'll walk away with Recruitment and Retention Action Plans that you will customize to your college. No matter how busy you are, you have the time for this 3-day investment that can transform the way you recruit and retain women (and men) in your IT programs and classes.
"What You'll Learn in 3 Amazing Days"
Day 1-2: Recruit
- Learn how to choose the "right" target audience for your recruitment goals so that you can go after the low-hanging fruit and enroll more women in your classes
- Understand how to leverage a Women in STEM Leadership Team so that you don't have to recruit more female students all by yourself
- Discover what excites women about technology and learn how to find female role models so that your outreach is more effective
- Leverage online recruitment strategies so more female students know about your STEM programs and you can recruit 24/7
- Find out how to execute event-based recruiting that actually leads to increases in female enrollment
- MILESTONE: Create a Recruitment Action Plan you will customize to your school that will provide you with a roadmap to increasing female students in your IT classes
Day 2-3: Retain
- Find out how to close the experience gap and level the playing field for ALL students including those with less informal IT experience, so they all are retained
- Uncover strategies to help your female students feel welcome in the classroom and prevent them from dropping out in the first few weeks
- Learn how to appeal to the large group of women and girls who just aren't excited by STEM in its present form so they are engaged and complete your classes
- Discover the teaching practices and learning methods that dramatically increase retention of
female AND male students - MILESTONE: Create a Retention Action Plan you will customize to your school that will provide you with a roadmap to retaining more female (and male!) students in your IT classes
You will take away:
- An easy-to-implement Recruitment Plan to increase female enrollment to up to 25-50% in your IT programs and classes
- A Retention Plan for your school to increase the completion rate of your female (and male) students, starting this semester
- The knowledge and confidence you need to put these plans into action right away
* Bonus: You'll also receive, as free bonus tools, my Women in Technology Outreach Kit and STEM Bibliography to help you save time and money and be even more successful (see below!)
After the WomenTech Educators Online Bootcamp Program: Follow-Up Support
Keep your team and your educational institution as a whole focused on your goal of increasing the number of women in IT. With this ongoing support, you'll receive help as you work to improve and implement the Recruitment and Retention Plans that you develop during the training. In our successful CalWomenTech Project, the external evaluators found that along with the training, support for implementation was one of the top 2 most important things that helped schools achieve their impressive recruitment and retention results.
You will receive:
You'll have direct access to your trainer, Donna Milgram, on live team Immediate Plan Feedback Tele-Calls. You'll meet by phone with Donna in the weeks immediately following the Bootcamp. She'll give "focused advising" and personalized feedback on your team's strategic plans, and answer questions during each 1-hour call. You will have the opportunity to sign up for a call with just your team and Donna. The Follow-Up Support will end with a group call where all teams present on their plans and implementation progress. Colleges that have received this type of Follow-Up Support have found that it was extremely effective in moving them from plan to action, and ultimately helping them see significant gains in the number of women in their STEM classrooms. All calls are recorded and emailed to participants.
All of the educators who attend the online Bootcamp will be granted access to a private members-only online course in Canvas -- an open source learning management system. Our online learning community in Canvas is a place to receive support, additional resources, and space to work together with other training participants to share documents and progress on plan implementation. Be a member of our community whose culture is one of positive change around increasing the number of women in STEM. The culture of our online community is, "We can do it!"
Plus, you'll receive 2 free gifts:
Women in Technology Outreach Kit ($150 value)
This Outreach Kit plus the included Online Website Strategy Guide will help you increase the number of women in your school's technology programs. Recruit more women to your STEM programs with these fill-in-the blank templates for proven outreach materials. You'll take the guesswork out of your outreach.
STEM Resources for Instructors to Help Women and Girls: Annotated Bibliography ($35 value)
We've made it easy for you to find online role model resources that will help women and girls see themselves in all career pathways. Also, find sample curriculums and websites that teach programming in a female-friendly way. Don't miss this; it will save you many hours of researching this yourself.
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Orientation call with your team and your trainer Donna Milgram week of December 7 - 11, 2015
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3-day Bootcamp December 14-16, 2015 from 10am - 4:30pm CT (8am - 3:30pm PT/ 11am - 5:30pm ET)
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6 months of Follow-Up Support on plan development and implementation (includes 3 team calls with your trainer, 1 group call, and access to online community)
Who Should Attend:
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College-based teams consisting of administrators, instructors, counselors and outreach staff from STEM programs where female students are underrepresented
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Teams should consist of 6 members
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Preference will be given to teams connected to the Convergence Technology Center
Download the brochure (PDF) to share with others in your institution.
