H______ is a three-year collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that joins two successful programs. M______ mentors 2-year college faculty to develop competitive proposals for the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program, and K_______ facilitates strategic STEM assessment and planning to drive competitive STEM proposal development at 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). The goal of H________ is to build capacity and leadership at 2-year HSIs for developing competitive ATE proposals to elevate 2-year HSIs as drivers of their community's economic success via technician education. Data sets from three annual H____ Cohorts, four prior K______ Cohorts, and nine M________ Cohorts have been aggregated to assess the following research questions about 2-year HSIs: Are there unique opportunities/barriers/challenges related to STEM program development and grant-writing endeavors for advanced technological education? How do we build capacity to pursue the opportunities and address the barriers/challenges? How do mentoring efforts/styles related to STEM program development and grant-writing need to differ for HSI faculty? What types of resources are relevant to the HSI ATE Community? This third paper in a series will report new data and incremental results from Year 3 of the H_____and a summary of results from the prior two years. These results include interactions with the HSI ATE community through intentional, expanded engagement to enhance learning from Latinx Advisory Council members and training webinars to develop educators' acumen of culturally responsive instruction and high impact practices. Feedback from interviews and surveys with faculty at 2-year HSIs in H____ Cohorts 1-3 will be discussed to address research questions 1, 2, and 3. Evolved staging of resources relevant to the HSI ATE Community and related research directions for extending the project will address research question 4.

Applying for grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) requires a paradigm shift at many community and technical colleges, because of the emphasis on teaching at two-year colleges. This shift is also necessary because of NSF’s expectation that a STEM faculty member will lead the project as Principal Investigator. Since 2012, the XX project has been working to build capacity among two-year colleges and leadership skills among their STEM faculty to help them prepare competitive grant proposals for the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (NSF-ATE) program. NSF-ATE focuses on improving the education of technicians for advanced technology fields that drive the nation’s economy. As an NSF-ATE-funded initiative, XX has developed a three-pronged approach of mentoring, technical assistance, and digital resources to help potential grantees with the complexities of the proposal submission process. XX program has succeeded in raising interest in the NSF-ATE program. Over a seven-year period more than 80% of the 143 participating XX colleges have submitted proposals. Overall, the colleges that participated in the XX project have attained an exceptionally high, 65% funding rate. One immediate outcome is a more geographically and demographically diverse NSF-ATE program. To analyze longer-term impacts, the project’s evaluator is conducting site visits at the new-to-ATE grantees’ campuses as their initial ATE projects are being completed. A third-party researcher has contributed to the site-visit protocol being used by evaluators. The researcher is also analyzing the site-visit reports. This paper shares findings from seven cohorts that have completed a grant cycle with funding results known, as well as qualitative data from site visits with the first two cohorts of grantees. Recommendations for further research are also included.

To remain competitive in the global economy and meet the country’s anticipated shortage of 5 million technically credentialed workers, the United States must produce skilled technicians with a high level of domain-specific technical knowledge. Community colleges are essential to solving the skilled technician workforce supply problem because many skilled technical jobs do not require a bachelor’s degree for entry but do require technical credentials. According to federal data, half the students earning a certificate in 2016-17 received their credentials from community colleges. Despite declining community college enrollments, Hispanic student enrollment at community colleges nearly doubled between 2001 and 2017, increasing by 98% to reach 25% of the overall 2017 enrollment. However, Hispanics are currently underrepresented in STEM Job clusters, at 7% (1.2M) of employed adults in STEM jobs (17.3M) as compared to 16% (21M) of all employed adults (131M), where a substantial share (35%) of this STEM workforce does not have a bachelor’s degree. Moreover, the current Hispanic composition of the STEM workforce (7%) does not reflect the current (18%, 62M) or future (predicted at 28%, 111.2M) Hispanic population of the United States. Looking to the future, the United States can help address underrepresentation in the STEM workforce, by leveraging the more than 20 million young people of color, including Hispanic youth, who have the potential to enter STEM fields and close the current gaps. Given the nation’s urgent need for a well-trained, domestic STEM-capable workforce, Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) are essential points of access; 46% of all HSIs are 2-year colleges. The goal of the HSI Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Hub is to build capacity and leadership at 2-year HSIs for developing competitive ATE proposals to NSF to prepare technicians in advanced technologies that drive the American