Now that our inaugural 2020 Nebraska Dev Lab cohort is fully transitioned to their sponsor organizations, we’ve reflected on our first year to find ways to create an even better experience. With its 100% completion rate, the first cohort set a standard we aim to continue in the coming years.
Our Mission
The Nebraska Dev Lab is an academic/corporate partnership between Doane University and Don’t Panic Labs. Its mission is to help address the shortage of qualified software developers in our area.
Through the Pipeline Program, organizations sponsor individuals who are seeking a career change but have no programming experience. These people can be current employees of the sponsor organization, new hires, or military veterans transitioning to the civilian workforce.
At the end of the nine-month immersive experience, these individuals will be high-quality full-stack software developers in their sponsor organization.
Benefits
With our decades of combined software engineering and education experience, we have developed a program that goes well beyond typical code school environments. This ensures each participant is equipped to be a productive and loyal part of their sponsor organization.
Best practices in teaching and learning are incorporated throughout the program, including:
- immersion with IT professionals, cohorts, and mentors
- project-based learning
- competency-based assessment
- a capstone project assisting nonprofit organizations
- apprenticeship
- individual professional development plans to help participants align training with their sponsor organization’s tech stack
Additional benefits of the Dev Lab Pipeline Program include:
- a great return on investment through increased participant productivity
- opportunity to use a graduated salary plan, and leverage existing paid intern and/or tuition assistance programs
- immediate productivity upon program completion avoids traditional training costs
- reduced recruiting and onboarding costs
- loyal, grateful employees with development skills on par with typical computer science graduates
2021 Cohort
Since wrapping up the 2020 cohort, we have discussed its many aspects with participants, their sponsor organizations, and our own team to learn more about what worked and identify areas of improvement. The feedback we have received has been immensely helpful.
Using what we have learned, we have shortened the program from 52 weeks to 36 weeks while providing an even better experience.
Here is how the new 36-week schedule works:
- Stage One at Don’t Panic Labs/Doane – 10 weeks: Gain competency of a programmer
- Stage Two at Don’t Panic Labs/Doane – 10 weeks: Gain competency of an entry-level, full-stack developer
- Stage Three at Don’t Panic Labs – 8 weeks: Capstone project for a nonprofit organization
- Stage Four at sponsor organization – 8 weeks: Apprenticeship working as a member of a development team
What’s Next
We have identified October 2021 as the start of our next cohort and hope to have as many as 25 participants take part in the program. We currently have several commitments for this cohort and are accepting additional sponsors.
For more information on the Nebraska Dev Lab Pipeline Program, visit dontpaniclabs.com/devlab or email us at devlab@dontpaniclabs.com.
Doane University Highlights the Past and Future of the Nebraska Dev Lab
In a recent article published by Doane University, the Dev Lab’s history is covered along with the impact of its first cohort and the goals being set for 2021.
Check out the article here: https://www.doane.edu/news/nebraska-dev-lab-celebrates-completion-of-first-cohort-and-a-future-of-growth-for-software
Now Seeking Sponsor Organizations for 2021 Cohort
Nebraska Dev Lab is now accepting applications from sponsor organizations for our next cohort.
Organizations interested in sponsoring participants should email devlab@dontpaniclabs.com to learn more about this opportunity.
More information can be found at dontpaniclabs.com/devlab.
Nebraska Dev Lab is an academic/corporate partnership between Doane University and Don’t Panic Labs, which aims to help address the shortage of qualified software developers in Nebraska.
Through the Pipeline Program, organizations sponsor individuals with no programming experience who are seeking a career change. At the end of the twelve-month immersive experience, these individuals will become high-quality entry-level software developers in their sponsor organizations.
Learn more at dontpaniclabs.com/devlab.
This is a monthly update for the Nebraska Dev Lab Pipeline Program. You are receiving this email because you are on our contact list for this cohort’s sponsor companies or have expressed interest in the past.
If you do not wish to receive these updates or want to include additional members of your organization on our mailing list, please email Russ Guill at Don’t Panic Labs.