Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE)

About Us

About CAITE

The Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE) is based at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and works to address underrepresentation in information technology (IT) education and the workforce. The project is active throughout the state of Massachusetts as part of the Expanding Computer Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance. For more information on ECEP and its work across the United States, see ecepalliance.org.

Through its work in K-12 and higher education, CAITE’s mission is to broaden participation and success in computing and IT. Current efforts are focused on the following:

Curricula and standards in Mass. K12 public education
Professional development for educators
Youth programs to increase interest and career awareness
Educational pathways from community colleges to bachelors-degree institutions

Our programs focus on women and minorities in groups that are underrepresented in the Massachusetts innovation economy; that is, economically, academically, and socially disadvantaged residents. CAITE identifies promising practices and disseminates, deploys, extends and institutionalizes these practices through work with in-state and national partners.

Between 2007 and 2013, CAITE’s regional strategy included four campuses of the University of Massachusetts (UMass Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell), two state universities (Bridgewater and Worcester), and nine community colleges (Bristol, Bunker Hill, Cape Cod, Greenfield, Holyoke, Middlesex, Northern Essex, Roxbury, and Springfield Technical). During this phase of the project, CAITE reached more than 12,000 students and more than 700 educators at 200+ events and activities. In addition, CAITE reached 600+ participants at 12 school, college, and community organization events as part of CSEdWeek.

This project has based its work upon the successes of 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.