For the first time, applicants to DoIT AT’s Information Technology Academy (ITA) programs can submit materials through a user-friendly online application system developed in partnership with the Division of Continuing Studies and the Precollege Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE).
Applications to join ITA during the 2018-2019 year are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 9, 2018. Eighth-grade students residing in Madison or entering a Madison Metropolitan School District high school are eligible to apply to ITA Madison. Ninth-grade Oneida-area residents and Lac du Flambeau-area residents are eligible to apply those respective programs.
ITA is designed to serve diverse, college-bound US citizens or permanent residents with strong academic potential. Participants are selected through a holistic review process, which includes a balanced consideration of all aspects of a student’s application, including academic performance, interests, motivation, commitment, and character, among other factors. Each year, ITA can accept 30 students into the ITA Madison program and 15 students each into the ITA Lac du Flambeau and ITA Oneida programs. Recruiting information sessions are underway in all three communities, and ITA greatly appreciates the community support such as being featured in the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians e-newsletter and the This Week in Oneida YouTube series. Students, parents and school contacts interested in learning more or applying can visit applyita.wisc.edu.
This year’s recruiting process features a new way to apply: an online application. For years, ITA has wanted to offer prospective students an online application that reflected our technological expertise, made applying faster and easier, streamlined the internal recruiting process, and improved data management by making it more efficient and secure. From speaking with DoIT AT and other campus colleagues, ITA learned that other precollege programs shared these recruiting and data management concerns.
In winter 2016, Andy Goldstein, DoIT AT’s Assistant Director of Learning Solutions, introduced staff from ITA and the PEOPLE Program to other campus partners who shared an interest in creating a more efficient data management system for precollege populations and saw an online application as an area for improvement. In early fall 2017, after the Precollege Council moved under the wing of the Division of Continuing Studies (DCS), DCS colleagues offered to work with ITA and the PEOPLE Program to adapt DCS’ existing iApply-based online application to create a shared online application for ITA and the PEOPLE Program. This 2018 recruitment officially kicks off ITA and the PEOPLE Program’s pilot of a shared, online precollege application.
ITA anticipates that the online application will make it easier for prospective students to join the UW-Madison community, while decreasing staff time and effort in recruiting processes. ITA looks forward to working with partners to identify lessons learned, enabling the shared application to be scaled for all UW-Madison precollege programs. Ultimately, we hope the precollege online application improves outreach efforts to precollege and college populations and sets the stage for an integrated data management system for the university and students.
ITA also looks forward to welcoming three new cohorts to the ITA community! To learn more about ITA and the community it fosters, watch the below video that was created by ITA students in summer 2017 with the guidance from DoIT AT’s Video Production team including Don Fleischman, Service Leader.