First Class Graduates from Unique Technology Program at UNC Charlotte

CHARLOTTE – The first class of students participating in a unique, career-oriented program created by Bank of America and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte will graduate this May. The program, “Bank of America Applied Technology Program @ UNC Charlotte,” selects qualified students in their junior year of school and provides them with real-world technology-oriented business experience. Nine students can now enter the workforce as highly sought-after candidates for jobs in the technology and financial services industries, and six of these nine graduates will join Bank of America as full-time employees.

“As today’s world grows more competitive, we need to ensure that tomorrow’s leaders are well-educated and business savvy,” said Bank of America Technology Executive for Global Risk and Treasury Houston Helms. “We’re proud to partner with UNC Charlotte to train the next generation of information technologists. The Applied Technology Program is a great example of a public-private partnership focused on making that happen for students.” Helms is also a UNC Charlotte alumnus.

“Having been with the program since its start, I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to see our first group of students graduate from this very unique and rewarding program with Bank of America,” said Yi Deng, Ph.D., dean of the College of Computing and Informatics. “Our collaboration proves that business and higher education can effectively work together to develop programs to produce talent that meets the needs of the 21st century.”

Under development since September 2009, Bank of America and UNC Charlotte designed the 17-month program as a career-oriented experience that:

• Allows a select group of students to work directly with Bank of America’s Global Technology and Operations team and provides them with an opportunity to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to real world scenarios. Assignments include process documentation, application monitoring and user management.
• Provides an office environment dedicated to this program located in a Bank of America banking center near the UNC Charlotte campus.
• Targets promising students in their junior year who have a minimum 3.0 GPA and are already engaged in coursework related to the program’s focus. Students apply and are chosen through a competitive process. 
• Enables students to work part-time during the spring semester of their junior year and both semesters of their senior year for academic credit. During the summer, students work full-time for pay (no academic credit). 
• Creates an innovative talent pool from which Bank of America can recruit.

A new group of 17 UNCC students in their junior year of school have recently been selected as the program’s second class. 

You can listen to student Daniel Herrera share his experience in the Applied Technology program here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvLuHBlUujE

For more information please contact: Applied_Technology_Program@bankofamerica.com