ARMONK, N.Y., May 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM
(NYSE: IBM) announced today it has extended its IBM
Global University Program with historically black colleges and
universities (HBCUs) to 40 schools.
IBM is now working with the American Association of Blacks in
Higher Education (AABHE), 100 Black Men of America, Inc., Advancing
Minorities' Interest in Engineering (AMIE) and the United Negro
College Fund (UNCF) to better prepare HBCU students for in-demand
jobs in the digital economy.
In parallel, the IBM Institute for Business Value released a new
report with broad-ranging recommendations on how businesses
can cultivate more diverse, inclusive workforces by establishing
similar programs and deepening engagement with HBCUs.
IBM's HBCU program momentum has been strong in an environment
where only 43% of leaders across industry and academia believe
higher education prepares students with necessary workforce
skills.* In September 2020, IBM
announced the investment of $100
million in assets, technology and resources to HBCUs across
the United States. Through IBM
Global University Programs, which include the continuously enhanced
IBM Academic Initiative and IBM Skills Academy, IBM has now:
- Distributed no-charge access to cloud, AI and quantum computing
software, courseware, tutorials and over 330 university guest
lecturers across 40 HBCUs.
- Trained over 247 HBCU faculty in AI, blockchain, cloud
computing, cybersecurity, data science, design thinking, Internet
of Things and quantum computing.
- Awarded 15 students from nine HBCUs with inaugural IBM Masters
Fellowship Awards to help progress their work in disruptive
technologies, regardless of their field of study.
Building on this work, IBM and key HBCU ecosystem partners are
now collaborating to expedite faculty and student access and use of
IBM's industry resources.
- American Association of Blacks in Higher
Education is involved in numerous initiatives such as
addressing the pipeline of Black faculty and staff in higher
education, bringing issues pertinent to Black faculty and staff to
the attention of the larger academic community and recognizing
African American achievements and accomplishments to higher
education. Through this new collaboration with IBM, AABHE members
can access industry resources at no cost to help remove gaps in
some of the most in-demand skills areas.
- Advancing Minorities' Interest in Engineering is a
non-profit organization whose purpose is to expand corporate and
government alliances with the 15 ABET-accredited HBCU Schools of
Engineering to implement and support programs to attract, educate,
graduate and place underrepresented minority students in
engineering and computer science careers. IBM Global University
Programs like the IBM Academic Initiative and the IBM Skills
Academy provide access, assets and opportunities for AMIE's HBCU
faculty and students to gain high-demand skills in areas like AI,
cybersecurity, blockchain, quantum computing and cloud
computing.
- 100 Black Men of America, Inc. is collaborating
with IBM across its 102 U.S. and international chapters to enable
leaders and mentors to introduce students to resources they may not
be aware they have access to for developing crucial skills in
high-demand areas.
- United Negro College Fund will collaborate with IBM
to help students maximize their potential by growing their
awareness of industry opportunities for in-demand skills and by
providing access to no-cost resources businesses use daily so
students can pursue those skills for their 37 members.
In its new report, "Investing in Black Technical Talent: The
Power of Partnering with HBCUs," IBM describes how HBCUs succeed in
realizing their mission and innovate to produce an exceptional
talent pipeline, despite serious funding challenges. IBM explains
its approach to broad-based HBCU collaboration with a series of
best-practices for industry organizations.
IBM's series of best practices include:
- Identify the schools that make the right fit
- Define your strategy and commit to it for the long term
- Get support from the top
- Keep a partner mindset
- Define shared metrics for success
- Evaluate, improve and repeat
To download the full report, please visit: LINK.
HBCU students continue to engage with IBM on a wide range of
opportunities. These include students taking artificial
intelligence, cybersecurity or cloud e-learning courses and
receiving a foundational industry badge certificate in four hours.
Many also attend IBM's virtual student Wednesday seminars with
leading experts, such as IBM neuroscientists who discuss the
implications of ethics in neurotechnology.
Statements from Collaborators
"HBCUs typically
deliver a high return on investment. They have less money in their
endowments, faculty is responsible for teaching a larger volume of
classes per term and they receive less revenue per student than
non-HBCUs. Yet, HBCUs produce almost a third of all
African-American STEM graduates,"** said Valinda Kennedy, HBCU Program Manager, IBM
Global University Programs and co-author of "Investing in
Black Technical Talent: The Power of Partnering with
HBCUs." "It is both a racial equity and an
economic imperative for U.S. industry competitiveness to develop
the most in-demand skills and jobs for all students and seek out
HBCU students who are typically underrepresented in many of the
most high-demand areas."