economy. Introduction/Background This paper is the second in a series of annual papers about the role 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) have in educating technicians from underrepresented groups and how the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored HSI Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Hub program supports faculty at HSIs in improving Hispanic/Latinx student success. Last year’s paper [1] described the research need, provided a project overview, included baseline and initial data, and discussed early lessons learned and their implications for future research. This paper describes continued fostering of the HSI ATE community (2-year HSIs with grant prospects and awards from the NSF ATE Program), resource dissemination, usage, perceived value to the community, and additional data gathered during the first and second cohorts of HSI ATE Hub, including adjustments based on learnings from year 1. Emphasis will be placed on HSI ATE Community building and resources. Lessons learned and implications for future research are also described in the paper. Funded by the NSF ATE Program, the HSI ATE Hub is a three-year collaborative project implemented by Florence Darlington Technical College in South Carolina and the Science Foundation Arizona Center for STEM at Arizona State University. The NSF ATE Program is a workforce development program within the National Science Foundation that focuses on 2-year colleges and the preparation of technicians in advanced technologies that drive the American economy. Since the ATE Program was created by the Scientific and Advanced Technology Act of 1992, it has consistently been an excellent funding source for community college technician education programs. Of particular interest to ASEE members are the many ATE funding opportunities that can advance engineering technology and related programs that have pathways and articulation agreements for students to transfer to baccalaureate Engineering Technology and Engineering programs. The approach for the HSI ATE Hub combines the strengths of the KickStarter STEM self-assessment, planning and research concept development by 2-year HSIs with the Mentor-Connect mentoring, technical assistance, and resources to support ATE proposal development and submission. Additionally, the HSI ATE Hub provides resources for faculty development and program improvements for advancements in technician education to better serve Hispanic/Latinx students who are currently underrepresented in STEM. The HSI ATE Hub also fosters growth of the HSI ATE Community by bringing together educators from HSIs who seek to advance technician education and create a mutually-supportive community. HSI ATE Community Building Engaging and fostering the HSI ATE community are important goals of the project that continued through four HSI ATE community building events held in year 2 of the project: ● 2019 High Impact Technology Exchange Conference (HI-TEC) Session ● 2019 ATE Principal Investigators’ (PIs) Conference Panel with ATE PIs from HSIs ● 2019 ATE PI Conference Resources Demonstration Session ● Professional Development Webinar: Culturally Responsive Instruction for Students at HSIs Attendees who added their contact information to sign-in sheets at each event were added to the project communication lists to keep informed about new resources, upcoming webinars, and other networking opportunities and events. In July 2019, at the HI-TEC, approximately 21 people attended a discussion of the HSI ATE Hub, which included the demonstration of three types of resources: Bilingual videos, HSI Research Papers, and ATE Grant development Resources. At least one attendee was of Hispanic descent, 12 attendees were from HSIs, 12 reported that their Hispanic/Latinx students spoke English as a second language and had parents/families that do not speak/understand English. During the Bilingual videos, the audience was quite engaged and noted that often important context is lost when non-technical, generic translation services are used to translate STEM course materials to Spanish. In addition to resources already translated into Spanish, a resource that listed English to Spanish Translation Service Providers for STEM material would help them to produce quality content in Spanish. When asked whether they have ever been in a situation where the types of resources demonstrated might have helped in areas of need, the audience highlighted the following areas: best practices for recruiting students, targeted support, different pedagogical approaches, and effective instructional practices that are culturally relevant and culturally-sensitive. At the ATE PI Conference in October 2019, a diverse panel of three ATE PIs from 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions shared challenges and tips for engaging Hispanic/Latinx students and creating inclusive STEM learning environments where all students are treated as motivated learners and made to feel welcome. The HSI ATE Hub team video recorded the panel session and later included it as a resource in the HSI ATE Hub Resource Library for others to benefit from hearing about the successes and tips from experienced ATE PIs at HSIs. Along with personalized stories about incentivizing faculty and students, relevant resources for engaging Hispanic/Latinx students were also shared and discussed. The panel was moderated by an experienced Hispanic PI who runs an ATE Center. An audience of about 40 attendees posed questions to the panelists and gained their advice on topics such as planning ahead for when funding ends, connecting to students, and helping “anglo” faculty correctly pronounce students’ names, for example. The discussion and advice around funding continuity began with building the core faculty team through