Learn about the Alaska Engineering Academies Initiative

Alaska Engineering Academies Background (January 2012)

Alaska Engineering Academies Advisory Council Charter

Alaska Engineering Academies Memoradum of Understanding

Alaska Engineering Academies Implementation Plan

Alaska Engineering Academies Overview

Alaska Engineering Academies Letters and Resolutions of Support

Engineering Academies Operational FlowChart

Alaska Engineering Academies Resources Matrix

The Memorandum of Understanding describes the purpose of the Alaska Secondary Engineering Academies initiative as follows:

"to facilitate successful emerging and existing engineering academies at schools (districts) and to create new engineering academies to evolve within the initiative that will have the capacity to serve students throughout Alaska."

And describes the composition and role of the Advisory Council as:

"An ’Engineering Academies Advisory Group’ will be formed that will be responsible for oversight of the initiative. This group will be representative of Alaska Industries that employ significant numbers of engineers and the University of Alaska schools/colleges of engineering. This group will work with the APICC Executive Director and provide updates to the APICC Board of Directors, contributing funders and technical providers."

"The Engineering Academies Advisory Group will be responsible for oversight of the initiative; monitor strategic implementation goals and objectives (as expressed in the proposal), review and approve requests for new academies, monitor assessment and evaluation, and initiate improvements based on assessment and evaluation."

For more detailed information on the Alaska Engineering Academies Initiative or the Advisory Council, please download and review the linked documents above.

If you have questions or want to participate on the Council, please contact

APICC Manager, Cari-Ann Ketterling

907-770-5250 or cketterling@apicc.org

Photo by Michael Dinneen. Dimond High School Teacher Wade Roach speaks with U.S. Senator Mark Begich on Sept 29, 2011 at the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing Engineering Lab. Senator Begich was briefed on the development of Engineering Academies in Alaska’s secondary schools by teachers and students, and on the Alaska Engineering Academies Initiative.

The Alaska Process Industry Careers Consortium (APICC), an Alaskan industry-based workforce development non-profit, working with University of Alaska system, including University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Alaska Southeast, reached an MOU agreement to collaborate with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development and the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development to plan, develop and support access to engineering academies for all Alaska’s public secondary students. The partners signed an Engineering Academies MOU that establishes the basis for their collaborative work in planning, developing a funding proposal (both monetary and technical), and the framework of a coordinated implementation system for sustaining this initiative. This initiative, under the guidance of this plan will have a significant impact on helping build Alaska’s pipeline of highly qualified Alaskans to assume STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers in Alaska industries. In parallel, the University of Alaska is working to at least double its annual number of students graduating with engineering degrees by 2014.

Alaska’s process industries directly generate over one-third of jobs (and indirectly many more) for Alaska residents. APICC’s mission (Developing an Alaskan workforce that is well trained and available to meet the needs of Alaska’s Process Industries) and measures add significant value to Alaska’s economic prosperity, the health and vitality of Alaska’s communities, and careers pathways for Alaskans. APICC has an eleven year history and over a decade of strategic alliances with Alaska industry, business, education, trade associations, and labor, a dedicated board of directors, and staff focused on workforce development. In April of 2009, the APICC Board of Directors passed a resolution supporting the Alaska Secondary Engineering Academies initiative.

The pathway to engineering is built upon science, technology and mathematics. The intent of this plan is to coordinate a comprehensive and inclusive approach to STEM education, which extends the pipeline of preparation to begin at middle school and end at doctoral levels. Specifically this approach will include four activities never done before in Alaska:

Expanding the existing base of five high school engineering academies, and to extend the pipeline down to middle school levels to be able to prepare Alaska’s students more deeply and conceptually;

Expanding the academies statewide which includes developing a rural/regional “hub” approach to increase access of rural students to academies in cost-effective and manageable ways as well as increase the ease of their successful transfer to post-secondary institutions;

Enhance the academies beyond engineering to include other interdisciplinary and practical STEM content to the academies based on emerging state needs, ongoing STEM developments, and STEM education research;

Creating a sustainable infrastructure for this long-term plan which networks STEM expertise, management, resources, advising, professional development, and job placement. A critical part of this infrastructure will include building the databases needed to support decision-making, research and evaluation.