The Fall 2024 BayICT Partnership Meeting, led by Olivia Herriford, focused on strengthening partnerships in the ICT and digital media sectors. Key initiatives discussed included the development of AI programs in California community colleges, the establishment of Laney College’s AI department, and the launch of the Regional Virtual Production Academy. Attendees also explored cyber camps for job preparation, internship opportunities with the California Film Commission, and partnerships with CodeSignal to offer online coding assessments. The meeting emphasized aligning educational opportunities with industry needs to expand career pathways for students in high-demand creative and tech roles.

Time stamps:

• 00:00:00 In this section, Olivia Herriford kicks off the Fall 2024 BayICT Partnership Meeting by welcoming participants and highlighting the importance of collaboration and partnerships within the ICT digital media sector. She outlines the objectives of the meeting, which include providing updates on consortium activities, reintroducing the team, reviewing past discussions, and discussing current projects and partnerships. Olivia encourages open communication throughout the meeting and emphasizes the goal of preparing a workforce to meet industry needs in the region. The meeting progresses with Dan Montoya providing an update on the AI initiative within the Bay Area Community College Consortium, focusing on the regional joint venture project that has transitioned to a more AI-centric approach.
• 00:05:00 In this section, Dan Montoya discusses the progress of developing new AI disciplines and initiatives within the California community colleges, focusing on the Bay Area region. Key highlights include the recognition of a new AI discipline by the California State Academic Senate, the establishment of work groups to assess the impact of AI on career technical education programs, the formation of the California Community College AI Consortium for faculty collaboration, and a pilot program merging generative AI and entrepreneurship. The Bay Area community colleges are actively engaged in AI curriculum development, aiming to expand membership, implement curriculum, explore industry credentials, and establish Laney College as an AI center of excellence. Collaborative efforts are underway to enhance AI education and training opportunities in the region.
• 00:10:00 In this section, Tuan Nguyen discusses the progress made in establishing the AI department at Laney College, stating they are the first in the state with this department. He mentions collaborations with Folsom Lake College and efforts to develop an AI curriculum and certificates, with plans to submit them by August next year. Tuan also highlights the AI advisory team formed and the goal of expanding the network for more support, particularly in funding efforts. The focus is on sharing this information with interested faculty and partners, emphasizing Laney’s leadership in becoming a center of excellence for AI education.
• 00:15:00 In this section, Olivia Herriford discusses the objectives of the Regional Virtual Production Academy, a collaborative program involving multiple colleges coming together to offer courses that individually they could not provide. The main goals of this collaboration include improving accessibility for students to complete courses more efficiently and allowing colleges to fill their courses more easily by offering them to students from other institutions. The program officially launched in the fall, offering two certificates in fundamentals and advanced levels in virtual production, a field that creates digital worlds for filming using game engines, like in the popular show, The Mandalorian.
• 00:20:00 In this section, Olivia Herriford discusses the impact of the partnership on job opportunities for students, particularly in the creative side of the digital media sector. She highlights the importance of offering online courses for accessibility and mentions the involvement of the California Virtual Campus in facilitating collaborative programs. Mary Clarke-Miller from Berkeley City College emphasizes the benefits of offering a variety of courses through the partnership and notes the positive outcomes already being observed. The team expresses excitement about the attention the program is receiving and the potential for it to serve as a model for similar initiatives focused on accessibility and enrollment in high-demand creative roles within the industry.
• 00:25:00 In this section, Olivia Herriford discusses the California Virtual Campus and the importance of being a home college and teaching college to share student information efficiently. Mary Clarke-Miller from Berkeley City College talks about the Cvc’s efforts to display certificates for students’ understanding, especially for collaborative programs like the AI certificate. Additionally, Olivia touches on the internship program with the California Film Commission, providing insights into the innovative partnership to create opportunities for students in the film industry while highlighting the ongoing challenges in cybersecurity education for students to gain relevant experience for job placement.
• 00:30:00 In this section, Olivia Herriford discusses the success of cyber camps in preparing community college students for jobs through teaching assistant roles and competitions. She also shares about the proposal for a cyber clinic where students can gain hands-on experience by conducting threat assessments for nonprofits and small businesses. Despite not receiving the grant, the developed proposal template is now available for other schools or organizations to implement the clinics. The template includes the curriculum and budget details, providing a valuable resource for interested partners to utilize.
• 00:35:00 In this section, Olivia Herriford provides an overview of the BayICT Partnership’s structure and activities, highlighting the roles of key team members like Sarah Ferguson and Jeff Deandrea. Jeff, the sub-regional director for the San Francisco Peninsula, discusses his focus on employer engagement in the ICT sector. By leveraging his background in tech recruiting and connections with industry professionals, Jeff aims to create opportunities for community college students by working on initiatives like industry assessments for software roles to bridge the gap between emerging talent and employer needs, especially in regards to evolving hiring practices that may move away from traditional degree requirements.
• 00:40:00 In this section, Jeff D’Andria discusses the partnership with Code Signal to provide online coding assessments for community college students, opening doors to over 360 employers in the Bay area. He also touches on plans to introduce work simulations through Skillfully for tech sales roles, aiming to disrupt traditional hiring methods and focus on showcasing students’ skills directly to employers. Jeff emphasizes a white-glove approach in working with employers, aiming to build trust by starting with finding the ideal candidate for them, which can eventually lead to opportunities for multiple roles within their portfolio. Their goal is to match students with employers based on clear criteria, not cherry-picking but rather strategically aligning students with the right opportunities.
• 00:45:00 In this section, Olivia Herriford and Jeff D’Andria discuss ways to leverage the BayICT Partnership Meeting to support workforce development and connect students with software job opportunities. Jeff highlights a program called the Computing Talent Initiative, offering a curriculum to help students enter software jobs, and emphasizes the importance of engaging employers for job placements. He also describes a work-based learning experience for students, focusing on quantifying problem-solving and teamwork skills to match them with employer requirements. Olivia later mentions their goal of exploring tech job opportunities in non-tech companies to address talent shortages, showcasing a draft proposal for further discussion.
• 00:50:00 In this section of the Fall 2024 BayICT Partnership Meeting, Olivia Herriford discusses the proposal to conduct outreach surveys with hiring executives and HR/talent management executives from non-tech companies to gather insights on challenges in filling tech roles. She emphasizes the importance of building relationships with industry leaders to raise awareness of talent prepared by their programs. Herriford also touches on funding internships and work-based learning programs, highlighting the collaboration with the Film Commission as a successful model to emulate. Additionally, she introduces documents outlining how community colleges can collaborate with workforce development boards and prompts partners for any announcements or updates, with Darlene from the Alameda County Workforce Development Board mentioning an upcoming Uss. Hornet event for students and youth.
• 00:55:00 In this section, Olivia and Darlene discuss upcoming events and collaborations within their partnership meeting. Olivia plans to share information with the workforce development boards, including details about an event hosted by Darlene. They express a commitment to expanding digital media efforts in the region and welcome ideas for collaboration. Additionally, they touch on apprenticeships, with Olivia mentioning exploring employer-developed apprenticeship programs and discussing strategies with the Alameda County Workforce Development Board. They emphasize the importance of engaging employers in apprenticeships and plan to share more information on this topic in the future.