FLATE Focus (JUNE 2016)
From the Executive Director’s Desk: Farewell to FLATE’s STEM Educator Extraordinaire
Director since 2009 retired this month! Marie’s efforts to continuously improve not only our products but also our processes, lay in her efforts to increase and better define our impact. Her tenure with FLATE has been defined by her strong dedication to FLATE and we will surely miss her.
Marie was a STEM educator extraordinaire. She consistently reminded us to keep our eyes on girls and women as an important target of our recruiting and outreach efforts. To that end, she developed several hands-on learning experiences for both traditional age and adult students, college credit for certifications, transferability to B.S degrees and high skill, high wage jobs.
Those were just a few of her favorite things (to do)…..
Marie’s foray with FLATE began in 2008 and early in 2009 when she reached out to me seeking to change gears in her career and work more with adult learners and community colleges. When an opportunity opened up in Fall 2009, we talked again, and she accepted the position to serve as FLATE’s Associate Director with the expectation that she would lead and transform our data collection strategies and develop good workplace processes. I can’t remember too many times when she said “we can’t do that!” She came in eager to learn the work of FLATE and the NSF ATE Centers to improve advanced technological education.
Dr. Boyette envisioned and led many innovative projects one of which was our highly sought after “summer teacher camp” which she hosted for seven years. She developed strong relationships with the Florida Department of Education which culminated in our frequently-requested, annual Engineering Technology Statewide Enrollment Report. Marie’s expertise in data collection strategies streamlined many of FLATE’s curriculum, professional development and outreach efforts. These were critical components in leveraging FLATE’s vision and mission and reflecting the Center’s impact on technician education throughout Florida and ultimately in showcasing the validity of these efforts to one of our key stakeholders, the National Science Foundation. She oversaw the collection and analysis of our Manufacturing Day in Florida student/industry tour surveys, authored/co-authored and published a number of articles in professional journals. Most importantly, she kept myself and the rest of the FLATE staff strongly focused in supporting our goal, all the while injecting her own version of humor to our team.
