 |
|
|
|
 |
|
||
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
||
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
 |
|
|
Regents
Online
Degree Programs
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1415 Murfreesboro Road, Suite 350
Nashville, TN 37217
Phone (615) 366-4400 Fax (615) 366-4464
April
4, 2000
Tennessee
work force gets a boost:
Board of Regents honors program for teaching "real-world" skills
NASHVILLE,
Tennessee – Tennessee's future work force in the areas of engineering,
engineering technology and information technology will be better skilled thanks
to the South East Advanced Technological Education consortium (SEATEC). The
Tennessee Board of Regents recently honored the program for academic excellence
and quality.
Funded
by the National Science Foundation, SEATEC is a consortium of two-year colleges,
four-year universities and secondary schools established to improve
technological education by using case studies in the classroom that have been
developed in conjunction with business and industry across the state. As one
industry partner commented, "What stands out about this project is the
focus of educators and business people on the same goals" – better
preparing Tennessee's work force for the jobs that await them.
Long
used in the medical, legal and business education fields, the case method is now
offering the same benefits in technological education. Students in these
programs benefit through exposure to case studies developed by interdisciplinary
faculty teams who have identified real-world problems during industry
internships and site visits. The case method teaches specific technical skills
and problem solving, but also integrates general educational skills development.
These skills include oral and written communications, teamwork and information
literacy skills.
SEATEC
grants from the National Science Foundation have totaled more than
$2 million. In addition, business partners – including Alumax, HGTV,
MCI WorldCom, Nortel Networks, Oak Ridge National Lab, Sprint, TVA and
Time-Warner Cable – have provided paid internships to faculty, loaned
executives to work with local teams across the state and hosted tours of their
facilities.
SEATEC
teams include members from five two-year colleges (Pellissippi State Technical
Community College, Nashville State Technical Institute, Chattanooga State
Technical Community College, State Technical Institute at Memphis and Jackson
State Community College), five high schools/systems (Red Bank High School,
Chattanooga; Jackson-Madison County Schools, Jackson; Hillwood High School,
Nashville; Farragut High School, Knoxville; Memphis City Schools) and five
universities (ETSU, Middle Tennessee State University, The University of
Memphis, Murray State University and Alabama A&M University).
Dr.
Sidney McPhee, Board of Regents vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, said,
"Taking real-life situations from industry and turning them into
lessons learned for students is building a better work force for
Tennessee." Examples of the kinds of problems students are tackling include
wiring a school for computer networking, solving transportation issues resulting
from a collapsed bridge, keeping pizza warm during delivery and determining how
to transport sticky confections through a manufacturing process while reducing
labor costs.
The
Tennessee Board of Regents system, the sixth largest system of higher education
in the nation, includes 6 universities, 14 two-year colleges and 26 technical
centers. It enrolls more than 180,000 students annually.
For
information about SEATEC, contact Lisa Bogaty, 423-694-6482, email lbogaty@pstcc.cc.tn.us
or visit SEATEC's web site: www.nsti.tec.tn.us/seatec.
National
Science Foundation SEATEC Funding Progression
| NSF one-year planning grant | $50,000 |
| Tennessee
Exemplary Faculty for Advanced
Technological Education (TEFATE), NSF two-year grant |
$460,000 |
| NSF three-year SEATEC grant | $1,600,000 |
| TOTAL $ 2,110,000 |
