BHEF Building Bridges To Success (2020)

BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE1 Building Bridges to Success — REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE ® Creating Solutions. Inspiring Action. THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 2 01 Letter from the Business-Higher Education Forum 04 Introduction 06 BHEF’s National Science Foundation Grant 10 Grant Impact Among the Sites 12 The City University of New York and IBM 16 Miami Dade College and NextEra Energy 20 Northeastern University, Raytheon, IBM, and Others 24 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and The Water Council 28 Washington University in St. Louis and Boeing 34 Insights from the Evaluation 36 Looking Forward to Sustainability and Institutionalization 38 Grant Impact on BHEF’s Focus 40 Findings 44 Call to Action References ABOUT THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM The Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) is a private, nonprofit membership organization of leading C-Suite business executives and university presidents who employ the latest market intelligence to inform strategic partnerships that create innovative talent solutions in high-demand emerging fields. Members provide leadership by encouraging their peers to act on critical talent needs. For more information about BHEF, visit www.bhef.com. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BHEF would like to thank all of the USI2 consortium members, including representatives from NORC at the University of Chicago, The City University of New York, Miami Dade College, Northeastern University, University of Wisconsin System, Washington University in St. Louis with University of Missouri-St. Louis, NextEra Energy, Boeing Company, IBM, Raytheon Company, and The Water Council, for their work on the NSF grant and/or providing detailed information and insights on their respective roles, partnerships, and programs. Lead BHEF staff members for this publication include Steve Barkanic, Stephanie Blochinger, Janet Chen, Brian Fitzgerald, and Jennifer Thornton. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation under Award DUE-1331063. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, and/or recommenda- tions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation. BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE1 We hope that this report will give its readers a sense of the impact of NSF’s grant in demonstrating the power of business-higher education partnerships to create new kinds of STEM pathways that provide educational opportunity and economic mobility for underrepresented students. We also hope that it can inform NSF’s strategic plans for innovative, pro-active solutions for U.S. STEM education. THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 2 The Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) was excited and energized when the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a major, bold initiative in 2017 to push the boundaries of scientific research and education. Those “10 Big Ideas” touch on critical questions regarding the future of work, convergence of research disciplines, research infrastructure, need for data-capable professionals across sectors, and other areas. NSF has made important investments in these areas that further the its mission of promoting the progress of science, securing national defense, and advancing national health, prosperity, and welfare. Soon after this announcement, the National Science Board (NSB) released the report, Our Nation’s Future Competitiveness Relies on Building a STEM-Capable Workforce: A Policy Companion to Science and Engineering Indicators 2018, which noted that the number of jobs in the United States requiring “substantial science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) expertise” has increased 34 percent over the past decade. Additionally, a 2019 NSB report, The Skilled Technical Workforce: Crafting America’s Science & Engineering Enterprise, stated: ...the need for a STEM capable U.S. workforce at all educational levels has become more apparent—and urgent. Technologically, we are on the cusp of revolutions in data and artificial intelligence, developments that will continue to accelerate changes in the workplace and intensify our need for citizens who excel at using data, information, and technology in their work. LETTER FROM THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM — 34% INCREASE IN THE PAST DECADE IN THE NUMBER OF JOBS REQUIRING SUBSTANTIAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) EXPERTISE IN THE UNITED STATES BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE3 In 2014, NSF awarded a five-year grant to BHEF to build a network of regional partnerships that demonstrate the impact of deep engagement by STEM-driven businesses in facilitating the transfer of students, particularly veterans, women, and members of groups underrepresented in STEM fields. Among the report’s recommendations were calls for synergies among K-12 schools, two- and four-year colleges and universities, and businesses in building educational pathways for students leading to careers in high-demand fields, as well as for federal agencies to increase their support of such partnerships. The report advocated for flexibility in developing pathways that respond to regional workforce needs, and it cautioned that a one- size-fits-all approach will not produce the kind of diverse, highly skilled STEM professional needed in the digital economy. BHEF has been pleased to have been a partner with NSF during this pivotal period in the agency’s strategic transition. In 2014, NSF awarded a five-year grant to BHEF to build a network of regional partnerships that demonstrate the impact of deep engagement by STEM-driven businesses in facilitating the trans- fer of students, particularly veterans, women, and members of groups underrepresented in STEM fields. That effort has touched on several of the themes of the 10 Big Ideas initiative and provided NSF with a lens on innovative approaches to connect college success and career readiness in emerging STEM fields. As a nonprofit membership organization composed of