I want to note up front that this is just a vague idea, and I'd like to gauge interest from potential organizers before figuring out the details. So I very likely don't have answers to any questions you might have and would prefer to come up with the answers with everyone else involved. That said, here's the idea...
There's a lot of organizations looking to hire experienced Drupal developers in Colorado. There's also a lot of unemployed people in Colorado, like everywhere else. A lot of the organizations looking to hire Drupal developers also do some form of Drupal training. And there's a lot of online training material for learning Drupal.
So my vague idea is to apply our collective training resources to come up with a curriculum, mostly based on online material, aimed at quickly getting people to the point where we could feasibly hire them as Drupal developers. I'm imagining this would be something around 8-10 weeks of in-person training, maybe a few hours each week, with plenty of homework. Students would apply and generally pay to cover some reimbursement for trainers and possibly licensing online materials. This could also be a good opportunity to address some gaps in our industry (e.g. not enough women) with sponsored scholarships, but that's probably getting into too much detail already.
Organizers would need to be able to invest a good deal of time figuring out curriculum, figuring out logistics (where, when, how much?), evaluating student applications, and actually teaching. In return, organizers would get some minimal compensation, but the main benefit would be an expanded pool of potential developers to hire. This is notably a somewhat risky proposition. If it went poorly, it would take a lot of time and not pay off at all. But if it went well, it could do a lot to improve our local community and economy.
So .. who is willing and able to help organize something like this?
Comments
Seems like you've already
Seems like you've already thought of the only con I can think of. I definitely support the idea even if I can't give it much time.
Mike Anello from Florida may have thoughts on this after they ran a full on actual school in Florida. Some posts on that:
certifiedtorock.com/u/36762/ | Druplicon debit card
Count me in!
Consider me your first student. My contact info is joshg@postnet.com
Great idea, I'd love to help
We've talked about something like this quite a bit up north. I expect Brent at Variant Studios would be interested in helping out, as well.
Up north
Lindsay, SkillHub will gladly help with anything up north as well, and promote classes there. Let's connect up sometime!
Being a Linux trainer and
Being a Linux trainer and systems adminsitrator (along with running a Linux training and Open Source consulting company) I think I might have a few ideas to help cut the cost a bit as well as expand this beyond Colorado (though starting out small and taking "baby steps" might be best initially) via an online model and methodology.
I would also like to submit the idea of including some basic Linux training onto the agenda from either an "end user" (our Linux Essentials course) or "junior systems administrator" (our LPIC-1 course) level. Both of these courses are oriented towards a Linux certification via LPI (Linux Professional Institute) which is a "bonus" from my perspective, but adventagous for someone trying to build up a resume/CV. This would help assist the students who may not have had much if any experience with working from a command line or similar initially. So having a web developer that can get around on the command line of Linux if not "do more" might improve and increase the overall results and success of the students.
Thoughts, feedback, and questions are indeed welcomed.
Linux training
As someone who would benefit from it, I think Linux training would be fabulous! I'm comfortable with command line, and I know enough to get a site up and running, but I could definitely stand to learn more "big picture" stuff to help me with maintenance and troubleshooting.
Nina McHale
Web Developer
Arapahoe Library District (Colorado)
I'd like to help!
Scott, I'd like to help organize a Drupal curriculum for the DTC/South Denver area. Not only because I'm enthusiastic about Drupal, but I'm a founder in a new company, SkillHub (http://skillhub.us), to provide a full range training courses. We've got space and the logistics ability to handle scheduling, marketing, outreach, etc. -- so that those who do Drupal training can just focus on that part of the problem. I believe that the Innovation Pavilion would wholeheartedly support this, as it fits squarely in their mission as well. Let me know how we can help; if you're coming to the South Denver meetup Monday, let's talk!
Count me in
Both from a user and day to day management perspective. i feel that a big missing with developers are understanding client's needs and how to speak to and communicate without coming across as a technology/Drupal geek.
Mentor/Interns
I have been a mentor to Mike's DCSP program and we currently have one of the interns from last fall's class. The program was initially started because of massive layoffs from the space/shuttle program in Brevard Co., FL. They too had very technical savvy people that just needed to be retrained for modern web technologies such as Drupal. I encourage everyone to read the links that Greg posted above. Mike is an awesome trainer and his enthusiasm for Drupal and the community is inspiring.
One key point in their program was to have local government and workforce agencies buy into it. It's a win-win because they want to keep their tax base intact and not lose higher paying jobs to other locales.
Erik (Bladwin) and I will try and make it to Monday's South Denver meetup and join in this discussion,
JCL
Career Starter Program
Thanks @greggles and @jcl324 for the mentions.
We've run our program through our local (Brevard County, Florida) Workforce Board - meaning it was zero cost to the students. We'd be interesting in bringing our program to Denver, as well as working with your local workforce board to see if we can make it happen. We'd be willing to partner with @Jono or anyone else willing to put in some effort to make this happen.
Feel free to ping me via my d.o. contact form for more info. We've been talking with other (worldwide) areas about expanding our program, I'd love to have an excuse to travel to Denver! We have the infrastructure and curriculum ready to go...
Thanks,
-mike