Conducted in 2022, EDUCAUSE surveyed 820 United States undergraduate students, revealing that students think education needs to become more balanced. According to EDUCAUSE, an IT-focused nonprofit organization, students are reevaluating their relationships to technology, campuses, and online learning.

Their survey found that,"Students are whole people with complex learning needs and goals. Completing a degree is the most common way respondents defined a successful higher education experience, but they are also hoping to secure a job, achieve personal growth, secure a high salary, and more." 

The survey covers four key areas including Technology Challenges and Solutions, Modality Preferences, Access to Educational Technology, and Student Success. Read the full report and more key takeways on the EDUCAUSE website. 

Did you see our recent tweet about Gerald's Student Success Story? At ATE Central, we aim to highlight how ATE programs and centers have impacted students' lives. Each video documents a unique success story, but all of them have a common theme: technician training has the power to change lives.

One Student Success Story features Gerald Kinyua, who moved to the United States from Kenya to explore a career in chemistry. At first, he found it difficult to negotiate the education system in a new country until he connected with Northern Essex Community College. Since his time at Northern Essex Community College, Gerald continued to on earn his Masters of Clinical Laboratory Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Watch more videos on ATE Central's Student Success Stories webpage. 

Learn about NSF’s New Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) in a free Zoom Webinar!

The National Science Foundation (NSF) says its new Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) advances use-inspired and translational research in all fields of science and engineering, potentially giving rise to new industries using breakthrough technologies and helping to engage all Americans—regardless of background or location—in the pursuit of additional high-wage jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Where might ATE Central researchers and other community members fit in?

You can start to find out—and learn more about the vision for TIP and its programs and funding opportunities—in an introductory webinar on Sept. 27 at. 2:00 PM Eastern. Register here for the hour-long presentation. 

Recent research from the Pew Research Center confirmed that people with high education degrees partner with others with similar education levels. The study analyzed the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) report from 2019. 

The study by Pew researcher Richard Fry found that this trend is even more significant with parents with higher education degrees. Additionally, Fry found, "When first-generation college graduates do partner with another college graduate, it is more likely that their partner will also be a first-generation graduate." 

This research shows the cycle of education continues through generations, and individuals earn more as they move from first-generation students to continuing-generation college graduates.

Read the complete study on the Pew Research Center's website. 

The 2022 ATE Conference: Reconnecting & Advancing the Skilled Technical Workforce will be held as an in-person event with a virtual track participation option. ATE grantees may elect to fulfill their NSF grant requirement through participation in the in-person event and/or the virtual components of this conference. Conference registration is due September 28th. 

The conference will bring together more than 850 NSF ATE grantees and their project partners to focus on the critical issues related to advanced technological education. Key ATE members across the country will participate in the hybrid event. Conference participants represent community colleges, business and industry, secondary school systems, and four-year colleges covering projects in a wide variety of areas, such as information technology, engineering technology, micro- and nanotechnologies, chemical technology, biotechnology, and others.

The conference kicks off virtually with ATE Connects on Thursday, October 20 and Friday, October 21 from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. EDT and be followed by an in-person event taking place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. on October 26-28, 2022. 

A post-conference virtual track...

Building on work done under two awards from NSF’s ATE program, the ATE project A Collaborative Approach to Work-Based Learning in Biotechnology: Building Inclusive Lab Environments, was recently featured on InnovATEBIO's blog. This post highlights their new Inclusive Research Mentor-Manager Training series, which aims to help life science labs and organizations build inclusive management practices and workplaces. The training focused on teaching current and future industry professionals best practices for training, managing, and supporting interns and employees of diverse backgrounds. Participants averaged four workshops each, with 100% of respondents agreeing that "The workshop was a good use of my time."

To learn more about the training series, including series module materials and details, visit InnovATEBIO's blog.

To learn more about other newly funded centers and projects, check out the fact sheet information on the ATE Central site to explore the full range of currently funded projects and centers. 

The Eighth Annual Unmanned Systems Academic Summit is coming up on September 22, from 11:00 to 1:00 Eastern. This online summit will comprise of expert talks and engaging presentations covering unmanned systems research and development, education and training, commercialization, and technology transfer. This summit is intended for the general public, educators, industry professionals, and students interested in learning more about unmanned systems.

During the live event, registered attendees will be able to interact with the speakers following each presentation. The summit will also be recorded for anyone who wishes to access the content afterwards. Each registration will also include a certificate for a free Introduction to UAS Simulation and Flying lab experience.

All two-year college STEM faculty involved in technician education are now eligible for Mentor-Connect mentoring to prepare applications for Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grants from the National Science Foundation. For the past decade, Mentor-Connect’s cohort mentoring was available only to faculty at two-year colleges that had not had ATE grants in the past seven years.

“Any faculty member who has not been through grant-preparation training really could benefit from Mentor-Connect because two-year college faculty members are generally not living in a culture where grant-writing is an expectation,” said Elaine Craft, principal investigator of Mentor-Connect.

Mentor-Connect is an ATE project based at Florence-Darlington Technical College; the American Association of Community Colleges is a partner on the project. Mentor-Connect has assisted 210 two-year colleges, 383 faculty members and 221 administrators and grant professionals since 2012.

Eleven of the 14 Mentor-Connect mentee teams that submitted proposals during 2021 have been awarded grants in the ATE track for colleges new to ATE. This 80 percent funding rate is high compared to the NSF-wide funding rate of 25...

NSF grantee, Northwest Engineering and Vehicle Technology Exchange (NEVTEX) has helped fund a newly launched, comprehensive training standards-based - commercialized International Electric Vehicle (EV) training program.

The training program, called EVPRO+, provides technicians, service advisors, instructors, students, engineers, managers, and other automotive professionals with a comprehensive blended learning training program and resources supporting electric, hybrid, plug-in, and other EV technology systems.

Highlights of the program include:

• Online training courses with quizzes
• Searchable and time-stamped closed captioning
• Interactive and searchable course material flip books
• Optional certification for EV Certification

NEVTEX partnered with FutureTech Auto, an aftermarket automotive aftermarket distributor of EV Systems, to create the training program. Read more information about the program on EVPRO+'s website. 

A report by the staffing company, Express Employment International, investigates skilled technical worker's attitudes on several questions, such as what do workers think about their work? Do they feel confident, anxious, or uncertain about their employment and futures?

The report reveals several positive perspectives:

• Over 90 percent of skilled technical workers are proud of their work 
• 74 percent of United States skilled technical workers have a good career path
• 73 percent believe more young adults should pursue careers in their field
• 67 percent believe COVID changed how society views their work

Skilled technical workers are defined as employees who perform manual labor and work in agriculture, automotive services, construction, maintenance, manufacturing, transpiration, or utilities. Although six in 10 skilled technical workers think society looks down on their profession, 60 percent of workers believe having a skilled job is respected more now than it was ten years ago. 

Read the full report on Express Employment International's website.