From the author:

Imagine if you could sit with a book for three hours and learn hassle free ways to unleash your personal productivity. These 99 Windows 7 ® and Office 2010 (Outlook, Word, Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint) tips will save you precious minutes every day to a new efficient you!
This book will teach you ready to use tips that you can apply in your day to day work and be efficient almost from the first few tips. Not only could you save up to several minutes a day (depending on your time with the PC) but also you will be envy of your coworkers and soon be the “go-to” person in the office and with your friends for master tips. You will be able to reinvent your work in a subtle but significant way and create a new work lifestyle.

If you are an educator, training manager, or responsible for employee training or professional development in your organization or educational institution, you will find these tips can significantly increase productivity for employees and quickly up skill students who need to learn how to use Windows and Office.

Imagine if you could learn in a few pages how to:

• Create quick steps and templates for repetitive tasks
• Build custom rules to suit your own unique work style
• Get through your e-mail workload efficiently
• Use Windows tips to increase productivity

Highlights

• Follow the easy numbered steps
• Over 240 Screen images to help you as you try the tips on your own
• Cheat sheets to help you practice these tips in your day-to-day work

This is one of five videos being created for the 2011-2012 “A Day in the Life of an IT Professional: A Five Minute Story”. It is sponsored by the Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology. It was written, filmed, directed and produced by Robert Johnson, Jr. of Shoreline Community College.

Watch other IT professionals tell their story…

News and Updates for Fall & Winter Quarter 2011-2012

As we prepare for finals and winter break the Center wants to share with you updates about Center activities as well as professional development opportunities, upcoming resources, and services for 2012.

News

•  Register for the second annual STEM Summit (February 9^th and 10^th, 2012). Keynote presenter announced.
• The Life of an IT Professional: A Five Minute Story (an IT professional competition/video series). Check out two new videos on IT professionals here.

Updates

• Seven IT degrees/certificates submitted by six colleges will be reviewed by industry professionals on December 8^th and 9^th.   The next session will be spring 2012.
• 26 Washington State educators completed the Building Your Web 2.0 Website with WordPress.  See evaluative and ROI data here.
• The Washington State ICT Community/Technical College Program Directory (Publication: January 2012)

Join NCA at our 5th annual 
Security & Technology Conference 
at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Network Computing Architects is pleased to bring together a multitude of business and technology leaders to share their perspectives and engage in discussions centering on Risk Management and Service Delivery.

In this day and age, the line between personal time and work time has been blurred by the “always on” mentality created by increasing mobility and a variety of mobile platforms from which your employees can access the network, anytime and anywhere.

Every business—from large enterprise corporations with armies of mobile users, to the smallest SMB with only a few remote workers—is feeling the pressure to adapt and must focus on how to keep every asset of the network connected, while producing real orderly intelligence so they can maximize that other ROI: Return on Investment.

Join the Discussion. Register Today!

Part-Time Hourly Administrative Assistant Needed

 Pay: $15 per hour

Hours:  2.5 hours in the afternoon (exact hours TBD), Mondays through Thursday (more hours for actual events and special projects may be required)

Responsibilities:  Reserve rooms for events, work with BC catering and events services, communicate with internal and external professionals via phone/email, word processing, process paperwork, file, edit and create documents, general coordination of projects and events.

Required Technical Knowledge and Skills:

• Independent, self-motivated individual who can function efficiently with limited supervision
• Ability to complete projects, assignments within a given time-line
• Reliable follow up with director on status of projects and assignments
• Strong editing and proof-reading (command of grammar, spelling, spell-check, etc.)
• General math-skills related to accounting
• Expertise with Microsoft Office software (word, excel, outlook, etc.)
• Ability to coordinate and handle multiple assignments
• Effective email and verbal communication skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• Knowledge of general Bellevue College campus offices and functions
• A minimum of two years of general office/administrative work experience
• A minimum of one year of community or technical college coursework

About the Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology

The Center of Excellence (coeforict.org) is housed at Bellevue College and the director reports to Bellevue College’s Institute for Business and Information Technology.

The Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology’s (CoE for ICT) three primary commitments in serving the community and technical college system (CTC) in its entirety are:

1. Provide high-quality, effective, free and/or reasonably priced innovative opportunities such as events, services, research, resources for ICT educators.
2. Partner, recruit, solicit advice and input, as well as  sponsorships and in-kind donations, from industry to better align CTC students educational experience to current and future workforce needs, as well as utilizing the expertise from the industry advisory board to inform strategic Center objectives.
3. Present transparent information related to state-funded work Center products and programs so stakeholders are confident of: 1) cost-efficiencies; 2) a return on the annual investment; 3) the evaluative data demonstrating success; and, 4) tangible system value.

Please submit a letter of interest, a resume, two professional reference contacts to Maureen Majury at maureen.majury@bellevuecollege, or mail them Ms. Majury’s attention at: CoE for ICT, Bellevue College, 3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., N211, Bellevue, Washington 98007

Priority consideration will be given to applicants who submit required materials by Friday, October 21, 2011.  After that deadline, open until filled.

