The Kansas City hub of LaunchCode was looking for a new home and a new partner.
The Sprint Accelerator, the nonprofit’s previous home, didn’t renew its lease, and LaunchCode was looking for facilities that could house more students for LC101, the free introductory web programming course LaunchCode offers as part of its core educational curriculum.
When Cheryl McConnell, dean of the Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst University, heard that LaunchCode looking for a new space, she didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“LaunchCode has the goal to create a pool of workforce-ready coders as well as, I think, a higher mission of creating stability and a true means to support families in the region. That’s very similar to our Jesuit mission. So I think it’s compatible in that way,” McConnell said. “It also provides me an opportunity to build upon that. It’s a foundation for future growth for an individual. So let’s get them the ability to have a sustainable job and let us and others like us continue to support their development throughout their career.”
The next LC101 course begins Aug. 13, meeting Monday and Thursday nights for 20 weeks. This will be LaunchCode’s first partnership with a four-year university.
LaunchCode, founded by Square’s Jim McKelvey in 2013, offers apprenticeships and career support services, as well as educational opportunities to learn how to code and program. Funded by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and H&R Block, the KC hub of LaunchCode has placed more than 80 individuals in mobile tech careers and helped close to 400 gain technology skills since the nonprofit’s arrival in 2016.
Kelly Winzer, LaunchCode’s candidate engagement manager for Kansas City, said that the partnership with Rockhurst is bigger than just offering facilities for the course.
“What we asked for was space, and we are over the moon that they wanted to give us space,” Winzer said. “And the fact that they want to do even more is incredible.”
That “even more” includes creating a program (no pun intended) that LaunchCode students could earn academic credit toward a certificate or degree in from Rockhurst. McConnell said the Helzberg School has been on the forefront of teaching data analytics and business intelligence to its students, as well as instructing on the ethical components of tech, something McConnell said is sorely needed in the age of Cambridge Analytica.
“Every single class we have in data analytics starts with understanding the business problem, layering on the ethics, understanding the tool and fully communicating that to the end users,” McConnell said.
Winzer noted that being at Rockhurst offers many LC101 students the college experience they never had.
“It’s just really great to have our students have an opportunity to take this course on a college campus and begin to be able to see themselves as potential college students,” Winzer said. “For many, that has never been an option. I’m excited about what that says to our students, physically coming to campus twice a week and seeing what’s that’s like.”
The upcoming LC101 course will accommodate 140 students, up from 100 at the Sprint Accelerator. Even so, Winzer said that she expects about 400-500 applicants but that the numbers shouldn’t deter anyone who’s interested.
LaunchCode pushed the application deadline to July 30. Visit LaunchCode for more information.
