This project enlists an academic and business consortium, including twenty-four community colleges and directed by the Business/CIS Education Statewide Advisory Committee (BESAC), to form a Discipline/Industry Collaborative for Business Education that will serve Business/Computer Information Science (CIS) educators and their students statewide. Operating in 2003 and 2004, the project will expand and implement the “Blueprint for Success” developed by the 2001-2002 Industry Collaborative under BESAC leadership.

Project activities will focus on updating and introducing new curriculum needed for the nine clusters representing the forty-four TOPs codes in the Business/CIS discipline. Faculty workshops and conferences will help colleges implement the new and expanded curriculum. A major focus of the project will be statewide improvement in the VTEA Core Indicators of student performance. Business partnerships will significantly aid this effort. Improved student service structures and activities will also be piloted.

Nine curriculum development teams have been formed to accomplish these goals. Working under the direction of a statewide chair, each team will address requirements in one of the nine TOPs code clusters. Team members are business and educational leaders in their fields, well qualified to further develop and implement the "Blueprint for Success."

The project meets all goals established by the RFA. The defining outcome will be stronger and more effective educational support for workforce development to help California employers succeed in an intensely competitive business environment. Carrying forward this “blueprint” will help the community college system enhance the preparation of its students for productive careers in today’s increasingly technical and global marketplace.