professional development opportunities. Other strategies that were shared included tapping into the college participatory budget, forming relationships with community leaders who can influence the college president to continue the program, and building a data-driven case that shows impacts to student recruitment, enrollment, and retention. Panelists reported that when supported by data showing impact, these strategies can translate to dollars for the college, local employer sponsorship of programs, lab supplies, books, and student education expenses in return for a pipeline of future employees with needed skills. They pointed out the usefulness of enlisting advisory committee members who are committed to providing part-time jobs for students. Connecting to students, as well as showing compassion and interest in student academic challenges and achievements and their cultural roots, were emphasized. Participant examples included communicating with the extended family, having students write their pronouns, nicknames, and the phonetic spelling of their name on an index card for the instructor on the first day of class, and the Mariachi Marching Band established at one institution as part of their cultural programming. A second session at the ATE PI Conference, demonstrated to approximately 28 attendees how to find and access video resources to connect to Hispanic/Latinx students. Selections from the ATE TV Multicultural Bilingual Video Series and the Spanish translated Nanotechnology Modules, how-to videos, instructor notes, and student materials were shown to participants. A brief discussion about what would best support the Hispanic/Latinx community followed. The audience wanted to understand more about the Spanish translation of the STEM content, whether its context was correctly translated and if example speakers represented variations of regional cultures and local dialects of Dominican, Mexican, New Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Costa Rican populations. Translation to Spanish does not necessarily fit all of the needs of all Hispanic/Latinx populations. The group discussed this follow-on guidance: if you want to serve a particular community, you need to do some homework on the needs of the locale that you are serving and tailor the translation to fit the e

The challenge of how to diffuse and scale up effective educational interventions has received increasing attention from researchers in recent years, though achievement of this objective has confounded policy makers, practitioners, and the scholarly community at least since the 1970s. This chapter presents three case studies of efforts at US community college STEM centers to apply diffusion and scale-up concepts to their educational innovations to advance student learning. Ours is an analysis of knowledge use. These community college innovators participated in a series of meetings and activities over 3 years to familiarize themselves with concepts and strategies about diffusion and scale-up and were encouraged to apply these concepts in practice. Case study results show that teams of innovators did try to use these concepts, some more than others, and worked to resolve the combined use of concepts to best suit their own objectives. Innovators found some concepts to be overlapping or redundant, some too complex to apply, and some in contradiction. We conclude that teams acted in creative ways to implement diffusion and scale-up concepts. Recommendations for future efforts to spread educational interventions are made.

The South Carolina Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence has received funding from the National Science Foundation to serve as a National Resource Center for Expanding Excellence in Technician Education. A major component of this project is the creation of a faculty development website, www.TeachingTechnicians.org. This site will provide the academic community in all fields of advanced technological education with a central, web-based resource that makes it easy for grant-funded projects offering faculty development to reach their target audience of educators. In the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education program alone, approximately 250 projects are funded each year. Most of these projects offer faculty development opportunities that are available to a national audience. The events offered by these funded projects are grant subsidized and thus are cost effective for participants. This website will serve as a repository for these faculty development opportunities. The site will be searchable by multiple criteria such as location, date, subject, or target audience. The site will also offer free resources to help providers improve the quality of faculty development events.

Developing curricular materials for technical and vocational education is particularly challenging because of the comprehensive requirements for technical education and the rapidity with which technical positions are evolving. Well-educated employees are expected to have general communication, reasoning, problem-solving, and behavioral skills in addition to occupation-specific technical knowledge. Furthermore, technical and vocational education materials must meet the needs of various contexts each with its own unique array of factors which must be accommodated. To assist in the process of materials development, this paper presents a comprehensive and contextualized model as a guide for curricular developers. This model was formed through the synthesis of two theoretical and four applied models, with the outline of the applied models occurring as part of a national evaluation of the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education Program. Examples illuminating the elements of the template are provided.

