Employment Training Grants

Employment Training Grants
»	Sun Training and Employment Program (STEP) For Solaris

Sun Training and Employment Program (STEP) For Solaris

Program Overview
Sun believes that everyone should have a chance to participate in today's Net Economy. The Sun Training and Employment Program (STEP) for Solaris was developed to give people in low-income and under-represented communities that chance. In offering training to become a Solaris System Administrator, STEP has enabled its graduates to accept high paying jobs with Sun, or with Sun partners; giving them careers in a field ensuring high demand and upward mobility.

The Sun Microsystems Foundation began STEP in 1999 with a cash grant to the NOVA Workforce Investment Board in Sunnyvale, CA. The grant was awarded to integrate Solaris System Administration training into NOVA's workforce development efforts. Sun then made equipment grants of Sun workstations to OICW, a non-profit employment training organization based in Menlo Park, CA, and Evergreen Community College in San Jose, CA, to begin UNIX training programs; creating partnerships that have achieved spectacular results.

Evergreen Valley College, with a grant from NOVA, used their Sun lab to train 25 low-income and under-represented students during an intensive 8 week Solaris Summer Academy. Billed as "high-tech boot camp" by the San Jose Mercury News, the Solaris Summer Academy received special recognition by U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Norm Mineta, during his visit in October 2000. The nine-month Sun Academy run by OICW has met with equal success. The first 30 participants graduated in November 2000 which peaked the interest of others in the community - over 800 residents of east Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, CA turned out for a series of meetings held to inform community members of the second training cycle.

The STEP demonstrates how collaboration between community training institutions, government and private industry is effectively creating opportunities for low-income and under-represented communities to participate in the Net Economy. Sun is currently working to replicate the program near its major campuses in Colorado and Massachusetts.

Grant Goals
Sun seeks to collaborate with organizations with a shared vision and commitment to ensuring that everyone has the ability to participate in the Net Economy. Toward this end, the STEP seeks to:

Build the capacity of community based employment training providers and educational institutions to offer Solaris (UNIX) System Administration training;
Ensure that low-income and under-represented persons have meaningful access to these training opportunities;
Leverage existing employment training resources to underwrite the costs of delivering the training and support comprehensive training models designed to ensure a high percentage of program participants successfully complete the program; and
Provide effective linkages to employers to successfully place STEP graduates into jobs.

STEP For Solaris Grants
On a case by case basis, Sun invites community based employment training providers, educational institutions and/or Workforce Investment Boards (WIB) to apply for STEP grants valued at $100,000 and consisting of:

A Sun server, 25 SunBlade 100 Workstations and related peripherals to serve as the STEP training lab;
Two SunEducation SunKEY memberships to train the instructors; and
STEP for Solaris curricula developed by SunEducation.

Prospective grant recipients should be prepared to tap into local, regional and national workforce development resources to fund the training costs. In addition, interested organizations must demonstrate the ability to deliver a suitable training environment and network infrastructure to support the Sun training lab which may include:

Classroom space with adequate ventilation and electrical infrastructure to support the Sun systems and provide a suitable training environment;
A computer projection device;
Broadband connection to the Internet; and
Networking equipment (switches/hubs) with sufficient ports to accommodate the Sun systems and related equipment.

Grant Success Criteria
Sun understands that the communities targeted for the STEP may have multiple barriers to employment. We have, therefore, established grant success criteria designed to maximize the opportunity for program participants to successfully complete the program, gain employment and succeed in the workplace. Grant applicants are evaluated on the following grant criteria:

Demonstrated success working with the populations to be serve by the program;
A detailed plan to conduct effective community outreach to the targeted communities;
The ability to assess, screen and place candidates from the targeted population that are best able to successfully complete the program;
Offer pre-employment and other soft skill training to ensure program graduates are able to succeed in the workplace;
Demonstrated success providing vocational information technology skill training to the targeted population;
The ability to provide a suitable training environment that can accommodate the Sun systems; and
A detailed plan for working with employers to develop job opportunities and successfully place program graduates into jobs upon their completion of the program.

Application Procedures
As previously noted, STEP grant applications are accepted on an invitation-only basis. The program is currently being implemented near Sun's major employment centers in Northern California, Colorado and Massachusetts.