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CAITE focuses on women and minorities in groups that are underrepresented in the Massachusetts innovation economy.
 

About CAITE

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is leading a Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE) to design and carry out comprehensive programs that address under representation in information technology (IT) education and the workforce. CAITE focuses on women and minorities in groups that are underrepresented in the Massachusetts innovation economy; that is, economically, academically, and socially disadvantaged residents. Community colleges are the centerpiece of CAITE because of the central role they play in reaching out to underserved populations and in serving as a gateway to careers and further higher education.

The project is piloting a series of outreach programs supported by educational pathways in three regions (one rural, one suburban, and one urban). The project includes work with high school teachers, staff, and counselors. CAITE will identify best practices and disseminate, deploy, extend and institutionalize these best practices statewide and nationally.

This project has built a broad alliance built on its leadership in and partnership with the Commonwealth Information Technology Initiative (CITI), the Boston Area Advanced Technological Education Center (BATEC), regional Louis Stokes Alliances and NSF EGEP programs, and other partnerships and initiatives focused on information technology education and STEM pipeline issues.

CAITE is managed by PI Rick Adrion, co-PI Lori Clarke, Project Manager Renee Fall and Pathways Coordinator Cheryl Kiras, all of the UMass Amherst CS Department. Other co-PIs include Jane Fountain (UMass Amherst Political Science), Deborah Boisvert (UMass Boston BATEC), and Priscilla Grocer (Bristol CC Computer Science)