Investing in STEM toSecure Maryland’s Future

Report of the Governor’s STEM Task Force

Presentation to the Greater Baltimore CommitteeNovember 13, 2009

William E. Kirwan

The STEM Challenge: DemandAlmost 7,000 STEM Jobs to be Filled Annually

Governor’s STEM Task ForceMembership

• Governor Martin O’Malley created a STEM Task Force charged with creating a statewide STEM action plan – Co-chaired by June Streckfus and Brit Kirwan

• Comprised of nearly two dozen education, government, and business leaders focused on STEM:– State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick

• Several county-level K-12 officials– Provosts from UMCP and JHU

• Many other higher education STEM leaders– Representatives from private & non-profit sectors

• Gates Foundation, Apple, Lockheed Martin, IBM, etc.

Governor’s STEM Task ForceCharge & Goals

• Governor’s Charge:– Make recommendations aimed at establishing Maryland as a global

leader in the development of its workforce of the future and in its STEM-based research and economic development infrastructure

• Specific Goals:– Ensure that rigorous STEM teaching and learning are accessible to all

learners and at all levels of education– Increase the number of degree holders and program completers

trained in STEM fields– Include strategies to link education, workforce creation, research, and

economic Development– Include measurable goals, benchmarks, and the resources required to

implement the plan.

Maryland’s STEM Advantages

• Maryland has a robust STEM environment- 2nd in percentage of population 25 or older who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher – 2nd in concentration of professional and technical workers among the states– 1st in proportion of doctoral scientists and engineers in the nation

• Strength in Research and Development (R&D) / Innovation – #2 per capita in federal expenditures on R&D– #1 in attracting R&D funding in the life sciences– UMCP & UMB alone surpassed $1.0 billion last year combined– JHU #1 in federal R&D

• Federal Research Facilities– NIH, FDA, NIST, NASA, etc.

• Growing University-based Bio-Parks / Research-Parks– UMCP, UMBC & UMB– JHU and Montgomery County

Maryland’s STEM Weaknesses

• Maryland middle of the pack in converting STEM R&D into economic growth and new jobs

• Maryland lacks infrastructure to support start-ups and enterprise development

• Maryland lags peer states in STEM workforce development

• Maryland a net exporter of its high ability high school graduates

• Maryland is a net importer of STEM teachers

Governor’s STEM Task ForceRecommendation 1

• Align P-12 STEM curriculum with college requirements and workplace expectations in order to prepare all students for postsecondary success

– Under girds the entire report – Must raise graduation standards– Bench mark performance against international standards– Ensure alignment with college requirements

• College Success Task Force established– Co-Chaired by Nancy Grasmick and Jim Lyons – Tasked to develop a plan to ensure students graduate from

high school ready for college and work.

Governor’s STEM Task ForceRecommendations 2 & 3 (Teachers)

• There is a nation-wide shortage of well-trained science and math teachers– Maryland must increase the number of STEM educators graduating from

the state’s colleges and universities – Do more to retain the teachers currently in our schools– And enhance the skill sets of current STEM teachers at all grade levels

• The task force proposes to attack this on two fronts:– Triple the number of STEM teachers prepared in Maryland, while increasing

the retention rate from 50% to 75%– Ensure that all STEM educators are able to help all students complete the

college-ready and/or career-ready curriculum

The STEM Challenge: SupplyLess than 1 STEM graduate produced per STEM job

• Maryland ranks 8th among our 11th strongest competitors in the ratio of STEM graduates to STEM job openings

Governor’s STEM Task ForceRecommendations 4 & 5 (Pipeline)

• Recommendations 4 and 5 are targeted at increasing the pipeline of students interested in majoring in STEM fields, and addressing the STEM workforce shortfall

– Provide STEM internships, co-ops, or lab experiences for all interested high school and college students to jump-start their successful transition to the workplace.

– Increase the number of STEM college graduates by 40% from the present level of 4,400 graduates by 2015.

Governor’s STEM Task ForceRecommendation 6 (R&D Infrastructure)

• Task Force seeks to boost Maryland’s global competitiveness by supporting research and entrepreneurship– Create world class, translational research centers at our

universities to focus on STEM research activity – Create infrastructure to support the translation of research

into the economy

• Leverage our existing assets and resources to create “Innovate Maryland” – Enable entrepreneurs to get their ideas into the market place

– Create new companies coming out of our universities

Governor’s STEM Task ForceRecommendation 7

• Final recommendation is to create Maryland’s STEM Innovation Network to make STEM resources available to all

– This Innovation Network will promote collaboration among all STEM stakeholders:

• P-12 teachers, higher education faculty, business and community leaders, economic development officers, and

policymakers.

– It will have both a virtual and physical presence, and serve as a resource for all stakeholders across the state.

• will be the “go to” site for information and resources to both monitor and move forward on our STEM agenda

Governor’s STEM Task ForceBudget

Full Funding: $75 M from three sources

State Federal Private TOTAL

FY 2011 $8.7 M $17 M $4.4 M $30.2 M

FY 2012-2015

$16.3 M $22.7 M $4.9 M $43.9 M

TOTAL $25 M $37.8 M $9.3 M $74.1 M

Governor’s STEM Task ForceConclusion / Next Steps

• Report submitted in August 2009• Challenging time for state to make investments but funds

exist at the federal level• Recommendation 1 (Alignment) underway• Recommendation 2&3 (Quality and quantity of STEM

teachers) candidate for RTTT funding• Recommendation 4&5 (Increase STEM workforce) modest

efforts; needs funding• Recommendation 6 (Create centers of excellence) jump

started with federal R&D• Recommendation 7 (Innovation network) underway