the nation’s leading business executives and university presidents, BHEF is well-positioned to lead a project to explore the roles business can play in connecting classrooms and careers in STEM disciplines. BHEF’s use of market intelligence to create business-higher education partnerships and innovative talent solutions in high-demand and emerging fields serves as a foun- dation for building sustainable student pathways that directly address the workforce needs of today’s and tomorrow’s economy. Moreover, BHEF provides avenues for sharing learning through national and regional convenings, learning network reports, and other dissemination vehicles. For example, in 2018 BHEF and NSF organized and imple- mented a two-day workshop titled Reskilling America’s Workforce: Exploring the Nation’s Future STEM Workforce Needs that brought together about 150 leaders from business, higher education, gov- ernment, and the nonprofit sector to better understand evolving needs of the nation’s workforce and explore critical issues related to employers’ highest-demand workforce needs. (BHEF published the proceedings of this workshop, available on BHEF.com). We hope that this report will give its readers a sense of the impact of NSF’s grant in demonstrating the power of busi- ness-higher education partnerships to create new kinds of STEM pathways that provide educational opportunity and economic mobility for underrepresented students. We also hope that it can inform NSF’s strategic plans for innovative, pro-active solutions for U.S. STEM education. Sincerely, Brian K. Fitzgerald CEO, Business-Higher Education Forum Principal Investigator, USI² Consortium Grant INTRODUCTION — For more than a decade, the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF), a membership organization of leading business executives and university presidents, has dedicated itself to increasing the supply and diversity of talent with technical and scientific knowledge and skills for the business, government, and nonprofit sectors. BHEF launched its STEM Initiative in 2006 to improve STEM P-16 outcomes and, after the release of the 2007 National Academies report Rising Above the Gathering Storm, adopted the goal of increasing the number of STEM degrees and the diversity of STEM graduates through research, modeling, and active collaboration between its business and academic members. In particular, the initiative challenged BHEF’s academic members to form partnerships with business members to improve STEM undergraduate persistence and completion rates on member campuses. THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 4 BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE5 Under the leadership of the STEM Initiative’s co-chair Bill Swanson, then chairman and CEO of Raytheon Company, BHEF also initiated a multiyear research and system dynamics modeling project in partnership with ACT to better understand the interplay of STEM interest and proficiency in mathematics among P-12 students, as well as STEM enrollment, persistence, and degree completion in postsecondary education. Aided by a unique longitudinal dataset of 700,000 student-unit records from ACT’s student assessments, BHEF collaborated with systems engineers and scientists from Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and other companies, as well as STEM faculty from member academic institutions and outside experts. Together, we created one of the first systems dynamics simu- lation models—the BHEF STEM Education Model®—that has enabled the simulation of policy and programmatic interven- tions in the STEM P-16 “system.” That modeling demonstrated the need for mutually rein- forcing P-12 and postsecondary policy and practices. For example, decreasing attrition among highly effective mathematics and science middle school teachers produced significant down-stream impacts on student proficiency. At the same time, increasing the persistence and completion of STEM undergraduate students had the most immediate impacts on graduates entering the STEM workforce. Additionally, modeling several high-impact practices, such as cohort learning experiences, in the first two years of enrollment proved significantly effective in improving year-to- year persistence for all STEM students (BHEF, 2010). Support from the United States Department of the Navy’s Office of Naval Research permitted BHEF to build the U.S. STEM Undergraduate Model®, which expanded the research and mode- ling of high-impact practices in STEM undergraduate education and, in particular, their impact on women and underrepresented minorities—who together, make up the majority of STEM under- graduate attrition (BHEF 2013 a, b). The modeling demonstrated that multidimensional interventions that provide academic, social, and career/work-based learning supports provide the greatest impact on STEM outcomes. However, the research and modeling also uncovered the fact that high-impact practices, while effective, were deployed less frequently at two-year than four-year colleges, thus creating a persistent drag on STEM degree production and diversity: a low transfer rate of two-year STEM students into STEM majors on four-year campuses. In an effort to harness this learning and practice for greater impact, BHEF launched its signature initiative, the National Higher Education and Workforce Initiative (HEWI), in 2012 to formalize and expand business-higher education partners and focus these partnerships on addressing emerging workforce challenges in an increasingly digital economy. At the initiative’s launch event on Capitol Hill in June 2012, Wes Bush, then chairman and CEO of the Northrop Grumman Corporation, announced a grant to the University of Maryland College Park to create the nation’s first undergraduate honors program in cyber- security: the Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students (ACES). He also awarded a grant to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County to fund a Cyber Scholars Program, an extension of the highly successful Meyerhoff Scholars Program, focused on women in cybersecurity. The momentum created by these two grants accelerated the formation of partnerships by other BHEF business and academic members. Initial research identified a number of emerging fields in high demand across many sectors, including cybersecurity and data science, around which the initiative’s early partnerships formed. Five of these BHEF-member partnerships focused on providing high-impact practices to students at community colleges to help those students transfer to four-year institutions and pursue STEM baccalaureate programs—thereby increasing the number of STEM degrees and the diversity of STEM graduates. 6THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM In 2014, with major support from NSF, BHEF launched a five-year project to demonstrate the efficacy of regional ecosystems of community colleges, four-year higher education institutions, and STEM-driven business in facilitating the reten- tion and persistence of students in STEM fields. BHEF proposed to advance knowledge in a largely unexplored area of four-year undergraduate STEM education: developing evidence-based models for implementing strategic and sustainable engagement by business with higher education to increase the persistence of STEM students, particularly women and underrepresented minorities. The project identified the transfer of students from two-year to four-year institutions as a key juncture that, if addressed, could significantly increase both the diversity and overall STEM degree attainment at the baccalaureate level. In order to achieve such outcomes, BHEF proposed to build an Undergraduate STEM Interventions with Industry (USI2) consortium that served as a learning community for the project sites. With NORC at the University of Chicago serving as the project evaluator, five individual BHEF-member sites engaged businesses in implementing combinations of evidence-based interventions—high impact practices—designed to increase STEM student persistence, transfer, and completion to determine whether business engagement in partnerships using such practices increase community college student transfer to baccalaureate STEM programs and such students’ success in STEM majors. To address this focus, BHEF developed a theory of action in Figure 1. Students begin at a two-year college and transfer to a four-year program—with the support of industry-engaged inter- ventions facilitated by BHEF’s Strategic Business Engagement Model—and then persist to bachelor’s degrees and careers in high-demand STEM fields. The result is improved student success, student acquisition of STEM skills, and increased diver- sity in STEM fields. BHEF will share insights and learning from the project with its members, national partners, and the wider business and higher education communities, shaping the way Developing evidence-based models for implementing strategic and sustainable engagement by business with higher education to increase the persistence of STEM students, particularly women and underrepresented minorities. BHEF’S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GRANT — USI 2 CONSORTIUM: ACADEMIC & INDUSTRY MEMBERS PREPARE FOR TRANSFER IN STEMENSURE RETENTION AND ATTAINMENT CORPORATE / ADVANCED DEGREES / GOVERNMENT NON-PROFIT / START-UP STEM GRADUATES YEAR 4 YEAR 3 YEAR 2 YEAR 1 Corporate/Executive Leadership Corporate Philanthropy Core Competencies and Expertise Employee Engagement Funded Research Summer Bridge Programs First-year Experiences Academic Learning CommunitiesInternships Co-operative Education Undergraduate Research Capstone Projects ▶▶ FIG. 1 BHEF’s THEORY OF ACTION BROADER B H E F MEMBERSHIP KNOWLEDGE SHARING BHEF R E G I O N A L PROJECTS BHEF NATIONAL PARTNERS INTERVENTION STRATEGIES & HIGH-IMPACT PRACTICES STRATEGIC BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT REGIONAL WORKFORCE NEEDS STUDENTS TRANSFER OF STUDENTS FROM 2 TO 4 YEARS THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 8 those organizations engage in strategic STEM undergraduate/ workforce partnerships. To advance these partnerships and ensure alignment of knowledge and skills with employers’ needs, BHEF developed a rigorous methodology—the Partnership Implementation Process—outlining a series of steps and milestones to guide the development of business-led engagement with higher education in the creation of new academic programs and student pathways. Given the variety of differentiating factors that exist within each partnership engagement—including specific industry sectors, companies, and student subpopulations—the process serves as a common text for not only facilitating change but also sharing outcomes. The project demonstrated that the methodology is replicable and scalable across a wide range of geographic settings, types of institutions, economic sectors, and disciplinary foci in a mosaic of pathways to college success and career readiness. The Partnership Implementation Process also provides a blueprint for moving partnerships from initial workforce analysis and competency mapping to revised employer hiring practices—all of which was managed by a third-party intermediary playing a coordinating and oversight role that is essential for rapid success. The eight-step methodology is outlined in Figure 2. The first step in the Partnership Implementation Process is to analyze the workforce requirements of geographic regions under consider- ation. Partners then identify the skills required of the ideal job candidate and design a competency map. Institutions map their curricula to business needs, work with companies to determine the best academic vehicle for an industry-recognized credential, build in ongoing applied learning for students with relevant business engagement opportunities, and formally launch the new program or pathway. Finally, partners continuously update the curriculum, and business partners revise and adapt their talent recruitment models based on their engagement with their academic partner. BHEF’s 2019 publication, Creating Purposeful Partnerships: Business and Higher Education Working Together to Build Regional Talent Ecosystems for the Digital Economy, describes the process in more detail. It builds upon the work supported by the NSF grant and offers insights into business-led regional talent ecosystems that facilitate the