Business-Higher Education Forum adds its name to mission-critical STEM conference

Washington, DC (April 25, 2012) —America needs a workforce skilled in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and a notable group of companies and organizations is uniting to ensure that the nation gets the message. This summer, thousands of education, policy, and industry thought leaders will convene in Dallas, Texas for STEM Solutions 2012, a groundbreaking leadership summit that will bring the best minds and best practices together on a national stage to open the conversation and develop solutions to the STEM skills shortage.    

Among the STEM stakeholders who have signed on to get behind the Summit is the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF). As one of the conference’s co-chairs, BHEF will provide topical input, expertise, and support throughout the planning stages, as well as during the conference.

The organizers of STEM Solutions 2012 identified BHEF as a change maker involved in shaping the economy’s future. BHEF’s STEM Higher Education and Workforce Project seeks to catalyze deep and mutually beneficial partnerships between universities and companies that specifically address regional workforce needs, while serving as proof points across the country of intervention strategies to deepen undergraduate STEM learning, increase STEM graduation rates, and connect students more effectively with STEM careers.

According to Brian Fitzgerald, CEO of The Business-Higher Education Forum, “BHEF’s STEM Higher Education Workforce Project promotes innovative collaboration between corporate and academic institutions to increase the number and diversity of STEM graduates, improve undergraduate STEM learning, and meet regional STEM workforce needs. BHEF’s regional projects will demonstrate how companies can significantly contribute to growing the country’s STEM workforce needed to compete in the 21st century by helping universities and colleges re-engineer the first two years of STEM undergraduate education and supporting STEM undergraduate students with opportunities such as internships and mentoring with STEM professionals.”

At STEM Solutions 2012, business and university representatives from two of the projects, Maryland and Missouri, will describe their unique collaborations, the impact their work is having on STEM undergraduate education in these regions and the implications for STEM higher education nationwide.  A representative will also describe the new national STEM higher education strategy, discussing how efforts such as the BHEF projects are contributing to a much broader effort to deepen industry engagement with higher education and are moving the needle with STEM persistence.

Event organizers, U.S. News & World Report, Innovate+Educate, and STEMConnector™ have enthusiastically welcomed BHEF’s involvement. “There has never been a greater moment to create a collective impact to advance STEM education and the skill gap our country faces in our own global competitiveness. The Business-Higher Education Forum is a key partner that will help attract top officials in the U.S to STEM Solutions 2012," said Jamai Blivin, CEO of Innovate+Educate. “We are excited by their support of the conference and the leadership role they have taken in working with us to advance a critical movement in our country."

To learn more about how you can help shape our nation’s future by participating in STEM Solutions 2012, visit www.USNewsSTEMSolutions.com.