"100 Black Men of America, Inc. is proud to
collaborate with IBM to deliver these exceptional and needed
resources to the HBCU community and students attending these
institutions. The 100 has long supported and sought to identify
mechanisms that aid in the sustainability of historically black
colleges and universities. This collaboration and the access and
opportunities provided by IBM will make great strides in advancing
that goal," stated 100 Black Men of America Chairman
Thomas W. Dortch, Jr.
"The American Association of Blacks in Higher Education is proud
to collaborate with IBM," said Dereck
Rovaris, President, AABHE. "Our mission to be the
premier organization to drive leadership development, access and
vital issues concerning Blacks in higher education works perfectly
with IBM's mission to lead in the creation, development and
manufacture of the industry's most advanced information
technologies. Together this collaboration will enhance
both organizations and the many people we serve."
"IBM is a strong AMIE partner whose role is strategic and
support is significant in developing a diverse engineering
workforce through AMIE and our HBCU community. IBM's presence
on AMIE's Board of Directors provides leadership for AMIE's
strategies, key initiatives and programs to achieve our
goal of a diverse engineering workforce," said Veronica Nelson, Executive Director,
AMIE. "IBM programs like the IBM Academic Initiative
and the IBM Skills Academy provide access, assets and
opportunities for our HBCU faculty and students to gain high-demand
skills in areas like AI, cybersecurity, blockchain, quantum
computing and cloud computing. IBM is a key sponsor of the annual
AMIE Design Challenge introducing students to new and emerging
technologies through industry collaborations and providing
experiential activities like IBM Enterprise Design Thinking, which
is the foundational platform for the Design Challenge. The IBM
Masters and PhD Fellowship Awards program supports our HBCU
students with mentoring, collaboration opportunities on disruptive
technologies as well as a financial award. The IBM Blue Movement
HBCU Coding Boot Camp enables and recognizes programming
competencies. IBM also sponsors scholarships for the students at
the 15 HBCU Schools of Engineering to support their educational
pursuits. IBM continues to evolve its engagement with AMIE and the
HBCU Schools of Engineering."
"The IBM Skills Academy is timely in providing resources that
support the creativity of my students in the Dual Degree
Engineering Program at Clark Atlanta
University," said Dr. Olugbemiga
A. Olatidoye, Professor, Dual Degree Engineering and
Director, Visualization, Stimulation and Design Laboratory,
Clark Atlanta University. "It also
allows my students to be skillful in their design thinking process,
which resulted in an IBM digital badge certificate and a stackable
credential for their future endeavors."
"We truly value the IBM skills programs and have benefitted from
the Academic Initiative, Skills Academy and Global University
Awards across all five campuses," said Dr. Derrick Warren, Interim Associate Dean and MBA
Director, Southern University.
"Over 24 faculty and staff have received instructor training and
more than 300 students now have micro-certifications in AI, cloud,
cybersecurity, data science, design thinking, Internet of Things,
quantum computing and other offerings."
"At UNCF, we have a history of supporting HBCUs as they amplify
their outsized impact on the Black community, and our work would
not be possible without transformational partnerships with
organizations like IBM and their IBM Global University Programs,"
said Ed Smith-Lewis, Executive
Director of UNCF's Institute for Capacity Building. "We are
excited to bring the resources of IBM to HBCUs, their faculty, and
their students."
"IBM Skills Academy is an ideal platform for faculty to teach
their students the latest in computing and internet technologies,"
said Dr. Sridhar Malkaram, West Virginia
State University. "It helped the students in my Applied
Data Mining course experience the state of the art in data science
methods and analysis tools. The course completion badge/certificate
has been an additional and useful incentive for students, which
promoted their interest. The Skills Academy courses can be
advantageously adapted by faculty, either as stand-alone courses or
as part of existing courses."
About IBM:
IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud, AI
and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175
countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline
business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in
their industries. For more information visit:
https://newsroom.ibm.com/home.
*King, Michael, Anthony Marshall,
Dave Zaharchuk. "Pursuit of
relevance: How higher education remains viable in today's dynamic
world." IBM Institute for Business Value. Accessed March 23, 2021.
https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/report/education-relevance
**Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated
Postsecondary Education Data System
IBM Media RelationsContact:
Carrie Bendzsa
Carrie.bendzsa@ca.ibm.com
+1613-796-3880
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ibm-extends-hbcu-initiatives-through-new-industry-collaborations-301286617.html
SOURCE IBM