development of a prepared workforce (BHEF, 2019a). The findings serve as a playbook for CEOs and their executive teams for establishing purposeful and strategic partnerships with higher education leaders to meet the need for diverse talent that has the required skills for companies’ long-term success. This report, Building Bridges to Success: Regional Business- Higher Education Partnerships to Grow and Diversify the STEM Workforce, captures the learning from the NSF-funded project, highlights the partnerships and institutional contexts in which these STEM pathways were designed and implemented, and conveys the impact and sustainability of business engagement on developing a diverse, highly skilled workforce. FIG.2 BHEF STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT MODEL PARNERSHIP IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE9 This project identified the transfer of students from two-year to four-year institutions as a key juncture that, if addressed, could significantly increase both the diversity and overall STEM degree attainment at the baccalaureate level. In order to achieve such outcomes, BHEF proposed to build an Undergraduate STEM Interventions with Industry (USI2) consortium that served as a learning community for the project sites. With NORC at the University of Chicago serving as the project evaluator, five individual BHEF-member sites engaged businesses in implementing combinations of evidence-based interventions—high impact practices—designed to increase STEM student persistence, transfer, and completion to determine whether business engagement in partnerships using such practices increase community college student transfer to baccalaureate STEM programs and such students’ success in STEM majors. THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 10 IMPACT GRANT IMPACT AMONG THE SITES — Five partnerships formed the foundation for the USI2 Consortium. The following sections identify the challenge they addressed, the solution they created, the outcomes of the work, and the broader impacts beyond the project’s original scope. I. The City University of New York and IBM PG . 12 Capitalizing on Existing Infrastructure to Support Transfer Students in Data Science and Analytics and Urban Sustainability — II. Miami Dade College and NextEra Energy PG. 16 Developing Stackable Credentials in Data Science and Analytics — III. Northeastern University, Raytheon, IBM, and Others PG . 20 Integrating Work and Learning in Industry-Informed IT and Cybersecurity Curriculum — IV. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and The Water Council PG . 24 Pioneering a New Work-Based Learning Model in Water Science Program — V. Washington University in St. Louis and Boeing PG . 28 Providing an Alternative Engineering Pathway for Nontraditional Students BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE11 THE SITES THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 12 THE CHALLENGE A Burning Glass market analysis that BHEF and IBM commissioned in 2017 forecast that annual job openings for data science and analytics (DSA) roles will rise steadily to 2.72 million post- ings in 2020. And according to BHEF’s Financial Services Workforce project, the financial services industry in New York City, in particular, is increasingly demanding DSA skills. The campuses of the City University of New York (CUNY) do not, however, currently offer an undergraduate degree pro- gram in data science or the equivalent. Simultaneously, CUNY faculty members identified a lack of scientific computing skills as a major barrier for STEM transfer students. Those students often do not receive introductory training in scientific computing in their freshman courses, leaving them unprepared for higher-level STEM courses. Those facts, taken together, created an opportunity to meet the needs of business while also harnessing and focusing the untapped talent at community colleges. The City University of New York and IBM — Capitalizing on Existing Infrastructure to Support Transfer Students in Data Science and Analytics and Urban Sustainabilit y 2.72M FORECASTED ANNUAL JOB OPENINGS FOR DATA SCIENCE AND ANALYTICS (DSA) ROLES POSTED IN 2020 — CUNY CURRENTLY DOES NOT OFFER AN UNDERGRADATE DEGREE PROGRAM IN DATA SCIENCE OR THE EQUIVALENT SITE I. BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE13 THE SOLUTION With a long-term vision to implement the program broadly throughout its system, CUNY developed extracurricular data science programming for undergraduates to support the development of a pathway from community college to the City College of New York (CCNY) and on to the high-skill STEM workforce. Facilitated by BHEF, CUNY engaged faculty and IBM staff members in identifying both site-level and industry-wide barriers to success for students at community colleges. The resulting CUNY TRELLIS (TRansformational Experiential Learning for Leadership in STEM) program developed two high-impact practices: 1. a summer bridge program for students transferring from community college to STEM baccalaureate-de- gree programs and — 2. capstone data science projects for senior students who have successfully transferred. The TRELLIS Summer Bridge Program recruited from the system’s seven community colleges to train cohorts of 10 students in the fundamentals of data analytics and scientific computing through work on guided analysis projects. Launched in the summer of 2016, it used real data on climate change resilience in New York City. Capitalizing on the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center’s state-of-the-art facilities for scientific com- puting, remote sensing, and in-situ environmental monitoring, the TRELLIS Summer Bridge Program was unique in its blend of technology-based instruction with in-person experiential learning. Web-based learning resources supported self-paced, technical learning for participating students, who entered the program with diverse academic backgrounds. At the same time, in-person, collaborative activities helped students develop other key workforce competencies, including problem-solving, communicating with diverse audiences, collaborating on interdisciplinary teams, and gaining