Quarterly News

Update

Dear PACE Division Members,

Spring is here, and we hope this newsletter finds you well. As we move into a new season, we wanted to provide you with some important updates and reminders from our PACE Division.

I anticipate that many of you had the opportunity to enjoy some well-deserved rest and relaxation during your spring break or look forward to the summer solstice. It's vital for our mental and emotional well-being to build in time to decompress from our daily stressors. I hope you take advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves.

I personally feel that one of the most exciting outcomes from the National Policy Seminar (March 19–22) included the ACTE Board Meeting where I had the opportunity to begin the onboarding of our newly elected PACE Vice President, Shawn Freie.

Just in case you may have missed the introduction to our newly elected Vice President, I would like to share again in this newsletter. Shawn has been an active contributor to the PACE Division for many years and a former ACTE Experienced Fellow, it is our honor to have her serving the PACE membership. Shawn has been our Awards Committee Chairperson for the past two years and prior to that she served as a co-chair with Andrea Pogue. *Please see PACE awards information below.

A message from Shawn:

“Welcome to 2023 ACTE/ PACE members! Just a quick message to say thank you for believing in me and my passion for our division. It is truly an honor for me to serve! I hope this new year will bring happiness to each of you and growth to our division.”

Shawn and I will continue to work together over the next year to ensure her smooth transition into her new role for our division. We recently worked together on the planning and submission of the PACE FY2024 budget.

Yours in Education,

Kristina Ropos

VP, ACTE Postsecondary, Adult and Career Education Division

Executive Director, Oakmont Education

PACE Division News

PACE Division Awards

The PACE Division Awards recognize individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to CTE, programs that exemplify the highest standards, and organizations that have conducted activities to promote and expand CTE programs. Award winners serve as inspirational leaders; they embody the core values of serving their students and being committed to CTE. The deadline to submit all nominations will be Sept. 30.

ACTE PACE Outstanding Training Project of the Year Award

ACTE PACE Innovation Award

ACTE PACE Economic Development Award

ACTE PACE Diversity and Inclusion Award

ACTE PACE Award of Excellence

ACTE PACE Ambassador of the Year Award

View the full description of each award and deadline information here.

Transforming Postsecondary CTE for ALL – Save the Date!

September 20–22

Denver, Colorado

Join us at ACTE’s Postsecondary CTE Summit, happening Sept. 20–22 in Denver, Colorado, as we work to:

Address equity gaps
Build partnerships.
Support educators
Identify and develop resources, ensuring that our postsecondary CTE students are successful in their educational journeys and beyond!

Over time postsecondary CTE has been adapted to meet the needs of society as evidenced in new programs, certificates, and courses. During this time the student body has also become more diverse. Therefore, our ability to meet students’ needs, build partnerships, acquire resources is critical to supporting student success.

This summit will focus on three major strands:

Best Practices: Exploring best practices and programs that ensure retention, persistence, and completion of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students, students with disabilities, English Language Learners (ELL), LGBTQ+ students, low-income students, students in nontraditional pathways, and immigrant students. We want to ensure that all our programs and practices address equity gaps and promote inclusivity.
Staff: Delving into postsecondary CTE staffing issues. We want to ensure that more faculty, staff, and administrators in postsecondary CTE have the skills to address the needs of ALL students as well as look like the students they serve where possible. Addressing staffing shortages is critical. Our industry partners need to be prepared to support ALL our students as transitions occur. This strand will also explore promising practices and programs that promote the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty, staff, and administrators in postsecondary CTE.
Data: Reveal best practices around the data collection for special populations. We want to explore how to use and collect data to understand the equity gaps and reveal what can be done to mediate these gaps. There will be national presentations and expert panels. The goal of the summit is to create a professional learning community that can share solutions to be implemented throughout the year. Come join us as we work towards addressing equity gaps, ensuring that our postsecondary students are successful in their educational journeys and beyond!

A call for session proposals to present will close on Friday, April 28.

Early bird registration ends on or before July 17.

