The CREATE Center is a joint effort between seven community colleges, five universities, and over fifty employers in a regional approach to educate the workforce in new technological advances in a wide range of high demand information and manufacturing technologies. The consortium members serve a large portion of coastal and central California of over 9,000 square miles, representing a population of over one million. Two previous NSF-ATE projects have educated over 4,000 students, developed and implemented 30 new degree programs and 105 new courses, and facilitated more than a million dollars in additional funding through innovative industry and college partnerships.

Abstract

The purpose of this ATE Regional Center (CREATE) is to address the needs of industry as a multi-County consortium, by producing highly skilled and educated technicians to better meet national and regional workforce demands in the fields of information and manufacturing technologies. The Center is completing the following objectives in the institutionalization of technical teaching training across the CREATE community colleges: completing the first cohort of 2+2 B.S. in Information Technology students both on-line and on-site at California State University, Channel Islands; conducting a feasibility study on the first 2+2 B.S. in Mechatronics/Engineering Technology at California State University, Northridge; increasing high school outreach efforts, including targeted camps and workshops for ESL and migrant worker high school students; along with industry partners, conducting gender outreach to women; revamping multicampus curricula and faculty professional development to better meet emerging industry need based on CREATE's skills mapping developed with industry focus groups; completing the first phase of out-of-state dissemination for the teaching facilitator programs; and continuing the longitudinal study of faculty training and student learning and development of 2+2+2 pathways.

Intellectual Merit
The CREATE team, formed from seven regional community colleges, has met monthly for nine years to develop curricula, share equipment and expertise, conduct joint professional development, and work with employers for the benefit of their students and their programs. Two of the three BS programs are the first of their kind in the State of California. CREATE also develops, adapts, and disseminates curricula and materials to other colleges needing support, primarily in the areas of security and wireless information technology and in project-based manufacturing and electromechanical technologies. The assessment and evaluation team have enabled CREATE to validate the impact of the current objectives and begin a comprehensive longitudinal study on the impact of CREATE's technical teacher training on student and faculty learning.

Broader Impact
The CREATE Center colleges and their partners act as demonstration sites for regional technical workshops that pilot test new curricula, delivery systems, enhance delivery to underrepresented student populations, and conduct innovative professional development. A total of 17,735 students have completed at least one CREATE-developed credit course. All CREATE courses apply to a degree or certificate. The addition of participants from multiple states and NSF Centers has resulted from requests to expand the teacher training nationally.