A Technical History of the SEI

course offering, while at other universities, faculty reviewed the videos and then offered similar,
but tailored, lectures to their students.
A series of train-the-trainer continuing education courses was developed in conjunction with the
video studio. These courses mirrored the academic offerings on topics such as software project
management and software requirements engineering, among others. Instructors who attended
these courses were trained in the complete set of materials, and received a set of videotapes,
slides, lecture notes, and other supporting materials for delivery of the continuing education offerings.
The SEI also recognized that successful development of software engineering in the academic
community required definitive books from which faculty could become familiar with evolving
thought in the field. The SEI, therefore, teamed with Addison-Wesley to publish the SEI Series in
Software Engineering. Today the series comprises more than 30 volumes on a wide range of software
engineering topics. Many of the books in the series are authored by members of the SEI
staff.
The formal education component was transitioned over time to the academic infrastructure. Colleges
and universities were offering degrees based on accredited curricula. The workshops and
conferences at which professors could update their knowledge were transitioned to the IEEE
[Mead 2009]. As a consequence, although the SEI remains active in software engineering education,
it is no longer a major focus for the SEI. It is, however, a major success of its original charter
that software engineering and related programs are so vibrant in the academic infrastructure.
Professional Education and Training
With the success of the academic programs, a demand for executive education began to surface.
Defense industry and DoD executives whose expertise was in areas other than software began to
request executive education that would enable them to understand the issues associated with managing
software-intensive systems. The SEI recruited a retired industry vice president and a retired
flag officer to develop an executive education program. The executive education offerings were
extremely popular with senior executives, and the Air Force adapted the material for a program
called Bold Stroke for Officers at the rank of 0-6 and above. Recognizing the role software played
in Desert Storm, the Army asked the SEI to offer a version of its executive education program to
Army flag officers and Senior Executive Service (SES) civilians; the program is offered annually
to the Army senior leadership.
The SEI has provided a broad array of professional training. In addition to the courses offered by
SEI staff, the SEI has established a partner program that includes teaching SEI professional education
courses. Approximately 400 partner organizations are authorized to teach SEI courses. In
2010, partners taught 15,000 students, while the SEI taught 4,000 students—highlighting the
value of leveraging SEI education and training through collaborations and partnerships.
The SEI also offers executive education programs for commercial organizations. The SEI developed
and hosted “Technovation,” a weeklong executive training lab specifically designed to support
General Electric’s (GE’s) Experienced Information Management Program (EIMP). Technovation
participants represented a range of GE divisions and information technology roles. The
executive training was delivered by experts from the SEI and guest lecturers from Carnegie
CMU/SEI-2016-SR-027 | SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INSTITUTE | CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY 63
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