Visual Overview of NSF-funded WomenTech Educators Online Bootcamp
Assistance for IT Educators in North Texas from the CTC:
The CTC will provide classroom space at Collin College’s Preston Ridge campus in Frisco, Texas and lunch for teams of qualified community college IT faculty and administrators in the North Texas region. Qualified team members that live over an hour away from Frisco, Texas will also be eligible for mileage reimbursement from the CTC. This assistance will be provided to make it easier for teams to participate in this 3-day training together in one room.
If you would like to request classroom space for your team and/or mileage reimbursement, please indicate that in the online application and the CTC will get in touch with you.
Questions? Please contact Mark Dempsey, CTC Program Manager, with any questions about support for teams from community colleges in North Texas (email: MDempsey[at]collin.edu; phone: 972-377-1582).
About Your Trainer: Donna Milgram
Learn directly from Executive Director Donna Milgram, the creator of the WomenTech Educators Training
Donna Milgram is the founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science (IWITTS), a national nonprofit organization, founded in 1994, that provides educators with a roadmap to increasing the number of women and girls in science, technology, engineering and math.
- Ms. Milgram developed the WomenTech Educators Training to help educators nationwide increase the number of women in their technology programs.
- A national expert on recruiting and retaining female students in STEM programs in which they are underrepresented, Ms. Milgram has personally trained educators in 46 states and Canada.
- Ms. Milgram is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles and conference presentations including the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and Women in Engineering Proactive Network (WEPAN). Recently, she received a reader's choice award from the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) for her cover article, "How to Recruit Women & Girls to the STEM Classroom" published in the Technology and Engineering Teacher magazine. The success of the CalWomenTech Project was featured in articles on the NSF "Discoveries" website and the Community College Times.
- Ms. Milgram has testified before the U.S. Congress and appeared extensively in the news media. Her media appearances include CNN, Fox Morning News, C-Span and National Public Radio. She has been quoted in major news outlets such as The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune and the Associated Press.
This NSF-funded Bootcamp is free to ATE grantees and
IT faculty in 2-year colleges (see above for who should apply).
NSF-Funded WomenTech Educators Online Bootcamp FAQs:
Who is eligible?
College-based teams consisting of administrators, instructors, counselors and outreach staff from IT programs where female students are underrepresented. Teams should consist of 6 members. Preference will be given to teams connected with the Convergence Technology Center. Watch the webinar for more information on applying as a team and who should be on your team.
How much does it cost?
This grant-funded program is FREE to eligible participants, as part of the National Science Foundation-funded CalWomenTech Scale Up Project. It is hosted by the Convergence Technology Center and funded by the NSF. This program, including the online training, Follow-Up Support, and access to the online learning community normally costs participants $2,995 per team.
What are the benefits of participating?
What is the #1 benefit? More female students in your classes! Here are some additional benefits to you if your team is accepted for the WomenTech Educators Online Bootcamp Program:
- Get significant value: You can reach a team of 6 educators at your college, without incurring any major travel costs. The only travel is to meet up with your team at your college.
- Accommodate everyone's busy schedule, from deans and administrators to part-time adjuncts, with this 3-day training (only 6.5 hours a day with time for lunch and breaks).
- Your team can implement what they're learning while the training and Follow-Up Support is actually happening, and get guidance and direction from your trainer, Donna Milgram, and the other members of the community.
- If you are an ATE grantee, this training will strengthen the "Broader Impacts" you report to NSF.
- IWITTS has included past training recipients who have successfully increased the number of women in their classes in national conference presentations.
- Your achievements in increasing the number of women in your classes may be highlighted by IWITTS as case studies to inspire other educators and for your own future use.
- The top Women in STEM Recruitment and Retention Plans in the training will be chosen by your trainer Donna Milgram. The selected plans will be featured in the private online learning community and an email will be sent to the dean/VP of each team that develops a top plan recognizing your team's achievement.
- Certificate of completion: At the end of the implementation period, each team member will receive a certificate which can be referenced in your future grant proposals.
What's expected of my team?
- Taking part in the WomenTech Educators Online Bootcamp Program as a team of 6 members from your college (includes a team orientation call, 3-day hybrid Bootcamp, and a total of 4 Follow-Up Support calls, 2 of which are Plan Feedback Tele-calls).
- Developing Recruitment and Retention Plans as a team for the targeted program, and posting plans in a private online learning community.
- Actively participating in the Follow-Up Support for plan implementation, which takes place in the 6 months after the online training ends, and a short, virtual presentation on the team's plan implementation progress in a required, final group call.
- Posting successes and challenges in the online learning community, and responding to the posts of others.
- Participating in evaluation-related activities (no individual student data will be requested).
How to Apply:
- Get started - Submit an Intent to Apply to get your application started. The date you submit your Intent to Apply will be the start date on your application, so submit early to get your application in before other teams. (Note: You don't have to have all your team members identified to submit an Intent to Apply.)