familiarity with ethics and privacy issues in data science. After three years, CUNY faculty members mentored cohorts of five students who had successfully transferred from a community college to CCNY, supporting them in conducting capstone environmental data science projects. Participating students worked on a diverse range of projects, including an evaluation of socio-spatial data to understand the economic impacts of buying out flood-zone properties, the development of a web platform to provide access to integrated weather data products, and an analysis of municipal-service-request data to quantify the impact of extreme weather. Students conducting capstone projects served as peer mentors for students in subse- quent bridge-program cohorts in order to foster the development of student communities and strengthen the environment of extracurricular programming. CUNY’s TRELLIS Summer Bridge Program uniquely blends technology-based instruction with in-person experiential learning while capitalizing on its state- of-the-art facilities for scientific computing, remote sensing, and in-situ environmental monitoring. PARTNERS IBM served as the lead business partner, providing insight on industry demand for workplace competencies, guidance on the development of training activities, and expert staff members to present at career development workshops and events for CUNY students. Along with IBM, CUNY hosted an industry roundtable with BHEF in summer 2018, engaging staff from IBM, Arcadis, Deloitte, Bloomberg, Wiley, and General Assembly. In September 2019, CUNY also held a half-day Climate Week NYC event, attended by more than 50 CUNY faculty members and students, as well as representatives from a variety of regional industries—including investment/financial services, environmental monitoring, and engineering consulting. The event provided the opportunity to highlight undergraduate training programs, discuss the role of business-higher education partnerships in supporting near-term urban sustainability, and brainstorm the development of new partnerships. OUTCOMES Through the CUNY TRELLIS program, 38 students partici- pated in high-impact practices. Thirty-seven percent of those students were women, and 42 percent were underrepresented minorities in STEM. Nearly all participating students were able to successfully transfer to bachelor’s degree programs at CUNY, with the first cohort of students graduating in spring 2019. Participating students have also received competitive fellowships, including the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Fellowship, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration CREST Fellowship, and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Summer Student Internship. Beyond those impacts, the project has served as a supportive programming model for students transferring from community college to CUNY four-year colleges, and it is now being replicated on other CUNY campuses. BROADER IMPACTS While TRELLIS began as a summer bridge program, it played a significant role in the larger New York City talent ecosystem. For example, the CUNY Environmental Sciences Initiative investigated the role of business-higher education partnerships in building the workforce needed to support sustainable, smart cities. CUNY’s efforts informed BHEF’s New York City Data Science Task Force, supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and composed of more than 50 subject-matter experts in data science and analytics. This group developed a competency map and built partnerships and programs to meet workforce needs. In addition, BHEF’s Financial Services Workforce Project— in partnership with Business Roundtable members and other companies, as well as the university system’s Baruch College Zicklin School of Business—focused on developing the DSA, cybersecurity, and risk competencies that financial services organizations increasingly need. Business partners: IBM,* Arcadis, Deloitte, Bloomberg, Wiley, and General Assembly Higher Education partners: The City University of New York,* City College of New York, Borough of Manhattan Community College, Bronx Community College, Guttman Community College, Hostos Community College, Kingsborough Community College, LaGuardia Community College, Queensborough Community College (asterisk indicates original partner) THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 14 A S A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT IN QUEENS, Shivron Sugrim lacked direction. No one in his family had attended college, and he couldn’t envision a potential career. As high school graduation approached, he didn’t feel prepared for a traditional, four-year college, so he worked in retail with no opportunity for advance- ment. During this time, Shivron saw a video about the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft. He became fascinated by aerospace and, for the first time, had a vision for a career. To explore this new interest, Shivron enrolled in classes at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), a CUNY open-access institution. Shivron thrived at BMCC. He conducted materials-science research with a faculty member and performed well in his science and math courses. After completing the major courses in BMCC’s engineering science program, Shivron applied to the Grove School of Engineering at CCNY as a transfer student and was accepted for the fall 2017 semester. The summer before transferring, Shivron participated in the TRELLIS summer bridge program. The enhanced programming skills he gained through the summer bridge program played a major role in his successful transfer to upper-level courses at CCNY. He felt well prepared for his courses, even though he had limited formal training in programming prior to the bridge program. He used the new skills he gained regularly in his course assignments and was prepared to take additional programming courses using Matlab, Python, and C++. CCNY’s Grove School of Engineering is both figuratively and literally far from Shivron’s neighborhood in Queens. He travelled over an hour by motorcycle, as his neighborhood is at the edge of New York City with limited access to public transit. But