Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Dr. M.R.C. Greenwood, Chancellor of University of California at Santa Cruz, discusses plans for the education consortium during a summit held last week at NASA Ames Research Center.
Educators plan to close 'digital divide'
Officials give no specifics, say cities must handle housing
By Daniel Hindin
The NASA Ames Research Center, along with the University of California Santa Cruz, San Jose State University, De Anza College and Foothill College, on Sept. 5 officially announced their plan to develop a shared-use research and development campus.
The purpose of the plan, dubbed the "Collaborative," is to address the teacher and engineer shortage in Silicon Valley by preparing students in this area for the unfilled jobs.
"Silicon Valley is experiencing a severe workforce shortage. Silicon Valley companies spend more than $3 billion per year on recruiting," says Chancellor of Foothill-De Anza Dr. Leo Chavez. "We are experiencing a 'digital divide' in this area. Several segments of this community are not participating in the technological and economic progress that is happening here. We need to grow our own workforce, but the African-Americans and Hispanics in this area have had very little success in entering into these types of jobs. We need to fundamentally address these shortages and this divide by entering unprecedented numbers of African Americans and Hispanics into the workforce."
Dr. Robert L. Caret, president of SJSU says, "People aren't aware of the jobs available. They don't know how to go about entering into the tech world." Speaking of the interscholastic collaboration, he adds, "Things need to be done differently in different times. Working together is difficult but necessary. This is a unique opportunity for a unique group of partners."
Caret went on to speak of plans for joint doctoral programs in which students will spend different years at different schools, to take advantage of a higher level of resources.
"We are at the heartbeat of the national economic community," says Dr. M.R.C. Greenwood, chancellor of UC-SC. "We need to invest in the intellectual capital of the next generation. Students may or may not know they have scientific talent."
As the three representatives of their respective institutions each signed the collaborative agreement, Greenwood noted that the Packard Foundation had given a $100,000 grant toward the project.
After the signing, Director of NASA Ames Research Center Dr. Henry McDonald noted that the program would help NASA satisfy the education goal that Congress has set for them.
"Math and science are tough subjects. It's hard to recruit students in these areas because they're viewed as geeky or not cool. But we can kindle the fires of the underprivileged that no other organization in the United States can," he said.
When asked about the future plans of the program, none of the representatives could answer any specific questions. They all spoke of how exciting it would be to work together, but none of them knew exactly how it would work.
Caret noted that more academic institutions would eventually be asked to join the group. But for now, he says, "it's hard enough to work with four partners."
Greenwood expressed her hopes to open the program to all University of California schools.
Chavez is looking toward Sacramento for some financial backing for the program. He says that the state needs to realize that it is something worth funding.
When the inevitable questions about providing housing for all of the new students the program would bring to the area, former State Sen. Becky Morgan passed the buck to the cities of Sunnyvale and Mountain View. "Housing issues depend on the cities," she said. "Elective bodies need to make it happen."
Dan Rich, Sunnyvale's assistant to the city manager said, "As part of their Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on this project, NASA has to look at the housing situation. The city has no direct control over what NASA does since it's federal land. However, the city does get to comment on the EIR, and housing will be one of the major issues we look at."
Sunnyvale Mayor Pat Vorreiter, Mountain View Mayor Rosemary Stacik, State Sen. John Vasconsales and District 22 State Assembly Representative Elaine Alquist were all on hand to show their support.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