Securing external funding to improve or expand engineering technology and related programs is increasingly essential as state funding for two-year technical and community colleges plummets nationwide. Grants often provide the impetus and means for innovation that would not otherwise be possible. The National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF-ATE) program has a unique focus on two-year colleges and technician education. However, the funding rate for the program recently declined to 22% and the proposal submission process is complex. NSF also has an agency-wide mission to encourage diverse populations to participate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The Mentor-Connect: Leadership Development and Outreach for ATE Initiative project, NSF DUE #1204463 and #1501183 awarded to Florence-Darlington Technical College, Florence, South Carolina offers an efficient way for prospective principal investigators to learn effective proposal preparation strategies specific to this funding program and to receive cost-free assistance that helps them gain the competitive edge. Mentor-Connect also addresses NSF’s diversity goals. As a leadership development and outreach project for NSF-ATE, the project uses a three-pronged approach to support potential grantees. It offers mentoring, technical assistance, and digital resources. The project’s immediate goals are to help STEM faculty prepare competitive grant proposals and to improve their colleges’ institutional capacity for obtaining grants. Its long-term goal is to develop a new generation of STEM faculty leaders. Early evidence indicates that this project is increasing the geographic diversity of colleges submitting proposals to the NSF-ATE program. The 99 colleges in the first 5 project cohorts are from 31 different states. Each participating college is located in a geographic area where there has been either no previous NSF-ATE grant awards or none in the past 10 years. There is also evidence of improvements in the quality of NSF-ATE proposals as a result of this project. More than 89% of the 79 colleges in the first 4 cohorts of participating colleges submitted NSF-ATE grant proposals; 36 of them or 69% have been awarded grants of approximately $200,000 each. The average acceptance rate for colleges that have applied to participate in the project is 65%. This paper documents the project’s unique combination of strategies and the competitive edge that those strategies provide for prospective NSF ATE grantees.

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Addressing Faculty Development as a Vital Step in Transformational Change to Improve Engineering Technology and Technician Education Abstract Staying current with technology and its applications has become an increasingly difficult challenge for Engineering Technology and other technician educators. Simultaneously, research is expanding what we know about how people learn. Faculty members therefore must be learners while they are teaching and learning to teach more effectively. Fortunately, The National Science Foundation and others are providing grant funding to make it possible for those with access to new knowledge and successful strategies to share information and effective practices with others through faculty development workshops. These learning opportunities are grant supported and thus are relatively inexpensive or even free of charge. Until now, there has been no good way for those providing faculty development events to notify their colleagues across the nation about these events. Likewise, faculty members have had no easy way to find out about professional development events of interest to them. This disconnect, along with the realization that faculty development is critical for transformational change, led to the creation of a new faculty development event website, www.TeachingTechicians.org. www.TeachingTechnicians.org identifies, prioritizes, and makes visible National Science Foundation supported faculty development opportunities in advanced and emerging technologies, teaching methods, science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The site is searchable by multiple criteria such as location, date, subject, or target audience. Users will also be able to create an account that enables the system to generate a prompting e-mail alert whenever an event that matches their search criteria is posted. The site will also provide resources to help providers improve the quality of faculty development events. Members of the academic community from all fields of advanced technological education and related science, technology, and mathematics disciplines are the website’s target audience. Developed with funding support from the National Science Foundation (DUE # 0602710), this website is becoming the one, central “go to” place for those offering faculty development and those seeking faculty development. This website is being developed as a service to the nation by the South Carolina Advanced Technological Education (SCATE) Center of Excellence at Florence-Darlington Technical College, Florence, South Carolina. Increasing the quantity, quality, diversity of students entering engineering technology programs has been the vital mission and vision of the SCATE Center of Excellence since its inception in 1994. To accomplish this mission, the Center has developed research-based curriculum models that have produced significant improvements in retention, graduation rates, and industry partnerships for engineering technology programs. An unwavering focus on faculty development has been central to the development of SCATE models and their success. The highly rated SCATE curriculum has been adopted or adapted for use in technical programs by other schools and colleges around the country. Students benefit because learning that often appeared fragmented into various courses with no apparent interconnections has undergone multi-disciplinary integration that is now changing the culture of

