The University of Missouri–St. Louis, Daugherty Business Solutions and The School District of University City have partnered on a summit to help facilitate collaboration across area school districts and industry leaders. It began Monday and will continue through Wednesday at UMSL’s Technology and Learning Center.

Eleven St. Louis public school districts and more than 70 educators, workforce development leaders and IT industry leaders will meet to discuss the trends and future direction of the IT industry. The objective is to help educators continue to align their Computer Science training to IT job growth needs in the St Louis region and support counselors and career advisers as they inspire more students to seriously consider IT careers.

Across the industry, there is a shortage of quality IT professionals. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates that computer and mathematical occupations will increase by 12.1 percent by 2029, meaning there will be a need for roughly 1.5 million new software developers to meet the demands for technical advancement

Meeting this exciting future requires greater collaboration among leaders in the IT industry, workforce development and education. At its core, schools are tasked with increasing the rigor of their own IT courses while also taking addition of area programs that can directly impact their students’ skills as they enter this expanding workforce. The summit will discuss a variety of programs, including a recent addition called Access Point, which is an example of an approach driving industry-education collaboration, focused on accelerating inclusive workforce growth.

Corporate presenters include Evernorth, Clayco, Mastercard and Daugherty Business Solutions. Educational presenters include Dr. Natassia Small, Vice Provost for Access, Success and Workforce Integration; Dr. Mary Edwin, Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Science and Dr. Raghib Muhammad, CTE Coordinator of the Ferguson-Florissant School District.

Topics include curriculum development strategies, student and workforce engagement, career pathway education, and achieving diversity across background, skill and thought. Along with strategies for building stronger curriculum, participants will discuss how to effectively connect high school students directly to the workforce.

The 11 St. Louis school districts include St. Louis Public Schools, Clayton, Ferguson-Florissant, Hazelwood, Jennings, Ladue, Maplewood Richmond Heights, Normandy, Parkway, Pattonville and University City. The program is funded by Daugherty Business Solutions and a grant from Missouri Career Pathways.

Media contacts:

Steve Walentik
Director of Public Relations/Content
University of Missouri–St. Louis
(314) 516-6690
walentiks@umsl.edu

John Hartmann
Director of Marketing
Daugherty Business Solutions
(314) 432-8200 x4182
John.Hartmann@Daugherty.com