Spring STEM Resources from ATE Centers Community

The National Science Foundation through its extensive network of Advanced Technological Education Centers (ATE) serves as a leader in improving technician education and training, vital in sustaining advanced technology industries across the country. ATE Centers work independently and in conjunction with each other to generate momentum in building a strong STEM workforce. This Spring the ATE Centers will be offering a number of resources that focus on improving curriculum, streamlining professional development efforts, and building faculty leadership and research capabilities.

On March 26, the Centers Collaborative for Technical Assistance (CCTA) hosted a free webinar outlining “Effective Approaches for Aligning Curriculum with Business Demand.” The hour long webinar highlighted a number of best practices and strategies to align college workforce programs to industry needs. Dr. Marilyn Barger, executive director for FLATE was among the NSF ATE Centers presenting at the webinar, and outlined a number of systematic approaches adopted by FLATE to match curriculum frameworks with local industry needs..

ATE Central, the free online portal dedicated to highlighting the work of the NSF ATE centers and

projects is partnering with MATECNetWorks to host a free webinar on April 14. “Building Partnerships” webinar will outline mechanisms for building strategic partnerships, be it informal collaboration between peers, or more complex partnerships between organizations. For more information on the webinar contact Janet Pinhorn at janet.pinhorn@domail.maricopa.edu, or 480.731.8325, or visit http://www.matecnetworks.org/webreg/?client=1004.

Additionally, the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science (IWITTS) is hosting the STEM Success for Women: Empower Women Educators to Recruit & Retain more

Women in STEM. This free, online telesummit will be held April 13-16 and will feature prominent women in STEM, leading experts, academic deans, administrators and counselors who will share best practices for increasing the number of female students in STEM career pathways. Dr. Marilyn Barger, executive director, Dr. Marie Boyette, associate director and Desh Bagley, outreach manager of FLATE, will be among the speakers representing a featured ATE Partner, and will be joining/sharing their expertise with a distinguished panel of STEM advocates.  For more information on this telesummit contact Donna Milgram at donna_milgram@iwitts.ccsend.com, at 510.749.0200, or visit www.iwitts.org/stem-telesummit.

FLATE in partnership with MATEC Networks will be hosting two additional webinars later this spring. Manufacturing Day Planning webinar will be held April 17, and is geared to discuss, 

plan and share ideas with state and national stakeholders manufacturing associations for coordinating and hosting student tours for the 2015 National Manufacturing Day on Oct. 2, 2015. More information on the webinar is discussed in greater detail in this edition of the Focus. The overarching goal is to promote and boost participation in National Manufacturing Day by explaining the process of building collaborations and partnerships. Everyone including industry hosts, school districts, regional and professional organizations, or any interested partners are welcome to join the hour long webinar on April 17.

Log on to http://madeinflorida.org/manufacturing-day and www.fl-ate.org for additional details. You can also contact Dr. Marilyn Barger, executive director of FLATE at barger@fl-ate.org and Desh Bagley, FLATE outreach manager at bagley@fl-ate.org, for more information

In keeping with FLATE’s ongoing efforts to boost women and girls engagement in STEM, FLATE is

also hosting the Recruiting Girls in STEM webinar. The webinar will be held May 27 and looks at unique perspective  and successful strategies employed by STEM educators at the elementary, middle and high school level, to recruit girls in STEM education and careers. For more information, or register visit http://www.matecnetworks.org/index.php and www.fl-ate.org, or contact Dr. Marie Boyette, associate director of FLATE at  boyette@fl-ate.org.

In addition to the extensive line-up of free webinars, the NSF-funded, Mentor-Connect project has compiled a comprehensive collection of online grant writing resources. This new, Mentor-Connect Library contains more than 200 sample documents, templates, FAQ’s, policies and procedures to assist in the process of writing an NSF ATE grant proposal. This collection provides tools for successful grant writing in accordance with ATE programs, and represents a cohesive partnership between Mentor-Connect, Internet Scout Research Group and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. For more information contact Charlotte Forrest at charlotte.forrest@fdtc.edu.