ITCC To Bolster STEM Education

Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana this month received a $3.1 million grant from the state's North Central Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative. The grant will be used to enhance STEM education in K-12, higher education, and businesses and will train an estimated 44,000 people in North Central Indiana over the next five years.

According to ITCC, the program will focus on three pathways: emerging workers, incumbent workers, and new programs:

  • The emerging workers pathway focuses on middle school, high school, and college students who have not yet entered the workforce and aims to "interest middle and high school students in STEM curricula with dual credit opportunities for high school and college courses, while better preparing college students to enter the workforce."
  • For "incumbent" workers, the program aims to enhance, update, and expand their skills. Ivy Tech said the program will serve up to 1,000 such workers.
  • Finally, in the category of "new programs," the initiative will create new academic programs in subjects previously unavailable.

"This new STEM initiative holds great promise for Indiana's future," said Teresa Voors, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. "It will ensure that more and more of our students graduate from high school with the necessary science, technology, engineering, and math competencies so critical for success in the workplace of the 21st Century. We look forward to continuing to work with the WIRED initiative and Ivy Tech as we collaborate on this and other initiatives which help grow our economy and workforce."

ITCC will focus on 14 counties: Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Fulton, Howard, Miami, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Wabash, Warren, and White. These, according to Ivy Tech, will be used as a pilot for future efforts across the state.

Ivy Tech Community College serves more than 110,000 students annually on 23 campuses throughout Indiana. The WIRED program, which started in 2006, is overseen by Purdue University and funded through the United States Department of Labor.

Read More:

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


Featured

  • illustration of a futuristic building labeled "AI & Innovation," featuring circuit board patterns and an AI brain motif, surrounded by geometric trees and a simplified sky

    Cal Poly Pomona Launches AI and Innovation Center

    In an effort to advance AI innovation, foster community engagement, and prepare students for careers in STEM fields and business, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona has teamed up with AI, cloud, and advisory services provider Avanade to launch a new Avanade AI & Innovation Center.

  •  floating digital interface with glowing icons, surrounded by faint geometric shapes

    Digital Education Council Defines 5 Dimensions of AI Literacy

    A recent report from the Digital Education Council, a global community devoted to "revolutionizing the world of education and work through technology and collaboration," provides an AI literacy framework to help higher education institutions equip their constituents with foundational AI competencies.

  • illustration with geometric shapes, digital circuitry, and subtle icons of an open book, graduation cap, and lightbulb

    University of Michigan Launches Agentic AI Virtual Teaching Assistant

    At the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, a new Virtual Teaching Assistant pilot program is utilizing agentic AI to provide students with 24/7 access to support and self-directed learning.

  • Two digital hands made of interconnected lines and nodes shaking hands firmly against a minimal technological background

    IBM to Enhance Watsonx Portfolio Through DataStax Acquisition

    IBM has announced it will acquire AI and data solutions provider DataStax, in a move aimed at enhancing its watsonx portfolio and advancing generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for enterprises.