Industry continues to require more of workers. The skills it takes to get, and keep, a job in the global marketplace for labor are expanding. For no group is this truer than for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) workforce. Due to the advances in information technology (IT) applications, nearly all business practices today are “IT-enabled.” There is continued demand for skilled ICT workers, but largely only those who possess both ICT skills and a range of employability (soft) skills that add value to their work. The maturing of IT jobs calls for the integration of employability skills with technical skills. The Boston Advanced Technological Education Connections (BATEC) Workforce Skills Study, along with independent research by industry trade groups indicate more holistic teaching methods that involve students in complex problems developed from industry input are in order. In fact, the only plausible way to cover competencies in both areas is to develop a problem-based learning scenario that enables students to learn within a context, integrating real-world business problems into ICT classrooms. Classroom research and evaluation findings from a problem-based learning implementation for the purpose of infusing employability skills indicate that students are being taught problem solving and critical thinking skills through the use of project-based learning in introductory IT courses. By introducing project-based learning into introductory IT classes at two Colorado community colleges, hundreds of students are mastering academic competencies in the context of solving “real world” problems that require collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking and other employability skills. Teachers report that students engaged in project-based learning are energized in new ways and demonstrate improved learning outcomes. Classroom research has been, and continues to be, conducted to document these results. External evaluation extended throughout the first three years of the implementation. This paper provides the steps taken by two community colleges to infuse employability skills into their introductory Computer Information Systems (CIS) classes via problem-based learning. The authors outline how the employability skills were identified and vetted with industry; how faculty were engaged and prepared for a change in mindset, as well as in curricular design and implementation; the framework of the real-world project; and the differences this approach continues to make in students’ understanding and application of the skills they need to be competitive in the global marketplace. P ge 26168.2 The National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF ATE) program funding for the project that initiated this work ended in August of 2011, and follow-through by CIS faculty in continuing the problem-based learning methodology has been inconsistent.

The HSI (Hispanic Serving Institution) ATE (Advanced Technological Education) Hub 2 is a three-year collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that continues the partnership between two successful programs and involves a third partner in piloting professional development that draws upon findings from the initial program. The goal of HSI ATE Hub 2 is to improve outcomes for Latinx students in technician education programs through design, development, pilot delivery, and dissemination of a 3-tier professional development (PD) model for culturally responsive technician education at 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). The project seeks to do this by developing the awareness and ability of faculty to appreciate, engage, and affirm the unique cultural identities of the students in their classes and use this connection to deepen students' belonging and emerging identities as STEM learners and future STEM technicians. This paper shares the research foundations shaping this approach and the methods by which faculty professional development is being provided to develop this important and sensitive instructional capability in participating faculty. The tiered PD model features a scaffolded series of reflective and activity-oriented modules to incrementally enrich the instructional practices and mindset of HSI STEM educators and strengthen their repertoire of strategies for engaging culturally diverse students. Scaffolding that translates culturally responsive theory to practice spans each of the four distinct topic modules in each tier. Each topic module in a tier then scaffolds to a more advanced topic module in the next tier. Tier 1, Bienvenidos, welcomes HSI STEM educators who recognize the need to better serve their Latinx students, and want guidance for small practical activities to try with their students. Tier 2, Transformation through Action, immerses HSI STEM educators in additional activities that bring culturally responsive practices into their technician training while building capacity to collect evidence about impacts and outcomes for students. Tier 3, Engaging Community, strengthens leadership as HSI STEM educators disseminate results from activities completed in Tiers 1 and 2 at conferences that attract technician educators. Sharing the evidence-based practices and their outcomes contributes to achieving broader impacts in the Advanced Technological Education or ATE Community of NSF grantees. Westchester Community College (WCC), the first 2-year HSI in the State University of New York (SUNY) 64 campus system, is piloting the 3-tier PD model using virtual learning methods mastered through previous NSF ATE work and the COVID-19 context. During the pilot, over 20 WCC technician educators in three cohorts will develop leadership skills and practice culturally responsive methods. The pilot will build capacity within WCC STEM technician programs to better support the diversity of students, industry demand for a diverse workforce, and WCC's capacity for future development of technician education programs. This first paper in a three part series describes the program goals and objectives, the 3-Tier PD model, and reports initial results for Cohort A's engagement in the first three modules of Tier 1.

