Apprenticeships that Matter–PACE Students Serving the Community
At UMass Boston, teaching students the skills necessary to help them start their careers is essential. That’s why in 2020, the university initiated the Professional Apprenticeship and Career Experience (PACE) program. PACE is a subset of student employment which allows students to gain job skills they can take with them after they graduate.
“We have taken student employment positions, and where it fits, elevated those positions to have a professional or career-related component,” said Amy Weinstein, Director of the PACE program. The career-related component comes in two steps. First, each apprentice is assigned a mentor for their position and then they must complete a one credit career development course.
IT is proud to have had fifteen PACE apprentices work in our department in 2021 and would like them to be recognized. Janna Septembre, Van Pham, Tung Duong, Sayed (Abu) Chowdhury, Alejandro Chaparro, Yensis Pena, Allison Gross, Jake Bates, Kibru Dessie, Michael Khouri, Kyle Bonnyman, Manuelo Tanjay, Dhairya Patel, Daniel Vautour and David Martinez not only helped themselves in their future professional endeavors, they also served the entire UMass Boston community with dedication and distinction. Space considerations prevent us from Apprenticeships that Matter PACE Students Serving the Community telling you more about each of these worthy individuals, but in highlighting a few of them we hope you can consider the contributions of the entire group.
“We have taken student employment positions, and where it fits, elevated those positions to have a professional or career-related component.”
Amy Weinstein, Director of the PACE program
Janna Septembre worked as a Web Assistant under Lisa Berelson, Senior Web Designer/Developer in IT, throughout the Spring and Fall 2021 semesters. Septembre is a Communication major and is in her senior year at UMass Boston. Her career goals include working in Integrated Marketing Communications and Strategic Communications fields.
Van Pham worked as a Research Computing Apprentice under Jeff Dusenberry, Director of Research Computing, throughout the Spring and Fall 2021 semesters. Pham is an Information Technology major in the College of Management with a concentration in Business Intelligence. His Spring apprenticeship poster details a pilot stimulus- response application for researchers in the Psychology department.
Sayed (Abu) Chowdhury worked as a Network Engineer under Scott Gilbert, Senior Network Engineer, throughout the Spring and Fall 2021 semesters. Chowdhury is a Computer Technology and Information Technology major who believes his time as a PACE apprentice will lead him to many career opportunities in the field of IT.
Yensis Pena worked as a Website Analytics & Production apprentice under Lisa Link, Senior Web Designer/ Developer, throughout the Spring and Fall 2021 semesters. Pena is a 3rd year Biology major who worked to convert the IT Outcomes 2020 magazine into a webpage. His career goal is to become a software engineer, and he appreciates the experience his PACE apprenticeship gave him in this field.
Allison Gross worked as a Graphic Designer under John Mazzarella, interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for IT Client Services, throughout the Spring and Fall 2021 semesters. Gross is an Art major who worked to create visuals for internal IT communications for the MiViVa (mission, vision, values) project, as well as in the role of Layout Designer for the IT Outcomes 2020 and 2021 magazines. Her career goals include working in the Graphic Design field as well as self-publishing short-story graphic novels.
Michael Khouri worked as an Information Security Analyst under Alison Murray, Senior Information Security Specialist, during the Spring 2021 semester. Khouri is an Information Technology major with a concentration in Computer Forensics, who worked to automate the renewal process of expired online SSL certificates.