Community College Presidents Initiative - STEM (CCPI STEM)

According to the National Science Board, by 2022 the U.S. will experience a workforce shortage gap of approximately 3.4 million skilled technical jobs. This and other similar statistics are a call to action for community colleges to address the impending shortage and existing need for STEM education and workforce development. This project, the Community College Presidents Initiative in STEM (CCPI-STEM), serves the national interest through its efforts to galvanize, enlighten, and inspire community college leadership including college presidents, board members, and vice presidents to promulgate and support local, state, and regional STEM Education, NSF ATE funding, and Workforce Development on their campuses.

The project has two major emphases: (a) the important leadership role of administrators and Boards of Trustees in community college external funding for STEM education, and (b) the institutional infrastructure and capacity necessary for effective grant development and implementation, overcoming challenges to success.

Four objectives will guide the execution of this project. First is to catalyze the engagement of community college presidents, boards of trustees, and other senior administrators in developing STEM action items for their colleges and communities. Second is to identify and analyze the needs and issues of interest and importance to community college leaders by region.

Third is to develop and pilot test instructional curricular materials for existing and future community college presidents and leaders that will strengthen their understanding of STEM education issues. Fourth is to strengthen collaborations with the business community that investigate and promote the economic impact of the ATE program. Seven Regional Networks (RNs), each led by a community college president in close collaboration with national organizations including AACC, ACCT, and the League of Innovation, as well as with representatives of business and industry will be developed.

Each RN will formulate its own list of initiatives with input from member community colleges, businesses and its community at large. CCPI-STEM will also work with external organizations, such as Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. (EMSI) and Burning Glass, to assess the economic impact of ATE awards in select colleges. Curricular materials on ATE funding and program implementation will be developed and tested in collaboration with leaders of community college graduate programs.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM education will be addressed in the initiatives of the RNs and through the prism of external funding and institutional infrastructure. CCPI-STEM results will be broadly disseminated through the RNs, a website, and national, regional and local conferences and venues. Specific guides and publications, including “Models that Work,” will be developed and broadly disseminated.

The CCPI-STEM Annual Summit, to be held in conjunction with the AACC National Convention, will provide a forum for interaction and dissemination on a national level. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.