Evergreen Valley College in San Jose has recently received a two-year grant of $250,000 from the California State Chancellor's Office to develop a Hybrid-Alternative Fuel program for their Automotive department, and are seeking the help of the CalWomenTech Project to help recruit women to the program. This program will introduce a student to a variety of propulsion alternatives used in the automotive industry such as induced fuel cell, compressed natural gas, all electric, E85, and gasoline-electric vehicles. The CalWomenTech Key Leaders for Evergreen Valley College are David Ames, Coordinator of the Alternative Fuel Program and Michael Hernandez, Automotive Instructor.
Irvine Valley College’s Electronic Technology program was accepted as school
#125 in the Electrician Certification program in the state of California last year
and they would like to increase their recruitment and retention efforts toward
female students. Irvine
Valley College is located in the Irvine Spectrum, the
center of the “Technology Coast” extending from Santa Barbara to San Diego, a
fast growing region containing 6 counties and 18 million people with 19,000
technology firms employing 400,000 workers in the computer, software,
biomedical, telecommunications, automotive, aerospace, and consumer
electronics industries. A degree or certificate in Electronic Technology from IVC
equips students for immediate employment in these fields. Key Leaders of the project are Dr. Susan M. Cooper, Dean of Career Technology Education &
Workforce Development and Raymond Chandos, Electronic Technology
professor.
Las Positas College’s Automotive and Welding programs have connected with
the CalWomenTech Project to increase the number of women in these high
demand occupations. Auto service departments increasingly need people with
technical training in electronics and the Welding program is designed to prepare
students for positions as shielded arc, flux core or MIG and TIG welders in
research laboratories, in structural fabrication shops or in general welding
shops. Las Positas already has a focus on recruiting and retaining women: the
welding program started a welding student club, in which 10 of the 35 members
are women. Key Leaders from Las Positas are Birgitte Ryslinge, Dean of
Business, Computing and Applied Technologies and Brian Hagopian, Lead
Automotive Technology instructor. Las Positas College is in Livermore.
San Jose City College’s Facilities Maintenance Technology (FMT) program was
developed in response to requests from industry partners and it prepares
participants to monitor, maintain and troubleshoot mechanical and electrical
equipment in facilities ranging from operating rooms, hotels, commercial
buildings, to clean rooms. As the nation’s center for high-tech manufacturing,
Santa Clara Valley is attracting a large number of high-tech medical facilities
with a demand for FMT’s. Program graduates are in high demand and the average wage for an entry level FMT is $18/hour. The project’s Key Leaders are
Kathy Werle, Dean of Applied Science and Technology and Stephen Mansfield,
Professor of the Facilities Maintenance Technology Program.
The City College of San Francisco will be working to recruit women to its Computer Networking and Information Technology (CNIT) Program, with a focus on the new Digital Home Integration Technology certification. This certification is designed to give students an industry-accepted seal of approval to show their mastery of home integration standards, including networking, audio/video, telephone and VoIP, security and surveillance. CCSF is a project partner for the CalWomenTech Project. Carmen Lamha, the chair of the CNIT Department, and Dr. Pierre Thiry, Principal Investigator of the Institute for the Convergence of Optical and Network Systems (iCONS), a three-year $750,000 NSF ATE Project, are leading the College's efforts.
San Diego Mesa College's focus is its Geographic Information Systems program which has NSF ATE funding to develop a curriculum coordinated with industry needs. This contemporary curriculum emphasizes skills-based applications with orientation toward practical projects and analysis. Otto Lee, the Dean of the School of Business, Computer Studies, and Technologies, plans to rollout the CalWomenTech Project to other male majority programs at the school over time. Eileen Goff, PI of Mesa's NSF ATE grant for the GIS program and Professor Karen Schneiter Williams, Chairperson of the Computer Business Technology Education Department will lead the CalWomenTech Project Leadership Team.
Cañada College in Silicon Valley is one of only two federally-designated Hispanic Serving Institutions in the Bay Area. Approximately 42 percent of Cañada's students are Latino. Cañada's new 3-D Animation and Video Game Art Program will be the focus of the CalWomenTech Project. Game development is an extremely male-dominated field, the result of which is that most of the games developed do not appeal to females. Recruiting and retaining women in game development provides the opportunity to both increase the number of women in the field and the number of games developed that appeal to female interests. Key leaders for the Project are Linda Hayes, Dean of Business & Workforce Development and Jean Mecorney, Professor of Multimedia. Anna Szabados, Director of the Bay Area Regional New Media Center will serve on Cañada's CalWomenTech Leadership Team.
El Camino College in Torrance, CA has a successful Women in Industry and Technology (WIT) Program so the CalWomenTech Project is a natural fit for the College. WIT provides career information, support, and assists with job placement of women in traditionally male programs to "Empower Women for Economic Success." The occupational focus will be the Air Conditioning Refrigeration program - whose students are in high demand by area employers - with plans to roll out the Project later on to Electronics and Computer Hardware and Welding. The key leaders for the Project are Dr. Stephanie Rodriguez, Interim Director, Workforce & Community Education and Idania Reyes, Program Coordinator, Women in Industry & Technology.
The CalWomenTech Project is Funded by The Program for Research on Gender in Science and Engineering from The National Science Foundation - Grant no. 0533564
