About ACETEA  
The Alabama College System and the Alabama Microelectronics Consortium
The Alabama College System (ACS) is comprised of 21 community colleges, five technical colleges, and one two-year upper division university, Athens State University. The ACS Microelectronics Consortium is comprised of 16 Alabama two-year community and technical colleges with programs in industrial electronics, instrumentation, and electrical engineering technology.

From inception, the focus of the Microelectronics Consortium has been to support economic development efforts of Alabama through workforce development initiatives in the electronics industries. The Consortium participates as a partner with the Alabama Development Office (ADO) and the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA) in the Alabama Semiconductor Initiative, formed to attract microelectronic industries to Alabama.

During the years 2000 through 2003, the Consortium developed curriculum in microelectronics and organized professional development activities for college faculty scheduled to teach the new curriculum. Faculty members participated in state and national workshops and internships in semiconductor fabrication plants to prepare them for teaching the new courses. A previously funded NSF project, the Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC) provided valuable assistance in developing the curriculum and providing professional development for the Alabama faculty.

ACETEA
The Alabama Colleges for Electronic Technology Education Advancement (ACETEA) is a National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education project funded in 2003. The project proposal resulted from efforts of the ACS Microelectronics Consortium to enable the electronics programs of its member institutions to better serve the educational needs of their communities and their business and industry partners. ACETEA developed a curriculum model that includes a common core for electronics programs and supports specialty options selectable by each institution, based on local industry needs.
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Purpose of ACETEA
In 2002, the Microelectronics Consortium proposed the ACETEA program to the National Science Foundation for the purpose of strengthening the Alabama College System electronic technology programs by aligning them with the changing needs of Alabama industries. In the proposal, the Consortium committed to increase the number of their industry, K-12, and university partnerships and expand the electronics curriculum to:

  • offer advanced education in emerging, electronics-based technologies,
  • create career opportunities for graduates interested in these fields,
  • enhance the quality of instructional programs by utilizing the latest instructional technologies and incorporating learning-style based teaching methods,
  • generate enthusiasm for technology careers in the minds of K-12 students, parents, teachers, and counselors,
  • provide pre-graduate experiential learning opportunities in business and industry settings,
  • increase the participation in technology degree programs by minority and other underserved student populations by targeting scholarship and cooperative education opportunities specifically for these groups, and
  • increase the stream of students continuing on to baccalaureate degree programs in applied engineering and engineering-related fields.

Curriculum Specialties
The electronics-based specialties supported by the ACETEA project are:
  • Computer-Integrated Manufacturing
  • Microelectronics
  • Robotics
  • Electro-Mechanical Systems
  • Wireless Communications
  • Automated Process Controls
Involvement of Alabama Universities
Jacksonville State University (JSU), located in Jacksonville, Alabama, partnered with the Alabama Consortium to develop the ACETEA grant proposal. JSU had previously developed a model articulation agreement with three of the Consortium colleges. This agreement enables transfer of two-year associate degree electronics program graduates into the university at the junior level and provides for certain advanced technical courses taken during the sophomore year at the two-year college to be substituted for junior level technical core courses offered at the university. Through the ACETEA program, this model will be extended to the other Consortium members and to other ACETEA university partners. A variation of this model is also in effect that provides transfer of two-year technical program graduates of Alabama colleges into the Bachelor of Science in Management of Technology program of Athens State University, another ACETEA partner.

Auburn University and the University of Alabama are also initial participants in the ACTEA project and have committed access to their research labs by Consortium faculty and students. This access takes the form of tours, joint research projects, professional development activities, joint grants development, joint outreach activities, and mutual development of business and industry partnerships.

Project Organization
Project Staff
The project effort is guided by a project staff comprised of a Project Director, Assistant Project Director/Curriculum Coordinator, and Project Secretary. The efforts of the staff are supported by project oversight committees, curriculum oversight committees, and industry advisory groups. The Alabama State Department of Postsecondary Education serves as the primary curriculum development resource of ACETEA.

Project Oversight Committees
Project oversight committees guide and monitor the staff-directed Consortium activities in curriculum development, professional development, articulation agreement development, partnership development, and marketing development. The project oversight committees are comprised of Consortium faculty and deans and other resources provided by the member colleges to assure the success of the project.

Curriculum Oversight Committees
Each curriculum oversight committee is dedicated to a curriculum specialty. The role of each curriculum oversight committee is to assure the content relevance and pedagogic integrity of the curriculum and to assist the Consortium colleges in securing the commitment and resources of industry partners relative to the curriculum emphases of each college.

Industry Advisory Groups
Each member institution of the Consortium provides curriculum emphases in the area or areas needed by the local industry base. The dean and faculty members at each institution have formed a local industry advisory group to advise them of anticipated employment needs and entry-level skill needs and provide feedback on program quality. The advisory groups meet at least twice a year to assess and provide feedback on curriculum relevance, appropriateness of laboratory equipment, and quality of performance of graduates placed in jobs for which they’ve completed their education. These advisory groups are linked into the overall ACETEA project effort through the institutional contacts and through participation in workshops, surveys, DACUM activities, and other communications.

State Agencies and Other External Organizations
ACETEA partners with a number of state agencies and other external organizations to develop and provide career options for graduates, professional development for faculty, and access to students and educational resources for Alabama industries. Information about the role of each of the following partners can be found on the Partners page of this website.
  • Alabama State Department of Postsecondary Education (DPE)
  • Alabama State Department of Education (DOE)
  • Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA)
  • Alabama Technology Network (ATN)
  • Alabama Development Office (ADO)
  • Alabama Industrial Development Training Institute (AIDT)
  • Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA)
  • Economic Development Association of Alabama (EDAA)

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