The University of Massachusetts Amherst proposes to develop a Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE) to design and carry out comprehensive programs that address under representation in information technology (IT) education and the workforce. CAITE will focus on women and minorities in groups that are underrepresented in the Massachusetts innovation economy; that is, economically, academically, and socially disadvantaged residents. The project will pilot a series of outreach programs supported by educational pathways in three regions (one rural, one suburban, and one urban). The project will include work with high school teachers, staff, and counselors. CAITE will identify best practices and disseminate, deploy, extend and institutionalize these best practices statewide and nationally. Community colleges are the centerpiece of CAITE because of the central role they play in reaching out to underserved populations and in serving as a gateway to careers and further higher education. This project will build a broad alliance built on its leadership in and partnership with the Commonwealth Information Technology Initiative (CITI), the Boston Area Advanced Technological Education Center (BATEC), regional Louis Stokes Alliances and NSF EGEP programs, and other partnerships and initiatives focused on information technology education and STEM pipeline issues.