Improving professional development and learning opportunities for educators is a significant factor in improving student academic achievement and initiating school change (Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009). Taking steps to improve teacher learning is essential and recent studies have identified integration of emerging technologies into teacher professional development as a key component to advancing innovation and achievement in teaching and learning (Little, et al., 2009; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, nd). Research suggests that effective teacher professional development includes connecting professional development to practice while focusing on student learning, building strong relationships and networks with other educators, and utilizing a collaborative and collegial approach (Darling-Hammond, et al., 2009; Servage, 2008). Both teachers and students are increasingly interested in incorporating technologies into the classroom but are sometimes unsure of best practices related to incorporation of these pedagogies. As component of a recent research study conducted by a univeristy workforce development center at a four-year institution (also a regional National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Center); approximately 170 two-year college students were given a survey to aid in better understanding student perceptions of learning, satisfaction, engagement, usability opinions, and self-efficacy toward computer use when using online learning modules. The study and proposed outcomes of this project are segmented in three separate steps: (1) conducting the research and gathering information from approximately 170 two-year college students from three different technical colleges, (2) analysis of results specifically focusing on outcomes related to student perceptions and developing those findings into a relevant professional development session and toolkit, and (3) conducting the professional development sessions and evaluations. In development and implementation of the professional development sessions, the university workforce development center is partnering with the state technical college system leveraging and building on the prior successes of the existing state technical college system system-level faculty academy which provides a forum for professional development and networking with faculty across the state. Previous participants of this program have completed a hybrid curriculum and project. The program provides a basis for faculty development initiatives at the system level. In these professional development programs the university workforce development center and the state technical college system will co-develop professional development modules focusing on the findings from the student survey, which will emphasize best practices, related to technology integration in two-year technological education classrooms. All modules will focus on faculty-centered strategies that systematically improve the quality of teaching and instructional experiences emphasizing active learning and differential education strategies including nontraditional lecture strategies that support active learning, engage learners, and customize learning.

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Mentoring a Grant Proposal Project Development Process for Program Improvement in Two-Year College Technician Education: Lessons Learned and Outcomes from a Pilot Project Abstract Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) have become increasingly central to U.S. economic competitiveness and growth. Long–term strategies to maintain and increase living standards and promote opportunity will require unprecedented coordinated efforts among public, private, and not-for-profit entities to promote innovation and to prepare an adequate supply of qualified STEM workers that are capable of translating knowledge and skills into new processes, products, and services. The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program has been improving the productivity of American industries by increasing the nation’s technical workforce and developing best practices in technician education since its inception in 1992. The Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA) Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Initiative focuses on the role of talent development in driving regional economic competitiveness, increased job growth, and new opportunities for American workers. Both NSF and ETA have recognize the critical role that the ATE program and WIRED Initiative play in developing the country’s most valuable asset – talent and have forged a strategic partnership to strengthen and expand the STEM workforce pipeline to drive regional economic development. One activity of this partnership has been a pilot project that connects ATE’s expertise and experience in preparing world class technicians to STEM activities in select WIRED regions. This pilot is leveraging the best work of each agency in workforce development to not only help accelerate regional transformation but also ultimately provide better outcomes for workers and businesses alike. Two-year college personnel drawn from Arkansas, Boston, Denver, Kansas City (MO and KS), and Maine participated in the pilot project to work with experienced NSF/ATE grant developers and principal investigators. All but one participating group has been the recipient of Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration’s Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Initiative funding that emphasizes the community college role in workforce development, and only one had previously received funding from the NSF/ATE program. Through this pilot project funded by NSF, community colleges collaborated with experienced ATE Center and project directors to identify and develop plans that will enhance each college or region’s ability to provide science and engineering technician education, leveraging the work currently in progress through WIRED activities and funding or other NSF/ATE funding. Mentors have guided community college participants in addressing all aspects of project development, from identifying the intellectual merit and broader impacts of the project to developing evaluation, measurable outcomes, and dissemination plans. ATE Mentors helped ensure that participants had the necessary information about the ATE program to effectively use and explore previously and currently-funded ATE Center and project resources in ways that will work best for their particular college and region. Steps in the mentoring process

