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Conferences and meetings play such an important role for all of us as we work to disseminate information about the valuable impacts and outcomes of our ATE projects and centers.

NISOD's annual International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence provides a wonderful opportunity to spread the word about ATE. The conference attracts educators from around the world and serves as a gathering place for community and technical college faculty, administrators, and staff seeking to engage in deep conversations about best practices and promising approaches crafted to improve student achievement.

Advance conference registration will be open until May 27th, with the possibility of onsite registration during the event.

We look forward to seeing you there – please stop by and visit us in booth 209!

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ATE Central is pleased to announce an exciting new webinar on the importance of digital archiving for the ATE community. On May 24, 2016 at 1 pm EDT, Kendra Bouda and Rachael Bower will discuss what digital archiving is, why archiving benefits ATE, and how ATE Central can help with your project or center’s archiving efforts. Whether you’re just getting started with ATE and want to learn how to meet NSF requirements, or you've been part of the community for a while, come join us to learn more about sustaining and sharing your project deliverables beyond the life of your ATE funding.

Registration details for this webinar can be found here.

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Detroit is joining the growing list of communities offering exciting new opportunities for high school students: graduate and receive funding for the first two years of college. Aptly titled the Detroit Promise, the city’s 2016 graduates will be the first students eligible for the scholarship, which will build upon the Detroit Scholarship Fund. Under the program, tuition and fees will be covered for up to three years, or the time required to earn an associate degree, whichever comes first, at one of five metro community colleges: Henry Ford, Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, or Schoolcraft College. Additionally, plans are in the works for a pilot scholarship program that will cover four-year university degrees as well.

For more information about Detroit’s free college degree programs, see articles in The Detroit News, CNN Money, and other news outlets

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Note -- Completed application packages must be postmarked by March 6, 2016.

Texas A&M University will be hosting a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Teachers (RET)​​ site this summer from June 13 to July 22, 2016. The six-week program in Mechatronics, Robotics, and Industrial Automation includes a research project with faculty members, a number of special topic presentations and site tours, and the opportunity to develop an instructional module related to the research participants will be engaging with throughout the process. Upon completion, participants will implement their instructional modules at their home institutions, assess learning outcomes, and attend a one-day workshop to present results, share materials, and evaluate the experience. While participants receive a weekly stipend during their stay at Texas A&M and a payment at the end of the program, travel expenses are not included. Both two-year college and high school faculty in robotics and automation, engineering design and presentation, mechatronics, biotechnology, programming, manufacturing, engineering mathematics, principles of technology, scientific research and design, and electronics...

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In most surveys, 80 percent of community college students report that they would like to eventually transfer to a four-year institution and earn a bachelor's degree. However, a new report released on January 19, 2016 by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Teachers College, Columbia University, the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, and the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, suggests that only 14 percent of the 720,000 community college students studied achieved that goal. As the report notes, the discrepancy between these numbers is problematic. In fact, even among those who managed to transfer to four-year programs, only 42 percent graduated. Moreover, the dropout rate among marginalized and low income students was especially high, leading David Jenkins, Senior Research Associate at CCRC, to conclude that "Too many students are failed by the current system of transfer between community colleges and universities." While the current report stops short of prescribing solutions, CCRC and the Aspen Institute plan to develop and release a "playbook" that will help institutions create effective transfer policies for community college and university...

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Almost exactly a year ago, President Obama outlined his proposal to offer two years of free community college tuition for students in order to lower the cost of attendance and increase student access and attendance. Since then, the idea of providing free tuition for students to attend community college has captured the attention of national media. But, as Ted A. Lewis explains, access is only one piece of the student success equation. To find out more about the various strategies developed by community colleges in order to meet the demand of an estimated 65% of jobs that will require some sort of college degree by 2020, check out this article from Community College Daily.

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This fact-filled, 112-page report assembled pro bono by Deloitte Consulting for the New England Council examines the past, present, and future of advanced manufacturing in New England. Far from a moribund pronouncement about the offshoring of production jobs, Advanced to Advantageous: The Case for New England's Manufacturing Revolution argues that the region is poised for big breakthroughs in advanced manufacturing. The draft begins with a four-section chapter on key findings from interviews with New England's diverse stakeholders, including segments on Where We Are Now, Where We Are Going, How We Get There, and An Action Plan for New England. The report then delves into chapters on such topics as Industry Growth Trends, Employment Trends, Emerging Economics, and other issues, before examining five Industry Clusters. The colorful charts, graphs, and tables peppered throughout the document make this report as readable as it is informative. Readers can find more information on the Advanced to Advantageous report by visiting the ATE@20 blog or by reading this article from the New England Journal of Higher Education.

Great to see so many of our colleagues at the 2015 ATE PI Conference just a few weeks ago in DC!  Just wanted to let everyone know that a lot of materials from the conference, including presentations, photos, and videos of the Thursday and Friday morning plenaries, are now available on the conference site at http://aacc.nche.edu/2015ATE.  

The National Science Foundation (NSF) invites teams of community college students to propose innovative STEM-based solutions for real-world problems identified within the theme of “Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems” in the 2016 Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC). All entries must be received during the competition submission window, from October 15, 2015 to February 15, 2016. More information can be found on the challenge website.

ATE Central and AACC are pleased to announce the release of the 2015 ATE PI Conference mobile app! The app and companion website are designed to help you make the most of your conference experience. Use your phone, tablet, or Internet browser to create a personal schedule, stay up-to-date with the agenda and speaker lineup, search the attendee directory, and more! The app is available for iPhone or iPad as well as Android, Blackberry, and Windows devices. To download the app, search your app store for "ATE PI 2015" or simply follow the appropriate link from your mobile device.

For up-to-date information on the 2015 ATE PI Conference mobile app and more about the meeting, follow @ATECentral and @Comm_College on Twitter, or visit ATE Central at Booth #002 (Oct 21-23)!