Connecting the Coast to the Cloud

As local industries implement cloud-based solutions, there is an increasing need of skilled technicians to implement, maintain, and troubleshoot cloud services. This project team plans to design the curricula for a degree in Cloud Administration Technology with the input from local industry representatives to meet industry workforce needs. Students will get training related to networking, Internet of Things (IoT), programming, virtualization, and cloud computing. The project will take an interdisciplinary approach to prepare students to transfer their knowledge and skills to the workforce. The proposed project has the potential to grow the local talent-pool of cloud service technicians and provide a model curriculum informed by industry's needs for other community colleges to use. The three main goals of this project are: (1) to design a new curriculum leading to an AAS degree and/or a certificate in Cloud Administration Technology, (2) to increase the supply and diversity of the IT workforce in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region by increasing the enrollment of military veterans, removing obstacles for attendance of other students, and incorporating devices specific to students with special needs, and (3) to improve curriculum for the existing certificate in IoT and Smart Technology. The project team intends to work with local industry and high schools to enhance existing courses and develop new courses, while making the program more accessible to all students. The proposed curricula will be disseminated on the ATE Central website and outcomes will be shared locally at the biannual advisory committee meetings. The project team will attend and present at the annual ATE PI conference, as well other professional development conferences and workshops. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the Nation's economy. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.