Award Abstract # 1601403
Broadening Education, Access, and Momentum (BEAM) in Energy Management and Controls Technology

NSF Org: DUE
Division Of Undergraduate Education
Recipient: VALENCIA COLLEGE
Initial Amendment Date: June 13, 2016
Latest Amendment Date: July 24, 2018
Award Number: 1601403
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Jill Nelson
jnelson@nsf.gov  (703)292-0000
DUE  Division Of Undergraduate Education
EDU  Directorate for STEM Education
Start Date: June 15, 2016
End Date: May 31, 2021 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $900,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $900,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2016 = $900,000.00
History of Investigator:
  • Deb Hall (Principal Investigator)
     dhall@valenciacollege.edu
  • Lisa Macon (Former Principal Investigator)
  • Deb Hall (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Valencia Community College
 1800 S KIRKMAN RD
 ORLANDO
 FL  US  32811--230
(407)582-2909
Sponsor Congressional District:
Primary Place of Performance: Valencia Community College
 1800 S Kirkman Rd
 Orlando
 FL  US  32811-2302
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:		 10
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): KM9HFDWLATK3
Parent UEI: NLCZMHXJ39H7
NSF Program(s): Advanced Tech Education Prog
Primary Program Source: 04001617DB NSF Education & Human Resource
Program Reference Code(s): 1032, 9178, SMET
Program Element Code(s): 741200
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.076

ABSTRACT

To meet a growing need for trained technicians in energy building automation, Valencia College will develop an Associate in Science degree program in Energy Management and Controls Technology. The first to be developed in Florida, the need was driven in consultation with major regional employers and the need to train future workers in a technical field that has economic and environmental impacts. The program aligns with the regional movement toward the establishment of standards for energy use by businesses, especially industries that support high occupancy rates and sales including those with high energy consumption such as the commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors. These sectors have a staggering impact on energy consumption. As business operations and energy consumption further intersect, the national need has increased for building automation technicians trained in technologies related to controls and systems engineering, computer software, and networking. These technicians will operate and maintain complex, high-performance buildings, ensuring occupant health, energy conservation, and financial savings.

The new program will offer rigorous technical courses taught in creative ways, in particular, using Valencia's own facilities as a living laboratory. Along with a fully-equipped laboratory designed to build technical skills and competencies on specific industry equipment, the hands on living lab will include learning outcomes targeting buildings, construction, and land use. Laboratory content will include: (a) data analysis through tracking patterns of the college's energy usage, (b) math skills to perform energy audits and calculate energy flow and life-cycle cost analysis, (c) reading blueprints and engineering drawings, (d) software skills and usage designed to solve real sustainability problems. During the project period, deliverables will include: (1) the creation of state curriculum frameworks, (2) the modification of three existing courses (from related programs), and (3) the development of nine new courses. Career pathways will also be developed for students entering from the local school districts in order to provide seamless articulation opportunities through strong programming and partnership activities. Advising of students will focus on activities to promote enrollment and retention of females and veterans, both underrepresented populations in the technical programs at the college. Strong industry partnerships and associations will serve on the Industry Advisory Council that will be significantly involved in all steps along the program development pathway as well as serving as internship and workplace sites for graduates.

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

Intellectual Merit of our Work

Our work advanced knowledge and understanding within the Building Automation Systems (BAS) Industry via the establishment of the first of its kind Associate in Science (A.S.) degree in Energy Management and Controls Technology (EMCT) within the State of Florida. The college was initially approached by industry partners with the idea of creating this A.S. degree through focus groups. Members of these focus groups along with one of the NSF ATE Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Center Co-PIs then participated on our Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) workshop which helped to establish the backbone of the attached EMCT Curriculum Framework and our EMCT A.S. degree curriculum development. Please see "EMCT Curriculum Framework_1st Page". It was these same DACUM participants who then became our initial EMCT Industry Advisory Council (IAC) members.

Our plan incorporated a mechanism to assess success. The PI worked closely with Valencia College's Institutional Research team and our grant evaluator to analyze our enrollment data to determine how close we were to achieving our other two major project goals:

  • Increase the number of female students to 25% by the end of the grant period who declare a major in one of the four EMCT related A.S. degree programs within our division along with the EMCT A.S. degree program
  • Increase the number of Veteran students to 15% by the end of the grant period who declare a major in one of the four EMCT related A.S. degree programs within our division along with the EMCT A.S. degree program

Regarding the first bullet, within the grant period, the EMCT A.S. degree program did not achieve the goal of 25% female student enrollment, but we hope to achieve this in future semesters as we continue our female student recruiting efforts. Over the grant period, we did observe two of the four EMCT related A.S. degree programs surpass the 25% goal. The Computer Programming and Analysis A.S. degree program saw their Female student enrollment reach 33.9%. Construction and Civil Engineering Technology (CCET) A.S. degree program reached a female student enrollment of 42.9%. Regarding the second bullet, during the grant period, the EMCT A.S. Degree program and two of the four EMCT related A.S. degree programs nearly achieved or surpassed the 15% goal of Veteran student enrollment. Both the EMCT A.S. degree program and the CCET A.S. degree program saw their Veteran student enrollment reach as high as 14.3%. The Cybersecurity and Network Engineering Technology A.S. degree program saw their Veteran student enrollment surpass our grant goal achieving 15.8%. Please see Female Student Enrollment and Veteran Student Enrollment by Percent in Degree Program Fall 2018 to Spring 2021 for more details.

 

Broader Impacts of our Work

Our project's activities explored creative, original, and potentially transformative concepts via not only within the development of our A.S. degree, but also within the development of our K-12 outreach events. Please see EMCT A.S. Degree Middle School Outreach with BAS Controls Tech Barbie Photo.

The proposed activities have enhanced Valencia College through educating future BAS Technicians within such facilities as the EMCT Lab, a state-of-the-art learning centered environment providing students with hands on access to commercial building equipment controlled by widely recognized vendors within the BAS industry. The proposed activities have also established strong industry partnerships and an engaged advisory council responsible for generous donations of both time and EMCT Lab equipment, curriculum development, and marketing of our program. Please see Valencia College EMCT AS Degree Industry Partners.

Our results have been disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding via creating an industry requested EMCT A.S. degree guidebook for distribution nationwide to Historically Black Colleges so that they may also create similar BAS Technician training degree programs, at various technical college and Veteran career fairs, HVAC and Electrician Apprenticeship networking events, industry and academic conference presentations, poster sessions, middle school STEM outreach events, high school college fairs, Valencia College campuswide Student Development event booths, NSF ATE BEST Center workshop and Winter Institute presentations, webinars, NSF STEM for All Video Showcase, and industry newsletters addressing methods of attracting more females into the BAS industry and female targeted K-12 STEM outreach ideas.

Examples of our work which have benefited society and advanced desired societal outcomes are as follows:

  • Increasing participation of underrepresented minorities and women via K-12 outreach events
  • Increasing the diversity in the NSF portfolio with respect to types of institutions supported and the geographic regions represented via our many articulation agreements with technical colleges and apprenticeship programs. Please see Valencia College EMCT A.S. Degree Articulation Agreements and Industry Experience.

Develop and offer Florida's first EMCT A.S. degree to train BAS Technicians to make commercial buildings both energy efficient and secure. Please see Valencia College EMCT A.S. Degree Program Growth.


Last Modified: 08/12/2021
Modified by: Deb Hall

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