Chattanooga Chamber Foundation
Project Title
For core support of BlueSky Tennessee Institute
Date
Jun. 06, 2024
Duration
15 months
Description
BlueSky Institute is an innovative collaboration between East Tennessee State University (ETSU) and Blue Cross Blue Shield Tennessee (BCBST) designed to address BCBST’s workforce shortage and the low college-going rates in Hamilton County Schools. The program enables students to earn a Bachelor of Computer Science and secure a high-demand job at BCBST within twenty-sevenmonths. It prioritizes recruitment from six Hamilton County high schools with a high proportion of low-income students and traditionally underrepresented groups in IT fields. The long-term vision of the program is to redefine higher education and streamline workforce development, with the potential for replication across other organizations. BlueSky’s ambitious goal is to graduate and hire 100% of its students. To achieve this, it offers robust academics, early STEM exposure opportunities, a full-year paid internship, and comprehensive support tailored to ensure success in postsecondary education, a thriving-wage career, and workforce readiness. Despite facing challenges in aligning internship and coursework experiences with BCBST’s hiring needs and strengthening its relationship with the K-12 district, BlueSky maintains a 0 percentsummer melt rate and a 94 percentretention rate for its first cohort. Committed to continuous improvement, the program implements a quarterly field research process to document lessons learned and adapt accordingly.