participation in the bridge program helped Shivron feel like he was part of his new campus community. He made friends with other incoming transfer students through his collabora- tion on team projects and participation in networking events. He was then able to begin his studies at CCNY with student and faculty contacts in a variety of programs throughout the campus. After completing his first year of classes, Shivron worked on a capstone project under the mentorship of Ricardo Toledo-Crow, the director of the Environmental Sensing Laboratory at the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center. He collected, visualized, and analyzed local weather data, integrating data from roof mounted sensors with external remote sensing data sets. Through work on that project, Shivron has gained enhanced skills in C++, proficiency with HTML/CSS, and experience working with environmental sensing and communications protocols that will be particu- larly valuable for a career in the aerospace industry. He has successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, the qualifying examination for engineering licensure, and is an active student member of the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers. Shivron graduated in fall 2019 with a bachelor of engineering and a minor in mathematics and is starting a job as an engineer-in-training in Pittsburgh. BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE15 STUDENT PROFILE / SHIVRON SUGRIM PARTNERSHIP CHECKLIST ☑ Select Field or Sector: DSA and Urban Sustainability Science ☑ Select Geographic Region: Northeast (New York) ☑ Select Academic Vehicle: Undergraduate Credential ☑ Develop Industry Engagement Strategy with High-Impact Practices: Presentations, Real-World Datasets, Co-Developed Curriculum, Outreach and Networking Events, Summer Bridge Program, Internships, Capstone Projects ☑ Evaluate Company Signaling Mechanisms: Ongoing THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 16 THE CHALLENGE Data analytics skills are a core workforce need across almost every industry sector, both private and public. Yet undergraduates are typically offered little to no coursework or experience directly related to the field, and they therefore enter industry woefully underprepared for high-performing work environments. According to regional job market data, nearly 2,200 jobs openings related to data analytics are projected in South Florida during the next five years at an average salary of just over $100,000. Additionally, a Gallup poll revealed that, by 2021, 69 percent of employers expect candidates with data science and analytic skills to get preference for jobs, yet only 23 percent of college and university leaders say their graduates will have those skills. Miami Dade College and NextEra Energy — Developing Stackable Credentials in Data Science and Analy tics 69% OF EMPLOYERS EXPECT CANDIDATES WITH DATA SCIENCE AND ANALYTIC SKILLS TO GET PREFERENCE FOR JOBS BY 2021, ACCORDING TO A GALLOP POLL SITE II. BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE17 THE SOLUTION Miami Dade College (MDC) partnered with BHEF, NextEra Energy, and other local and national companies with the initial goal of creating the only four-year bachelor’s degree in data analytics in the state of Florida. That goal matured into a set of three academic programs that stack into each other to provide students with the skills and competencies necessary for a job in data analysis: • The College Credit Certificate (CCC) in Business Intelligence Professional is a one-year, 20-credit, accelerated program that prepares students with the workforce skills they need for immediate employment and career experience. Program areas of study include database concepts, Structured Query Language (SQL), data-mining algorithms, predictive methodologies, and data visualization techniques. — • The Associate in Science in Business Intelligence is a 60-credit, two-year degree that prepares students for employment as business intelligence analysts or related occupations or for upper-division studies in data analytics. — • The Bachelor of Science in Data Analytics is a four- year program that embeds the associate degree in business intelligence. Students can enter the degree after completing any other associate degree and a set of five pre-requirement courses: database concepts design, statistical methods, SQL administration, SQL implementation, and introduction to business analytics. During the last two years of the program, students learn to apply data-mining methods and statistical tools to resolve business questions and make recommendations that effectively support tactical and strategic business objectives. Areas of study include statistical methods, regression analysis, and data visualization. In the introductory programming course for the data ana- lytics bachelor’s degree, students join a learning community that fosters relationships with faculty members. Students also begin a two-semester undergraduate research experience, which they can continue over the summer semester. Miami Dade provides stipends for nontraditional and commuter students who choose to engage in that summer research. The programs follow an interdisciplinary approach that combines data engineering, math, statistics, advanced computing, and the scientific method to train students to become data ana- lysts, able to manipulate and analyze data across fields. Given the transdisciplinary nature of data science, students have gained a broad set of foundational skills, and regional partners have contex- tualized the program to meet their own sector-specific needs. Miami Dade College developed the only four-year bachelor’s degree in data analytics in the state of Florida as part of its innovative stackable program. THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 18 PARTNERS With support from BHEF and the Business Roundtable, Miami Dade hosted a one‐day industry focus group that included repre- sentatives from NextEra, Accenture, Miami Children’s Hospital, Miami-Dade County’s Information Technology Department, Oracle Corporation, SAS Institute, and Siemens Energy. As a result of this convening, a competency map outlining the