UNC Charlotte and Bank of America have launched an innovative new program for the next generation of knowledge workers.
The Bank of America Applied Technology Program (ATP) is designed to give students the opportunity to work for the bank while pursuing their undergraduate degrees. The 17-month program provides students studying technology and business the means to gain real world experience in the financial services industry. The Applied Technology Program is offered to high achieving students of technology and business in their junior and senior years and includes education and work experience.
The pilot phase of the program kicked off in June and includes nine students from UNC Charlotte’s College of Computing and Informatics. The students work at a Bank of America office space near campus dedicated to house the Applied Technology Program.
Plans are underway for information sessions on the UNC Charlotte campus to recruit the next group of students to join the program later this academic year. Scheduled for Sept. 22 and Sept. 23, the sessions will run from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM in Room 220 in the Cone Center.
The Applied Technology Program is targeted to UNC Charlotte students in their junior year with a minimum 3.0 grade point average and coursework related to the program’s balanced technology and business content.
More comprehensive in scope than a traditional co-op or internship, the students are being educated and working for the entire duration of 17 months. The goal is to provide each student with relevant experiences that will enable them to grow into appropriate roles in the corporate environment. During each period of the program, the students will either be receiving college credit or getting paid on a competitive scale.
Beginning in spring 2011, students will start the program during the second half of their junior school year for course credit, work during the summer full-time, and resume their work throughout their senior year on a part-time basis until graduation.
Students work within the bank’s technology group, contributing to efforts to ensure applications on the bank’s global network remain available for customers and bank associates. The ATP also provides participants a workplace experience and the opportunity to develop a strong knowledge of technology and its application and integration to the business side of financial services. This includes process documentation, application monitoring, user management, assigned projects, and mentorship.
“We’ve carefully designed the program to position students to add true value while learning the dynamics of a real world financial services technology organization,” said Vicki Morgenstein, Director of Operational Strategy in the Global Risk and Treasure Technology division at Bank of America.
The program was developed jointly between Bank of America’s Global Banking, Markets, and Wealth Management Technology and Operations Division and UNC Charlotte’s College of Computing and Informatics. Significant support was provided by members of the University Career Center. It has now expanded to include the Belk College of Business.
"The Bank of America Applied Technology Program provides tremendous academic and professional opportunities for UNC Charlotte students," said Belk College Dean Joe Mazzola. "What makes it especially valuable and unique is the way the program views student participation. This program understands that students, who are often leading-edge adaptors of new technologies, provide an important source of knowledge.”
“This gives us the opportunity to learn about the corporate culture and how to integrate yourself into a workplace environment,” said one of the participating students, Daniel Herrera ’11. “These are things you wouldn’t ordinarily experience and will prepare you for your future – whatever that may be”.
For UNC Charlotte, it offers an opportunity for the Belk College of Business and the College of Computing and Informatics to work in tandem with a very important industry to develop and meet the human capital needs of the community.
For more information please contact: Applied_Technology_Program@bankofamerica.com
(Information courtesy of the Applied Technology Program)