{"id":4336,"date":"2022-10-28T20:02:16","date_gmt":"2022-10-28T20:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=4336"},"modified":"2025-03-27T14:58:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T18:58:53","slug":"totally-connected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2022\/10\/28\/totally-connected\/","title":{"rendered":"Totally Connected"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_c49d9d-01, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_c49d9d-01[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4336_c49d9d-01\"]{display:block;padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-md, 2rem);text-align:center;font-size:var(--global-kb-font-size-sm, 0.9rem);font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_c49d9d-01 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_c49d9d-01[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4336_c49d9d-01\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_c49d9d-01 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_c49d9d-01[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4336_c49d9d-01\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<span class=\"kt-adv-heading4336_c49d9d-01 wu-subheading wp-block-kadence-advancedheading has-kb-palette-14-color has-text-color\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4336_c49d9d-01\">Adjunct Scott Shaw and Futures First Gaming CEO Stephen Sye<\/span>\n\n\n<style>.kadence-column4336_63a3ec-8c > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column4336_63a3ec-8c > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column4336_63a3ec-8c > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column4336_63a3ec-8c > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column4336_63a3ec-8c > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column4336_63a3ec-8c > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column4336_63a3ec-8c > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column4336_63a3ec-8c{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column4336_63a3ec-8c > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column4336_63a3ec-8c > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column4336_63a3ec-8c dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_8edb35-ea, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_8edb35-ea[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4336_8edb35-ea\"]{font-size:1.5rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:500;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;color:#808080;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_8edb35-ea mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_8edb35-ea[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4336_8edb35-ea\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_8edb35-ea img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4336_8edb35-ea[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4336_8edb35-ea\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading4336_8edb35-ea wu-subheading wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4336_8edb35-ea\">Job opportunities in the esports and gaming industries abound. That\u2019s great news for WilmU students, who benefit from an exciting new partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A&nbsp;new collaboration between the College of Technology and a Delaware esports startup aims to introduce high school students&nbsp;to the possibilities of STEM education and careers through video gaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Signed in April, the partnership teams WilmU\u2019s experienced instructors and career-focused degree and certificate programs with the tech-enthusiast entrepreneurs of Futures First Gaming. The Wilmington-based company&nbsp;organizes esports tournaments, informational events, and training workshops that prepare students from under-resourced communities for jobs in technology, including the business of games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For&nbsp;Stephen Sye, CEO and co-founder of Futures First Gaming, the WilmU partnership is an ideal match. \u201cOne of the most crucial priorities we identified from the outset of our company\u2019s launch was the need for educational credentials in our programming,\u201d he says. \u201cWe accomplished this by identifying a university partner who shared our vision to provide innovative STEM education to today\u2019s youth that also shares our commitment to providing equitable opportunities to under-represented groups and the industry\u2019s growth in this region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image4336_219294-cd .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image4336_219294-cd\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"189\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/20220618-EVENT-FFGgirls-9093-web-1-250x189.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-16164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/20220618-EVENT-FFGgirls-9093-web-1-250x189.jpg 250w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/20220618-EVENT-FFGgirls-9093-web-1-637x480.jpg 637w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/20220618-EVENT-FFGgirls-9093-web-1-768x579.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/20220618-EVENT-FFGgirls-9093-web-1.jpg 850w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><figcaption><em>Adjunct Scott Shaw and Futures First Gaming CEO Stephen Sye<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>WilmU, which established&nbsp;the first Game Design and Development bachelor\u2019s degree in Delaware, will host Futures First Gaming events at locations throughout the state while highlighting the opportunities its College of Technology degrees and certificates offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The partners\u2019 agreement \u201cleverages the capabilities of both to ensure that there\u2019s academic rigor around learning that benefits students, and opportunities for students with credentials in esports and game design,\u201d says Adjunct Professor&nbsp;Scott Shaw.&nbsp;&nbsp;\u201cThere\u2019s so much more to it beyond programming and game&nbsp;design,\u201d he says, \u201cand this agreement provides pathways to&nbsp;educational credit for skill building as well as opportunity to gain a wider perspective of the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Founded in 2020, Futures First Gaming aims to increase diversity in technology and entrepreneurship fields while promoting esports in Delaware. Its Workforce Development program, a job-skills training and paid internship program for 14- to 18-year-olds that covers coding, game design, business management, marketing, and event production, has received the approval of the state Department of Health and Social Services. Its Girls Who Game event, held at WilmU\u2019s Pratt Student Center in June, featured competitive gameplay, panel discussions featuring tech industry women, and hands-on PC building and video editing workshops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These efforts go hand-in-hand with WilmU\u2019s mission to make higher education accessible to all students, says&nbsp;Lindsay Rice, the University\u2019s senior director of Academic Partnerships. \u201cWe\u2019re committed to expanding opportunities for more high school students to connect, learn, earn credit for what they\u2019ve learned, then explore all the opportunities that await them in the rapidly growing esports and gaming industries.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adjunct Scott Shaw and Futures First Gaming CEO Stephen Sye Job opportunities in the esports and gaming industries abound. That\u2019s great news for WilmU students,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135,438],"tags":[445,610],"class_list":["post-4336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","category-partners","tag-esports","tag-magazine-fall-2022"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"},{"value":438,"label":"PARTNERS"}],"post_tag":[{"value":445,"label":"Esports"},{"value":610,"label":"Magazine Fall 2022"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/20220618-EVENT-FFGgirls-9093-web-637x480.jpg",637,480,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Rachel Marchione","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/rachel\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0},{"term_id":438,"name":"PARTNERS","slug":"partners","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":995,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":32,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":438,"category_count":32,"category_description":"","cat_name":"PARTNERS","category_nicename":"partners","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":445,"name":"Esports","slug":"esports","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1002,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":6,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":610,"name":"Magazine Fall 2022","slug":"magazine-fall-2022","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1167,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":11,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4336"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17480,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4336\/revisions\/17480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}