major duties, tasks, knowledge, skills, traits, and software tools required for data analysts was created, and an interdisciplinary team of the college’s faculty members and administrators then used that map to develop a new curriculum for a suite of industry-recognized stackable credentials. Professionals from NextEra, the lead business partner, brought intellectual resources, field experience, skills, and competencies to the program. They strengthened the education-to-workforce pipeline through efforts such as co-de- velopment of new courses focused on active learning, student research opportunities, relevant case studies, interdisciplinary solutions, the creation of an energy sector specialization, and a direct pathway to jobs. Additional industry partners have also engaged in industry roundtables co-hosted with BHEF, devel- oped workshops to increase faculty capacity to conduct data analysis research and teach data analytics skills, and provided students access to case studies, speakers, and mentors. OUTCOMES Since the implementation of the program in fall 2015, enrollment has almost doubled every year. Beginning with 20 students in the bachelor’s degree in data analytics, as many as 161 students were pursuing one of the three different stackable credentials by spring 2019. In total, 165 underrepresented minority students and 58 female students have enrolled, and 31 students have graduated with a bachelor’s degree, 33 with an associate degree, and 47 with a certificate. In addition, all the students who graduated in Miami Dade’s first cohort, in 2018, gained job positions like business intelligence analyst, data warehousing specialist, and data analyst— positions with annual salaries averaging over $75,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Given Miami Dade’s diversity (86 percent of students are minorities and 78 percent work while attending college), it is furthering equity of opportunity for its student population and pioneering connections between work and learning through modern apprenticeships and internships. Most notably, a one-year college credit certificate in busi- ness intelligence allows more students to quickly gain valuable skills and a credential, even if those students are unable to complete the associate or bachelor’s degrees. The overwhelming demand for such skills also motivated Florida International University to create a one-year master’s program in the field, furthering the skills potential and overall stackable credential. BROADER IMPACTS Miami Dade’s project began by addressing the many challenges of designing a new major in analytics in collaboration with business partners, including NextEra Energy. While the college successfully received approval for the only analytics major at a public institution in the state, its curriculum has evolved to a stackable credentials model. This serves as a distinct model for supporting students as they progress in their chosen pathways, allowing employers to match talent at all levels of development and meet the region’s need for employees with skills in data science and analytics. Companies have given very positive feedback after hiring and validating the skillsets of the program’s graduates, as well as opened new positions and referred MDC’s program to other departments. In addition, Miami Dade con- tinues to build on their programs, developing new courses and concentrations in areas such as healthcare analytics and artificial intelligence. It is in the process of creating an articulation agreement with Florida International University, which offers a master’s program in data analytics. Business partners: NextEra Energy,* Accenture, Miami Children’s Hospital, Miami-Dade County’s Information Technology Department, Oracle Corporation, SAS Institute, Siemens Energy, Baptist Health of South Florida, Jackson Health System, Dell, Visa Inc., Univision Communications Inc., Florida Panthers, Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Heat, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, the Venture City, Assurant, United Data Technologies, Cognizant, Tech Mahindra, and Ryder System Higher Education partners: Miami Dade College* (asterisk indicates original partner) THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 18 W HEN ROBERTO CARLOS RODRIGUEZ-ANDREU discovered the magic of data, his life, goals, and expectations of the future changed. After researching careers, he realized that business intelligence and data science was a marketable profession with a bright future in a data-driven world. He started pursuing his bachelor’s degree in science in data analytics at Miami Dade College. As an MRI technologist for 10 years, as well as a husband, dad, and student, Roberto faced an overwhelming challenge in undertaking this new degree. Nevertheless, the power of data, his family’s support, and the professionalism of the college’s educators sustained him and allowed him to develop a foundation for his career. Every day in class was an exciting experience for him. He found that the faculty had built a remarkable program that opened a world of opportunities and knowledge for his career development. He was exposed to real data problems, algorithms, reports, and projects, and he used different tools and applications with new terminologies and vocabulary—all of which served to enhance his skills. Hired in 2019, he is now a clinical business technical analyst working for the Business Intelligence Team at Baptist Health of South Florida. He continues to work on his professional and educational goals and will attend Dakota State University for a master’s in healthcare analytics. BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE19BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE19 PARTNERSHIP CHECKLIST ☑ Select Field or Sector: DSA ☑ Select Geographic Region: Southeast (Florida) ☑ Select Academic Vehicle: Stackable Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees and Certificates ☑ Develop Industry Engagement Strategy with High-Impact Practices: Guest Lectures, Mentorship, Real-World Datasets, Co-Developed Curriculum, Robust Industry Advisory Group, Personalized Industry Partnership Strategies, New Work-Based Learning