The Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors (formerly called Microsoft Student Partners) is a program to sponsor students majoring in disciplines related to

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

. The MSP (now MLSA) program enhances students'

employability Employability refers to the attributes of a person that make that person able to gain and maintain employment. Overview Employability is related to work and the ability to be employed, such as: *The ability to gain initial employment; hence the ...

by offering training in skills not usually taught in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, including knowledge of Microsoft technologies. The program is available in most countries, and all students in

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

and

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

level are eligible to apply. If accepted, Student Ambassadors are assumed to further share the knowledge among the academic community by, for example, arranging courses, giving presentations, and initiating projects.

History

The MSP (now MLSA) program was initiated in 2001 and operated in fifteen countries for five years. In late 2006, the program was expanded to fifty countries worldwide, and as of July 2010, there are more than 2800 members worldwide across 101 countries and regions. On July 20th, 2020, the program rebranded as the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador program.

Purpose

The MLSA program is an educational and promotional program to sponsor

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

and

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

students majoring in disciplines related to technology, typically

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

computer information systems An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems are composed by four components: task, people ...

, and

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

. MLSA program aims to enhance students' employability and increase students' awareness of Microsoft technologies. Student Ambassadors are offered training especially in product-specific

skill A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of wo ...

s not typically taught in academia. The program aims to increase awareness of Microsoft products, programs and initiatives. Consequently, the program helps expanding the user base of Microsoft products, and results in better availability of properly educated

workforce The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the Pooling (resource management), pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single types of companies, company or ...

in those technologies.

Membership

The MLSA program is active around the world to college and university level students. Microsoft chooses few skilled students from each institution at a time to serve as representatives. Typically, a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador is science major from

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

business school A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

offers compensation to the members of the Student Ambassadors program through

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

and hardware packages which are distributed to them for testing and promotional purposes. Student Ambassadors are given access to

Visual Studio Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft. It is used to develop computer programs including web site, websites, web apps, web services and mobile apps. Visual Studio uses Microsoft software development platfor ...

Enterprise Subscriptions and Azure free credits to support their development and promotional activities. At times, Student Ambassadors are invited to technology-related

conferences A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

Activities

Student Ambassadors are given access to the latest Microsoft software,

development tools A programming tool or software development tool is a computer program that software developers use to create, debug, maintain, or otherwise support other programs and applications. The term usually refers to relatively simple programs, that can ...

, reference material, industry events, and training opportunities. MLSA's are assumed to further share the knowledge among the academic community by arranging courses; giving presentations and lectures; and initiating projects among the students. MLSA's are also used to promote incentives, for example, the Microsoft

Imagine Cup Imagine Cup is an annual competition sponsored and hosted by Microsoft Corp. which brings together student developers worldwide to help resolve some of the world's toughest challenges. It is considered as "Olympics of Technology" by computer sc ...

;Student Ambassadors may also actively compete in

; they are not directly affiliated to the organizers of the incentive. and programs, such as the Ultimate Steal and its affiliate program. Some Student Ambassadors (based on a selection criteria) are provided internships and job opportunities at a few Microsoft Divisions through the program. Local MLSA activities include, for example, attending the Student Technology Day in UK, which included high-profile presentations, such as one by the CEO of Microsoft,

Satya Nadella Satya Narayana Nadella (, ; born 19 August 1967) is an Indian-American business executive. He is the executive chairman and CEO of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014 as CEO and John W. Thompson in 2021 as chairman. Before becoming CE ...

; and TechDays, for instance in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, the MLSA developed a programmed called the Microsoft Student Accelerator (MSA), which aims to not only train the students throughout the year but also place the students in various internship programmes over the summer.

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Microsoft Student Partners
UK
Microsoft Student Partners Russia
{{Microsoft products Microsoft initiatives Academia