To remain competitive in the global economy, the United States needs skilled technical workers in occupations requiring a high level of domain-specific technical knowledge to meet the country’s anticipated shortage of 5 million technically-credentialed workers. The changing demographics of the country are of increasing importance to addressing this workforce challenge. According to federal data, half the students earning a certificate in 2016-17 received credentials from community colleges where the percent enrollment of Latinx (a gender-neutral term referencing Latin American cultural or racial identity) students (56%) exceeds that of other post-secondary sectors. If this enrollment rate persists, then by 2050 over 25% of all students enrolled in higher education will be Latinx. Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) are essential points of access as they enroll 64% of all Latinx college students, and nearly 50% of all HSIs are 2-year institutions. Census estimates predict Latinxs are the fastest-growing segment reaching 30% of the U.S. population while becoming the youngest group comprising 33.5% of those under 18 years by 2060. The demand for skilled workers in STEM fields will be met when workers reflect the diversity of the population, therefore more students—of all ages and backgrounds—must be brought into community colleges and supported through graduation: a central focus of community colleges everywhere. While Latinx students of color are as likely as white students to major in STEM, their completion numbers drop dramatically: Latinx students often have distinct needs that evolved from a history of discrimination in the educational system. HSI ATE Hub is a three-year collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Program (NSF ATE) being implemented by Florence Darlington Technical College and Science Foundation Arizona Center for STEM at Arizona State University to address the imperative that 2-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) develop and improve engineering technology and related technician education programs in a way that is culturally inclusive. Interventions focus on strengthening grant-writing skills among CC HSIs to fund advancements in technician education and connecting 2-year HSIs with resources for faculty development and program improvement. A mixed methods approach will explore the following research questions: 1) What are the unique barriers and challenges for 2-year HSIs related to STEM program development and grant-writing endeavors? 2) How do we build capacity at 2-year HSIs to address these barriers and challenges? 3) How do mentoring efforts/styles need to differ? 4) How do existing ATE resources need to be augmented to better serve 2-year HSIs? 5) How do proposal submission and success rates compare for 2-year HSIs that have gone through the KS STEM planning process but not M-C, through the M-C cohort mentoring process but not KS, and through both interventions? The project will identify HSI-relevant resources, augment existing ATE resources, and create new ones to support 2-year HSI faculty as potential ATE grantees. To address the distinct needs of Latinx students in STEM, resources representing best practices and frameworks for cultural inclusivity, as well as faculty development will be included. Throughout, the community-based tradition of the ATE Program is being fostered with particular emphasis on forming, nurturing, and serving participating 2-year HSIs. This paper will discuss the need, baseline data, and early results for the three-year program, setting the stage for a series of annual papers that report new findings.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program is specifically designed to support workforce development that primarily takes place in technician education programs offered at two-year colleges across the nation. Even so, NSF grant funding is infrequently or never pursued by most two-year colleges even though there is a need for funding to support high-cost, high-impact STEM programs. Since two-year colleges are focused on teaching vs. research, securing grants is seldom, if ever, required or even recognized as important as part of tenure and promotion processes at these institutions. As a result, technical/STEM faculty members typically do not have prior grant experience, nor do they have experience in managing a grant-funded project using industry-standard techniques. Guiding new grantees in applying Project Management skills as they implement NSF ATE-funded grants for the first time holds promise for improving project outcomes, reducing the frustration of a steep learning curve for new PIs, and encouraging follow-on grant proposals to the ATE Program. The first two principles of project management, (1) set clear objectives from the start and (2) create a project plan, are required to receive a first grant from NSF. When a