Programs ☑ Evaluate Company Signaling Mechanisms: Ongoing STUDENT PROFILE / ROBERTO CARLOS RODRIGUEZ-ANDREU THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 20 THE CHALLENGE According to the Advanced Cyber Security Center, a Boston-based consortium focused on the cybersecurity field, Massachusetts is one of the fastest growing hubs for cybersecurity in the United States. This growth has increased the demand for talent such that in the fiscal year end- ing August 2018, Massachusetts had over 9,000 cybersecurity job openings (source: cyberseek. org) and roughly one in 10 jobs in cyber in the Boston area were unfilled. Northeastern University, Raytheon, IBM, and Others — Integrating Work and Learning in Industry-Informed IT and Cybersecurity Curriculum 1 IN 10 JOBS IN CYBER IN THE BOSTON AREA WERE UNFILLED — MASSACHUSETTS HAD OVER 9,000 CYBERSECURITY JOB OPENINGS AT THE END OF FISCAL YEAR 2018 SITE III. BUILDING BRIDGES TO SUCCESS: REGIONAL BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS TO GROW AND DIVERSIFY THE STEM WORKFORCE21 THE SOLUTION In partnership with Raytheon, IBM, and other industry leaders, the Lowell Institute School at Northeastern University developed a multifaceted solution to address the growing demand for cybersecurity talent in the Greater Boston and New England regions and improve student transfer, persistence, and career readiness. The three key elements of the project included: 1. Development of a new industry-aligned, five-course systems administration and cybersecurity concen- tration within the online bachelor’s of science in information technology (BSIT) degree. — 2. Integration of experiential learning opportunities to support engagement, persistence, and career readiness by redesigning the online BSIT curriculum using challenge-based learning and the incorporation of real-world, industry-sourced projects provided by the experiential network. — 3. Implementation of a peer and industry mentoring program that matched learners with more-advanced students and industry professionals working in cyber- security and information technology via an online mentoring platform. Building on its history as a leader in work-based learning, Northeastern focused on connecting associate degree graduates as well as other working adults already in the IT field to the spe- cialized cybersecurity skills needed to gain an entry-level role in cybersecurity. The principal goals of the project were to expand the talent pipeline, provide economic mobility to working adult learners through on-ramps into the high-demand fields, and broaden participation in those fields to include underrepresented minorities and women. Northeastern’s approach included STEM seminars and the use of cohorts and mentoring, which are particularly impor- tant for nontraditional students who may lack the residential, place-based connection that traditional students experience. Northeastern enhanced the experiential learning opportunities it provided to students by revising the BSIT curriculum using the challenge-based learning model and integrating opportunities for virtual internships via the Experiential Network. A key project activity in aligning curriculum and pathways among community colleges, Northeastern, and industry, and in supporting student career exploration and discovery, was organ- izing cybersecurity events highlighting industry speakers, two of which Northeastern and BHEF co-hosted. Finally, in collabora- tion with Mentor Collective, Northeastern established a virtual mentoring platform to provide peer and industry mentoring, a recognized high-impact practice. Recognized as a leader in work-based learning, Northeastern seamlessly integrated work and learning to create an industry-informed IT and cybersecurity curriculum. THE BUSINESS-HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM / WWW.BHEF.COM 22 PARTNERS Northeastern worked closely with its industry partners, Raytheon and IBM, to analyze the job market landscape and skills, profile competencies and skills, map skills and curricular gaps, update its curriculum, and develop industry-engaged pro- grams and project-based learning opportunities. IBM provided access to virtual cybersecurity labs and software tools that were evaluated for inclusion in the new cybersecurity concentration. IBM also hosted Northeastern faculty members for a five-day professional development training session in Chicago to famil- iarize them with IBM’s tools, curriculum, and certifications. In addition, Northeastern and BHEF co-hosted two cybersecurity industry events with partners such as Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Raytheon Company, State Street Corporation, Burning Glass Technologies, MassTech, Partners Healthcare, Spark Process, the MITRE Corporation, IBM, and GuidePoint Security. Finally, Northeastern collaborated with its community college partners to align its curriculum with busi- ness needs, incorporate high-impact practices, and develop its Experiential Network. OUTCOMES In the past four years, the BSIT program has had a total of 870 enrollments and has graduated 112 students with their bachelor’s degree. Northeastern has also attracted 62 internal transfers (stu- dents who switched into BSIT from another major or program), reflecting the appeal of the BSIT program. Of those enrolled, 21 to 24 percent have been female students and 28 to 30 percent have been underrepresented minorities in each of the four years. During this time, the virtual mentoring program provided peer and industry mentoring to 410 students. In the three years since the launch of the Experiential Network in the BSIT program, 32 students have participated in these virtual internships. Additionally, in order to enhance transfer pathways, Northeastern signed 16 new articulation agreements with community colleges during the last four years, most of them including pathways into BSIT. The university is also launching a new program to give BSIT credits to students who have earned a Google IT Support Certificate. BROADER IMPACTS Northeastern’s project began by focusing on the creation of a cybersecurity concentration within their BSIT degree. Building on the university’s eff