HTC faculty Dr. Ryan Brovold named to new national IT council

Brooklyn Park, June 7, 2021 – CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the information technology (IT) industry and workforce, has created a new council to help accelerate career pathways in information technology.

The CompTIA National Career and Technical Education (CTE) Advisory Council will design strategies to diversify the tech workforce and shape the future of CTE tech curriculum.

HTC faculty member selected for council

Representatives on the council will come from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Dr. Ryan Brovold, IT faculty member at Hennepin Technical College (HTC) was selected to represent Minnesota on the council and will serve a two-year term.

Dr. Brovold began teaching at the post-secondary level in 2002 and has been a faculty member at HTC for the past 14 years. At HTC, he has been developing the cyber defense program for students and he leads student competitions in IT and cybersecurity at the college.

In addition to higher education, Dr. Brovold has an IT background in the medical, publishing, and manufacturing industries. He launched a global IT compliance program at a Fortune 500 company and his most recent industry experiences include implementing IT governance frameworks.

Changing lives and meeting workforce needs

A longtime advocate for CTE, Dr. Brovold says his students are empowered with what they learn and can immediately apply their new skills and knowledge in the workforce. He is enthusiastic about working for CompTIA which will further advance industry partnerships and IT education to better meet the needs of students who are preparing for their future careers.

Areas of focus for the council members include best practices for instruction, professional development for instructors, credentialing and certification programs, grants and other funding sources, articulation agreements and connecting with industry employers.

In January U.S. employers advertised more than 232,000 job openings for core IT positions. These openings occurred in virtually every industry sector and included positions in software and application development, IT support, systems engineering and architecture and IT project management.