Mass Technology Leadership Council President Joyce Plotkin's Testimony to Joint Hearing on House Economic Bill


September 13, 2005 - Thank you for the invitation to testify this morning as a participant in this Science and Technology Education Subcommittee Panel. The reason I am here is because I am one of the Commonwealth IT Initiative’s biggest promoters. In my view, CITI is an outstanding, comprehensive, industry-supported program, that has successfully brought together the private sector, public higher education, and, more recently, K-12 schools in pursuit of its goal to prepare graduates to participate, lead, and innovate in the knowledge-based economy of Massachusetts.

My connection to CITI goes back to 1998 when a number of technology association executives (myself included) approached the Board of Higher Education and asked for a an overview of state technology courses, programs, and degrees. The BHE was unable to answer our questions at that time but, to their credit, went on to survey all the community colleges, state colleges, and UMass campuses regarding their technology courses, faculty, and infrastructure. From that survey of institutional strengths and weaknesses came the recommendation to create CITI. Having been present at the birth of CITI, the Council has made it one of our 4 highest policy priorities, urging the Administration, legislative leaders, and industry to support this program.

There are three areas I would like to focus on today – CITI’s very successful track record, its goals for the future, and our request to you for continued funding of this very important program.

Successful Track Record
CITI has had a variety of successes. It has provided professional development opportunities to hundreds of teachers. It has modernized existing technology courses and created new, up-to-date courses that are being taught throughout the system. And, it developed an innovative program called ITAC – IT Across the Curriculum that enables any student, with any major, to add an IT minor. The placement rate for the students who combine IT with majors in finance, management, journalism, etc. is phenomenal. UMass has become a national leader in the ITAC area. During this past year, CITI has also successfully begun the effort to broaden the reach of the program to include K-12.

Future Goals
CITI’s agenda includes the following goals:

  • Broaden participation for all students, including women and minorities, in the IT workforce;
  • Develop a comprehensive K-20 strategy for IT education;
  • Train educators; and
  • Engage companies in the private sector in helping to create flexible and relevant training for students.

Funding
Past and Present - When the program was founded in 2000, CITI expected to receive $7 million over a three-year period to improve computer programs in public higher education. Due to the state fiscal crisis, funding ended after one year, leaving the program with few resources and little momentum. This past year, CITI was fortunate to receive a $500,000 anonymous gift from a large, Massachusetts-based corporation on the condition that the state provide matching funds. The state Board of Higher Education did, in fact, provide $500,000 through the Economic Stimulus Bill, creating the opportunity to reenergize the program and expand the effort to the K-12 level.

Future - We are asking for $2 million a year for five years (for a total of $10 million). This financial stability will enable CITI to focus on what it does best – enhance technological capacity of our K-20 schools, improve the teaching and learning of the technology curriculum, and increase the number of graduates with marketable technology skills. Stable funding of this program will allow CITI to leverage its success, broaden its impact by expanding existing programs and funding new initiatives, and significantly increase the outreach to industry.

By 2010, we envision students graduating from elementary, secondary and post-secondary public institutions who are computer literate and technology-enabled. These students will have the ability and opportunity to use their skills in a variety of industry contexts. We also see a K-20 education system where students are engaged in and excited by technology early on, where they gain the expertise and understanding that technology is a tool that can help them in all aspects of their lives, and where they graduate with skills that enable them to meet the needs of industry and the marketplace.

CITI is not just another program. It is a terrific model that has fostered cooperation and resource sharing throughout the Commonwealth’s educational system, empowered students to make their education more relevant, and helped industry address its workforce needs. Significant challenges remain if Massachusetts is to continue to expand its knowledge-based economy. The technology industry believes, as the economy continues to recover, that we will once again experience a shortage of technologically skilled workers. The Commonwealth needs to have an educational system that produces graduates with the IT skills required for success in the 21st Century. We believe CITI has the leadership, experience, and partnerships necessary to help us meet this challenge. We urge you to include funding for CITI in the Economic Stimulus Package. We believe it will result in a win-win-win situation – for our educational system, for students, and for the employer community.