We last updated everyone on the plans for our new Data Engineering bootcamp back on April 3. A lot of progress has been made in the intervening 3 weeks so we thought an update was in order.
Back on April 3, we mentioned that around 80 of our Seekers had responded to the announcement of Data Engineering and indicated an interest in a seat in one of the initial cohorts. We subsequently held an information session on April 8 which was attended by approximately 60 Seekers. We then sent out an invitation to those who had indicated interest and asked them to formally request admittance into one or more of three possible schedule options - 1) a full-time cohort starting on Monday, May 19, 2) a part-time cohort starting on May 19, and/or 3) a part-time cohort starting on or around October 6. We also let everyone know that if we had enough applicants to fill out a full-time pilot cohort, which we defined as being 15 students, that would be the option we selected for cohort 1 of the Data Engineering bootcamp.
And that’s where we have landed after counting up the applications. We received 24 applications for the full-time cohort, so we are planning on a full-time cohort starting on Monday, May 19. We sent out 15 offers and are holding at least 8 more applications until we determine how many commitments we get out of the initial 15 offers. Then we’ll reach out to those who are waiting until we fill all 15 seats. I also expect that we’ll end up with a waitlist with at least two or three applicants - they’ll be asked to do the prework in case anyone needs to drop out before May 19. If we aren’t able to get everyone off the waitlist into the class, they will have the first chance at a seat in the second cohort.
As soon as we finish admissions for cohort 1, we will reach out to everyone who applied to cohort 2 - at this time that is 47 individuals! We have not finalized our plans as to a timeline for making offers to cohort 2 but it will likely not be for a few weeks - we’ll want to get cohort 1 started, the curriculum dialed in a bit better, and have a chance to review the pre-work we distributed for cohort 1 to see if we want to make any adjustments for cohort 2. But we also realize that the cohort 2 applicants will want to make plans based on knowing whether they have a seat in cohort 2, or not. We won’t wait too long before we start the admissions process and we’ll keep everyone updated in the meantime.
Our instructor for the Data Engineering Bootcamp also started this month and has hit the ground running on curriculum development. Daniel Wallace brings six years of teaching experience along with six years of data engineering and software development experience to NSS. We’re glad to have him onboard!
Remember, during 2025 and 2026, our Seekers and other qualified applicants will be able to attend the Data Engineering program for free thanks to two substantial grants that funded the research, curriculum development, and instructional costs associated with developing and delivering the program. It’s very exciting to see this all coming together and to think about the value that our Seekers will hopefully be able to get from this investment in their futures!
Watch our blog and newsletter for more updates on the Data Engineering program and the continuing education classes that we are preparing for our Seekers - also for free.
This project is partially funded under a Grant Contract with the State of Tennessee.