- Watch a short webinar - Watch our 60-minute Leadership Team Webinar. You'll receive more information when you fill out the Intent to Apply. This webinar will help you put together your team and submit a competitive application. It's required for all applicants and the online application will ask you to confirm that you watched the webinar. If you aren't ready to submit an Intent to Apply, sign up for the webinar here.
- Create a team of 6 members, pick a team name (e.g. Greenville Technical College Engineering Department or "ATE Project Name" team) and select a key contact for the application process. Consider creating a fun team name! Some examples of team names used in a recent online training are "Motherboards of Invention", "Dogs that Byte", and "Pi-rates."
- Complete individual online applications before the November 20, 2015 deadline - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WBVFC7X (Note: Each team member must be identified at this point and must submit her/his own online application. There will be a place to enter your team name in the form.)
- Obtain a letter of commitment - Have your dean or supervisor sign a letter of commitment (PDF). Return the signed letter by fax (510-749-0500) or email to seminars[at]iwitts.org. (Note: Each team member must submit a signed letter of commitment from her/his dean/supervisor.)
Note: If you are unable to submit the signed letter of commitment by the application deadline, go ahead and apply anyway. Contact us at seminars[at]iwitts.org and we will try accommodate you.
More information:
For additional information about the NSF-funded WomenTech Educators Online Bootcamp Program, contact us at seminars[at]iwitts.org or call Christine Lesaca, Program Assistant, at 510-749-0200 ext 105.
What Educators Are Saying About the WomenTech Educators Training:
"We have the first three women in our Auto Technology Program and really want to make sure they succeed. After participating in the WomenTech Educator's online training, we created additional open lab time for them, realizing they may need extra time to develop hands-on skills in a nonthreatening atmosphere. Two months into the course they are still with us. I learned so much about retention from the online training, I decided our entire Engineering and Technology Department could benefit and we are bringing the online training to our school and rolling it out to all of the technical faculty over the next two years."
~ Van Madray, Dean of Construction and Industrial Technology Division, Pitt Community College, Winterville, NC
"Attending the WomenTech Educators training was the best decision I have made in a long time! During the training, I developed a Recruitment and Retention Plan for one of the CIS programs. This is not a training where you consider doing "something" when you get back to your office, you are actually developing and obtaining feedback from other colleagues on what they have done and how you can improve your plan before implementation! Plus, I will be able to take my experience and work on other programs of study using the same framework."
~ Edna Quintana Claus, Ph.D., M.B.A., CIS Division Director, Texas State Technical College Harlingen, Harlingen, TX
"The training was time well spent. It was such a minimal amount of time to get so many concrete implementable strategies. The WomenTech Educators Online Training gives you the most for your money—you can implement the tools immediately with minimal resources and see true quantitative results!"
~ Phyllis Baca, Director of STEM Initiatives, Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM
"The WomenTech Educators Online Training has the potential to change the way you view your program. Important data is presented with passion and humor. I want you to know I have gained a great deal from the course. By the time you have a graduate degree and have worked in education for decades, most "professional development" is repetitive. I can honestly say that you have given me much to think about and that it will result in changes to my approach to course development."
~ Lauran Sattler, Department Chair, Computer Information Systems, Ivy Tech Community College, President's Award for Instructional Excellence 2007, Warsaw, IN
"The training conducted by Donna Milgram was the best training I have ever received because I can implement the Recruitment and Retention Plans I created specifically for my program Computer Information Management (CIM) to help increase females in technology at Irvine Valley College!"
~ Roopa Mathur, Professor, Computer Information Management , Irvine Valley College, Irvine, CA
Here are just some of our past ATE clients:
- Consortium for Alabama Regional Center for Automotive Manufacturing (CARCAM), Gadsden, AL
- Midwest Center for Information Technology (MCIT), AIM Institute, Omaha, NE
- South Carolina Advanced Technological Education National Resource Center for Engineering Technology Education (SC ATE), Florence-Darlington Technical College, Florence, SC
- Convergence Technology Center (CTC), Frisco, TX
- Technology and Innovation in Manufacturing Education Center (TIME Center), Baltimore, MD
- Nevada Information Technology Education (NVITE), Community College of Southern Nevada, North Las Vegas, NV
- Center for the Advancement of Process Technology (CAPT), Mainland College, Texas City, TX
- Diversity in Engineering Technology (NC JETS), University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
There are a limited number of NSF-funded WomenTech Educators Bootcamp Program spaces available.
This NSF-funded Bootcamp program is free to ATE grantees and
IT faculty in 2-year colleges (see above for who should apply).
The CalWomenTech Scale Up Project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education Program and the Program for Research on Gender in Science and Engineering from The National Science Foundation - Grant no. 1102996