NextLevel Cohort 5 Fellow Announces Postsecondary CTE Leaders

ACTE announced its fifth cohort of Fellows for its 2023 NextLevel Postsecondary CTE Leadership Program, sponsored by ECMC Foundation and powered by ACTE. Sixteen fellows were selected for the fifth cohort. The 2023 Fellows will begin their program year in January and conclude in December after CareerTech VISION. Fellows will attend a school study visit at Manatee Community College later this month, ACTE's Postsecondary CTE Conference in September, and CareerTech VISION in December.

We look forward to working with our newest class of fellows this year and well into the future.

PACE Webinar Series

Please join us for a year of postsecondary focus and support with our webinar series and recorded webinars. Thank you to our FCEF.

Registration for webinars here.

May

25

CAREER LADDERING IN POSTSECONDARY CTE

May 25 at 1:00 p.m. ET

Are you thinking about your next professional step in postsecondary CTE? This leadership panel will explore all the steps you need to take as you prepare for your next move forward.

June

29

PROMISING TEACHING PRACTICES DURING THE ERA OF COVID

June 29 at 1:00 pm ET

COVID wreaked havoc in postsecondary CTE classrooms. Join us as we speak with CTE faculty and learn the innovative educational practices used to ensure student success. You will also learn about the Personal & Workplace Success Skills Library and how you can use this resource to support your students.

Recorded Webinars — NextLevel Fellows Program

Do you want to become a stronger leader? If so, come learn about this nationally recognized program focused on supporting the next generation of leaders in postsecondary CTE. Meet alumni of the NextLevel Postsecondary CTE Leaders at ACTE, sponsored by the ECMC Foundation, and hear about their experiences and how this program has catapulted them professionally and personally. Recording coming soon.

PACE Committees Announced

We are excited to announce the formation of our two essential PACE committees, The PACE Policy Committee and the PACE Division Committee. These committees will play an integral role in the future of our association, and we encourage all PACE members to get involved.

PACE Policy Committee has been an integral part of our Vice President candidate selection process as well as strategic planning for the upcoming year.

These honored members include:

Kristina Ropos, Jeff Travers, Kermelle D. Hensley, Ed.D., Robb Lowe, Mark Wilson, Dr. James Perey, Emilie Cherry, Brett Richardson, Ed Woods and Jeff Sullivan.

Dr. Janet Burns has been selected to represent PACE as our Executive Policy Member (Representative to ACTE).

Our growing PACE Division Committee Members:

Torrie Costantino, Xue (Cher) Xing, Ph.D., Martha Payan-Hernandez, Pam Carter, PhD, Brian Rick , Roxanne Ober, Kathy Adair, Claudia Alvarado, Shawn Freie, Tara Shepherd, Brett Richardson, Robb Lowe, Dr. James Perey, Mark Wilson, Crystal Latham-Alford, Jeff Sullivan, Ed Woods, John Noel, Andrea Pogue, Dr. Janet Burns, Emilie Cherry and Kristina Ropos.

We are currently looking for PACE members who would like to join us for the preparation and planning of Vision 2023. Brett Richardson and Robb Lowe will be leading this committee. Please reach out to Kristina R. Ropos if you would like to volunteer for assisting our team with planning this year’s event.

Thank you for your continued support of the PACE Division and the ACTE Association. We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming conference or meeting and working together to strengthen our postsecondary community.

From ACTE

Professional Development Conferences & Events

Super Early Bird Registration for VISION Now Open!

ACTE’s CareerTech VISION is the must-attend event for career and technical education (CTE) professionals. Happening Nov. 29–Dec. 2 in Phoenix, Arizona, VISION offers comprehensive programming covering high-quality CTE in secondary and postsecondary environments and emerging trends in the field to help career and technical educators thrive in their careers. VISION provides attendees with a rich array of networking opportunities, an Expo, hundreds of concurrent program sessions, and numerous networking opportunities. Register by July 31 to secure last year’s early-bird rates for VISION 2023!

