Massachusetts Women’s College Receives Grant to Expand Cybersecurity, Tech Training

(TNS) — Bay Path University received a $1.58 million grant from the nonprofit Strada Education Network for a three-year project titled “Closing the Gaps: Building Pathways for Adult Women in a Technology-Driven Workforce.”

Bay Path said in a news release Tuesday that it will use the money to research and engage with employers and to build up its The American Women’s College program to enroll more adult women. The courses offer cybersecurity and information technology studies.

The American Women’s College offers online courses and the option of taking some classes in person at Bay Path on Saturdays, according to its website.

According to the release, the project will use evidence-based strategies, adaptive learning technology and predictive analytics built into the Social Online Universal Learning (SOUL) model that is the foundation of The American Women’s College online accelerated baccalaureate degree programs. Partners include the Bay Path University Cybersecurity Academic Advisory Council, Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts, MassHire Hampden County Workforce Board, MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board, Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, Pass the Torch for Women, PSI Services, Jeannette Rankin Women’s Scholarship Fund, Springfield Technical Community College, University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute and the Center for Educational Policy at the College of Education at University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Bay Path University said it was selected from hundreds of applicants in the “innovative solutions in education-to-employment” competition Strada Education Network announced in 2018. The competition focused on investment in working adults required to get more skilled as the labor market shifts and “disconnected youth” 18 to 24 who are neither working nor in school.

“The advancement of women is central to Bay Path University’s mission as a women’s university,” said Amanda Gould, chief administrative officer at The American Women’s College, in a prepared statement. “Through The American Women’s College, our strategic priority has been to scale up our capacity to reach more adult women through high quality online learning which in turn will help them achieve career-focused degrees and credentials. The Strada Education Network grant will help us strengthen this pipeline and address a critical national need to prepare a digitally fluent workforce that is fully inclusive of women and minorities.”

©2019 The Republican, Springfield, Mass. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.