The University of Tampa has announced a partnership with tech talent accelerator SkillStorm, a company that hires, trains, certifies and deploys IT talent in the most in-demand technology fields. The partnership will provide customized training to students to meet the specific hiring needs of technology companies across the greater Tampa region and throughout the country. This will bolster UT’s focus on technology education for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education students, and will strengthen the University’s bond with local and national technology companies.
“Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing labor market, companies nationwide are turning to new models of education and training that can help fill critical tech talent gaps,” said Joe Mitchell, COO of tech talent accelerator SkillStorm. “We’re excited to partner with a top university in the Tampa Bay area to build a tech talent hub that will help companies seeking to access talent certified in today’s most in-demand technologies.”
The partnership will benefit both students and companies. It will help college graduates gain the skills and experience needed to access high-paying, in-demand careers. Also, it will provide commercial and federal organizations with talent to support critical technology initiatives.
“UT already has a broad array of quality information technology programs; however, we envision adding further opportunities for students,” said University of Tampa President Ronald Vaughn. “The partnership with SkillStorm is a tremendous asset, not only for students but also for area technology companies.”
Two new programs
The partnership has two tracks, the Accelerator Program and the Emerging Tech Program. The Accelerator Program provides online and instructor-led training courses to help students gain certification in high-demand enterprise technologies like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Salesforce and Pega.
The Emerging Tech program hires recent grads, transitioning service members and veterans with a strong technology background, and provides 12 weeks of customized training before deploying them to their Fortune 500 and Federal Integrator clients.
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Both programs are open to students who did not graduate from UT, but UT alumni will have a preference in the application process.
Graduates with no prior coding experience are encouraged to complete SkillStorm’s series of free, self-paced, online introductory coding courses prior to applying to join SkillStorm. Candidates who successfully pass the tech screen may be hired by SkillStorm and take the 12-week course before joining a client company.
At present, UT has about 600 students enrolled in over 30 undergraduate, graduate, concentrations and certificate technology programs. UT is currently building a six-story, 91,000-square-foot Technology Building in the center of campus that will house the many academic programs related to technology, including:
- Computer science
- Business information technology
- Management information systems
- Cybersecurity
- Business analytics
- SAP certification
