Joni,

Thank you for commenting!  The second cohort of trainees is completing the program this summer. We are currently interviewing for the year 3 cohort. 21 trainees completed the first cohort, and we have 33 in the 2nd group. The students do not pay anything to attend, and in year one it cost approximately $20K per student. We have funding from multiple sources include state and federal government resources, private foundations, and corporate foundations and donations. We continue to make adjustments and evaluate options to lower that cost per student while maintaining the quality of instruction. 60% of the first group entered technical positions with an average starting salary of $40,500.  Others in cohort one entered higher education, the military, or non-technical jobs upon completion. We are currently pursuing a model of providing 'on shore' software development talent that will extend learning to 'on the job' training for our participants and bring revenue back into the program.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah

This is a very exciting project and what is learned can be used by others who are attempting to retrain those who lose jobs to automation or closed factories, to pursue technical paths. So much potential here!

 

Hi Patricia,

 

Currently, our technical instructors are persons with industry experience in the tech industry.  We are exploring a model of using graduate students in engineering education or computer science (through graduate assistantships) for technical instruction.   We use a variety of resources for soft skills training, including industry partners as guest lecturers.

The program is currently face-to-face, but plans are in place to provide a hybrid and fully distance model in order to have more equitable access to the opportunity. Currently, participants must attend during normal business hours, Monday through Friday. This presents an obstacle for many who must work during those hours or have child or elder caregiver responsibilities. There is no 'homework'..learning is very active during the day. This enables some participants to hold part-time employment in the evenings.

We recognize that, depending on a trainee's background and life stage, some of them need more time for learning communication sills for the professional environment. We are working with industry partners to extend the 11 months to include a paid internship within which those students who need that extra time can be immersed in an environment where they can model and be coached on interaction in that context.

Cohort one trainees who have completed the program and are employed in tech positions are our best 'tools' for getting industry support. We have employers of that first group who are reaching out to inquire about hiring from the 2nd cohort. We have a statewide Director of Development and Outreach, whose mission is to engage and strengthen relationships with employers both within and outside of Mississippi.

 

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Sarah

Hi Stephen!

We do work with the regional tech industry to provide evaluation of the curricula, and use their input to ensure the curriculum is preparing students to meet the resource needs of those companies. 

Students receive a certification from the Mississippi Coding Academy. The Mississippi state government agencies recently changed their requirements to recognize this certification as a minimum requirement for some of their tech jobs that previously would have stated associates or bachelor's degrees as a minimum. That is a change we hope to influence throughout industry HR departments!

Mississippi provides a rich environment for broadening participation in computing. Half of our public school children are African American, and half are female. 86% of students who entered the Mississippi Coding Academies across cohorts 1 and 2 are African American and 72% are female. 

 

Thank you for stopping by!

Sarah

Hi Alex! Thank you for stopping by our video!

Mississippi provides a very rich environment for broadening participation in computing as noted by the fact that half of our public school children are female and half of them are African American.  Our MCA enrollment reflects higher percentages than those averages, and is a natural result of providing an alternative pathway to computing education in our rural state. I work closely with educational leadership in the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and am researching and considering standing up a Mississippi Coding Academy closer to them that targets their citizens.  Currently, the closest campus is a one hour drive from their central location.  

We have only had one cohort complete the program (cohort 2 will complete this summer). In cohort 1, 60% entered technical positions with an average starting salary of $40,500.  Others entered higher education, the military, or non-technical jobs upon completion. We are continuing to track that first group, and will do so for subsequent cohorts, as we study the characteristics of persons who are most successful in this alternative pathway.

Discussions are ongoing with economic development stakeholders in a neighboring state about scaling the program.  Through publications on a national level, we are sharing our story and hope to disseminate knowledge on best practices:

• Sarah Lee Richard Sun, Randy Lynn (2019). Mississippi Coding Academies: A non-traditional approach to computing education. Accepted, 126^th Annual Conference & Exposition of the American Society for Engineering Education, June 2019, Tampa FL.
• Sarah Lee, Jessica Ivy, Andrew Stamps (2019). Providing Equitable Access to Computing Education in Mississippi. 4th international conference on Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology, Minneapolis, MN.

Patricia,

We have some funding from some corporate foundations that are companies with a southern region presence. We do have a new Director of Development who is expanding that reach to include larger companies in other parts of the US.

Thank you for your comments, and I welcome any suggestions for any particular foundations that you believe we should approach.

Sarah