WA-ACTE Fall Conference “Innovation…Integration of CTE and STEM”

November 3-4, 2011 - Seattle Airport Marriott

Call for Presentations - Click Here to Submit a Proposal

Online Registration Available by September 23 - Click Here for Flyer

If you are a changemaker looking to integrate or strengthen Career and Technical
Education and STEM (Science + Technology + Engineering + Math) learning
experience and have the desire to implement bold, imaginative approaches for
educating our young people in Washington State – this is the hands-on conference
your school team will want to attend! We will be sharing creative approaches to
CTE and STEM integration challenges by bringing the passion and real-life
experience of CTE and STEM educators from exemplary programs today, all the
while incorporating the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) across programs
in an integrated way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Retooling Washington’s Workforce October Forum

October 6, 2011
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Seattle, Washington

Call for Presentations: Available after Summer Conference on the WA-ACTE web site.

Updates & News for Fall & Winter Quarter 2011-2012

Welcome back Washington State Educators to fall quarter/semester 2011.  While the summer passed quickly, and only now in September are we seeing hints of the sun, the Center of Excellence was busy working on and planning for you and your educational institution:

• Professional development training opportunities: Building Your Web 2.0 Website with WordPress (November 4^th and 5^th, 2011)
• Degree/certificate reviews (November/December 2011)
• The Washington State ICT Community/Technical College Program Directory (Publication: January 2012)
• The second annual STEM Summit (February 9^th and 10^th, 2012)
• The Life of an IT Professional: A Five Minute Story (an IT professional competition/video series)
• A new IT Programs of Study Template focusing potentially on Software Engineering (Applications/Systems)
• New informative and Web 2.0 upgrades to the Center Website

The Center’s IT/CS industry professional teams (from multiple career pathways – web programming, programming, development, engineers, networking, systems, database, hardware/software technicians, and gaming, etc.)  review up to twelve Washington state CTC IT/CS program degrees and certificates currently in place (one degree or certificate per college) each year.  The first series of reviews is now closed as over six degrees/certificates will be reviewed for the fall review session.  This service will be offered again at no charge to any WA State CTC during spring quarter 2012.  Look for the application deadline as early as March 2012.

Since 2010, the Center has performed 13 ICT degree/certificate reviews as a free service for the Washington State CTC system.

Please submit your college degree or certificate for spring quarter 2012 to Maureen Majury at maureen.majury@bellevuecollege.edu by FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2011.

Find out more about the process, the history, and access to the application online form.

The report includes an executive summary, and the ten Centers of Excellence each provide a Center description, an initiative with system savings (or, the return on the investment), as well as a vision for 2011-2012.

The Center of Excellencefor Information and Computing Technology, after a process of extensive research, wrote and published an information and computing technology trends report, Emerging Workforce Trends in Information and Computing Technology: 2011 to 2018…: STEM Career Pathways for the Washington State Community and Technical College System, in early March 2011.

Four primary economic and education issues are detailed and analyzed as well as proposed solutions are explored in the 74-page report:

• The currency economy’s effect on education, employment, and innovation
• The occupational outlook for career pathways aligned to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines
• The importance of preparing students for careers in STEM
• Considering 2025 global predictions and how new or hybrid occupational pathways will emerge in order to create energy and environmental solutions through the use of information and computing technologies
• A complimentary copy was sent out to each of the 34 community and technical college workforce administrators.  The Center is currently selling copies with a special rate for Washington State educators.

“This is a very interesting and comprehensive report.  Well done!!” Rich James, Director of Staffing, F5 Networks

System Savings:  $65,200

Systems Savings and Impact:

The Centers of Excellence have created an impact report to demonstrate the state’s return on investment, highlight positive achievements, describe individual center impact on the community and technical college (CTC) system as a whole, demonstrate connections made between industry and educators, and report cost savings by showcasing Center events, products, projects, research and services.

The return on investment from these highlighted projects, services, research, or products from the eleven Centers’ approximates $15 million dollars. The annual core funding for the ten Centers is $1.2 million, with performance funding at a minimum of $0 to a maximum of $550,000. The Center initiatives have recovered the initial annual investment of $1.2 million. The aggregate return on the combined value of each Center’s projects and initiatives far exceed the annual core and performance funding.

Click on the report cover to read the pdf version.  You can request a hard copy of the report by contacting any Center of Excellence in Washington State.

From CNN Business 2.0

By Owen Thomas, Business 2.0 Magazine online editor, and Rob Kelley, CNNMoney.com staff writer

May 3, 2006: 11:38 AM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) – If you’re looking for a job that’s here to stay, here’s a counterintuitive piece of advice: Look into tech. It’s one of several sectors on our list that is slated to see the sharpest job growth between now and 2014.

You may have heard the bad news about outsourcing, but not every tech job lends itself to the practice. And the most creative and difficult technical work is likely to remain here. Most importantly, retiring baby boomers will deplete the ranks of experienced tech workers, leaving openings for up-and-comers.

Besides technology, education and healthcare are fields that will also see tremendous growth, thanks to the retirement wave and an expanding population to teach and care for.And if you’re looking for a raise, think about this: According to economists, jobs that are the most in demand are also the ones that usually see the highest growth in income.

To see a photo gallery of the 10 fastest-growing jobs, click here.

To see Money magazine’s best jobs in America, click here.

Even thought this article was written in 2006, in the recent report the CoE for ICT published (ordering information here), Emerging Workforce Trends in Information and Computing Technology 2011 to 2018…: STEM Career Pathways for the Washington State Community and Technical College System, can confirm that these jobs are still very much in demand. The report details how students should prepare to enter these high-demand jobs, as well as how these jobs are adapting and creating new technological advances.  It also provides information on how community and technical colleges can prepare their students by providing examples of model programs.