Advancing ATE in the Community College Field

This three-year project is a series of five interrelated activities designed to enhance the Advanced Technological Education program, to encourage the development of ATE-related programs in more community colleges, and to make known to the education field and the public the accomplishments of these programs. The activities build on the successes of previous efforts of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). They support the emerging network of community colleges dedicated to improving undergraduate science, mathematics, engineering and technology education. Most importantly, the activities aim to enrich and expand the current network of colleges and schools in the forefront of reform, to offer recommendations for finding solutions to challenging areas, and to disseminate information about successful programs and their national significance.

The project activities are:

(a) Three National ATE Conferences in 1999, 2000, and 2001,

(b) Dissemination of information about ATE programs and goals through AACC publications, presentations, feature stories, conference proceedings, a listserv, and a Web page,

(c) An AACC ATE Mentoring Program to help community colleges strengthen science, mathematics, engineering, and technology programs,

(d) Two AACC Research Briefs addressing areas of interest to all community colleges seeking to sustain strong science, mathematics, engineering, and technology programs, and

(e) Evaluation.