Strategies to Address CTE Teacher Shortage Issues

This national convening covers promising practices pertaining to CTE teacher recruitment and retention issues at the state and local levels. We encourage administrators, teacher educators, teachers/instructors, CTE government officials, and researchers in the secondary and postsecondary areas to join us at ACTE’s Teach CTE Summit, happening June 27–29 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Register by April 28 to secure early bird rates!

Learn more and register

Transform Postsecondary CTE

Join us at ACTE’s Postsecondary CTE Summit, happening Sept. 20–22 in Denver, Colorado, to address equity gaps, build partnerships and ensure that our postsecondary CTE students are successful in their educational journeys and beyond!

Boutique Conference Designed for CTE Administrators

Hosted by NCLA and the Administration Division of ACTE, Best Practices and Innovations in CTE Conference provides tailored professional development for CTE administrators of both secondary and postsecondary CTE programs and institutions. This year’s event happens Sept. 27–29 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Learn more and register

Voice Your VISION

Become a CTE Ambassador!

Help spread the word about the CTE field year-round by becoming a CTE Ambassador with free digital and print awareness resources, including social media graphics.

Become a CTE Ambassador

Accepting Applications for Board of Directors Election

Interested in serving ACTE as a member of its board of directors? Applications for the following open positions are due June 15:

President-elect: Serves a one-year term beginning in July 2024, followed by one year as president and one year as past president
Region V Vice President: Serves a three-year term beginning July 2024
Agricultural Education Division Vice President: Serves a three-year term beginning July 2024
Health Science Education Division Vice President: Serves a three-year term beginning July 2024
Work-based Learning Division Vice President: Serves a three-year term beginning July 2024
Region II Vice President-elect: Serves a three-year term beginning July 2025
Region III Vice President-elect: Serves a three-year term beginning July 2025
Family and Consumer Sciences Education Division Vice President-elect: Serves a three-year term beginning July 2025
New and Related Services Division Vice President-elect: Serves a three-year term beginning July 2025

For more information, please see the guidelines for the board of director nominations.

Apply now

Stack of notebooks for Techniques Editorial Guidelines

New Techniques Editorial Calendar for 2023–24

ACTE and the Techniques team are excited to launch the 2023–24 editorial calendar with eight comprehensive themes. Read the magazine, then reach out to Lia Milgram, senior managing editor, with story ideas.

Write for Techniques

ACTE Awards & Contest Opportunities

Student Trophy Design Contest

Encourage your students to participate in ACTE’s annual student trophy design contest to redesign the 3D-printed trophies presented to the national ACTE award winners at the 2023 ACTE Awards Gala, happening Nov. 29 in Phoenix, Arizona. The winning team will receive a $1,000 scholarship, a free one-year lease of a 3D printer for the winner’s school, courtesy of Stratasys, and more! The deadline for design submissions is May 1.

Learn more and apply

ACTE Impact Awards

The ACTE Impact Awards recognize groups and individuals from the education, business and industry communities who contribute to the improvement and promotion CTE. The deadline to apply for the two Impact awards, the Business-Education Partnership Award and the Champion for CTE Award, is June 30.

Apply now

$2,500 in Scholarship Money

Encourage students and adult learners, ages 18–35, to apply for the Horatio Alger Association Career and Technical Education Scholarship. They could earn up to $2,500 to pursue CTE. The application is open now through June 15. To request a presentation to students or educators, please email Julie Kasper.

Encourage your students to apply

Resources

New CTE Resource for Families

This new brochure is designed to inform families and their students about the value of CTE in an easy-to-read brochure. Perfect for handing out at:

The start of a new school year
Counseling and career development sessions
Open houses
Parent-teacher conferences
Anytime a family member asks about CTE

Available at the member price in packs of 25 for $19.95 or 50 for $29.95.

Shop today

ACTE Webinars Now Available on CTE Learn

ACTE is pleased to begin hosting all free webinars on our premier online learning network, CTE Learn, which also features more than 180 for-credit CTE courses along with numerous free resources. If you're not already an ACTE CTE Learn user, register at ctelearn.org/webinars and sign in to access both upcoming and recorded webinars. Join us for these upcoming webinars: