National Information, Security, and Geospatial Technology Consortium (NISGTC)
The National Information, Security, and Geospatial Technology Consortium (NISGTC) project is funded through the United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration. The NISGTC Consortium included community colleges, community agencies, and partner employers which seek to improve information technology professions training through funding received in the award of a Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant (TAACCCT). The Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign conducted an external evaluation of the NISGTC Consortium. The evaluation assessed progress and implementation, outcome measures, student progress as well as continuous improvement and sustainability.
Goals
The NISGTC Consortium sought to galvanize a national movement to improve information technology training and education with three major goals in mind:
- Provide trade-impacted and low-skilled workers with adequate preparation, support, and opportunities to complete post-secondary training in information technology that provide credentials aligned with job advancement.
- Expand and enhance the information technology workforce with the competencies needed by industry.
- Build the capacity of community colleges to continuously assess student and employment outcomes and use this information to improve the quality of information technology programs
The NISGTC Consortium saught to increase the attainment of degrees, certificates, and other industry-recognized credentials as well as better prepare the targeted population for high-wage, high skill employment in information technology professions.There are four priority strategies:
- Accelerate progress for low-skilled and other workers
- Improve retention and achievement rates to reduce time to completion
- Build programs that meet industry needs, including developing career pathways
- Strengthen online and technology-enabled learning
Project Profile
The NISGTC Consortium included the following seven community colleges:
- Collin College, McKinney, TX (Lead)
- Bellevue College, Bellevue, WA
- Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA
- Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, TX
- Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, IL
- Rio Salado College, Tempe, AZ
- Salt Lake City Community College, Salt Lake City, UT
The four information technology disciplines NISGTC addressed were:
- Networking and data communication
- Applications development and analytics
- Geospatial technologies
- Cybersecurity
Project Profile. National Information, Security, and Geospatial Technology Consortium Evaluation