grant award is received, two-year college faculty are invariably faced with working grant-funded activities into their already heavily-scheduled work weeks. Knowing about and employing project management skills can make a positive difference in the experience one has as a PI responsible for grant implementation and outcomes. These skills can help prevent chaos as workloads and competing demands for their time increase. To help new PIs learn and use project management skills within the context of NSF expectations so that they may maximize project outcomes and position themselves for subsequent NSF funding. A new professional development opportunity, PI 101, is providing instruction, mentoring, and technical assistance during the first year of project implementation. Based on PI 101 pilot year experiences and research, this support is being strengthened to specifically include the other three principles of project management: (1) organize and manage resources, (2) assess risks and changes throughout the project, and (3) monitor progress and performance on a regular basis. Mentor-Connect Forward, funded by the NSF ATE Program, added a newly developed component that addresses the critical need for first-time grantees to have instruction and support during their first year of project implementation. This professional development opportunity, called PI 101, is being offered to first-time, two-year college PIs to develop skills and help them build confidence by learning to apply proven strategies that can improve project outcomes so that their initial NSF ATE-funded work will build a worthy foundation for future grant awards and associated program improvements and innovation in technician education. PI 101 provides a collegial cohort environment for new PIs as they address issues such as grants management, budgets, and reporting expectations. New PIs can also get answers and receive direction on communication, building internal and external relationships, and developing industry partnerships. An important component of PI 101 is the introduction of the principles of project management as they apply to grant management. The pilot cohort of PI 101 participants received NSF ATE awards in 2023. The impact on the people involved, project progress, and outcomes are being monitored to inform improvements to PI 101 and future research questions. This paper explores the challenges and lessons learned in assisting a cohort of 15 two-year colleges so that they may effectively incorporate principles of project management and other grantsmanship strategies as they implement their first NSF ATE projects.

Traditional scholarships provide tuition. Some extend support to books and supplies. For two-year college students, however, this is often not enough to overcome barriers to success for financially needy, academically talented students. An innovative scholarship program has achieved a 81.9% on-time graduation rate for students in engineering technology programs and other advanced technologies by addressing a barrier referred to as the “digital divide.” A technology support element was added to a National Science Foundation-funded S-STEM scholarship program in 2004 to address a well-documented need among prospective scholars. Many scholarship recipients did not have access to a personal computer with the software and capability to do assigned work when off campus. To be successful, students were making extra trips to the campus to work in an on-campus computer lab. Very often, this also created additional child-care needs and costs. To remove this barrier, a loan-to-own laptop computer with appropriate software was added to the scholarship award along with books, tuition, and supplies required by the student’s program of study. Students selected for S-STEM scholarships are assigned a powerful laptop computer that is pre-loaded with software specific to the student’s program of study. The laptop is inventoried by the college library but remains checked-out to the student throughout his or her semesters of study at the college. The student scholar has the computer to use through graduation as long as scholarship criteria are met. Upon graduation, laptop computer ownership is transferred from the college to the student to promote continued success either in the workplace or at the senior institution to which the student transfers. Students failing to maintain the required 3.0 GPA or who leave the college for more than one semester for any reason other than military service must return the computer to the college and forfeit their scholarship. Based on data about Internet access issues for scholarship recipients between 2004 and 2012, an additional barrier for S-STEM scholarship recipients was removed in 2012 by adding a free mobile wireless Internet device to the scholarship package. Every course offered by the college requires students to have access to the Internet, and this device enables students to connect to the Internet, study, and complete assignments wherever they are between classes. Scholars are also required to follow the curriculum outline for their chosen program of study. Following the curriculum layout helps ensure on-time graduation, whereas taking courses out of sequence is a major contributor to delayed graduation. The combination of the scholarship with technology support and adherence to the curriculum layout has made on-time graduation and success possible for students who otherwise would not have been able to complete associate degrees in engineering technology or related advanced technologies covered by the S-STEM scholarship program. The model has been documented and includes procedures used by the college for implementation, data pertaining to student success, and program costs.