 November 1998 |
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Director of Professionial Education, IT&E |
The Transition to Technology Program Proves PopularThe Transition to Technology Program, a partnership between the School of Information Technology and Engineering (IT&E), Corporate Placements, and the Northern Virginia Regional Partnership to train programmers for the region's high-tech employers, is such a hit that the program has been expanded to include nonmilitary students. The Regional Partnership found that civilians had heard about the program by word of mouth or through news reports, and were eager to participate. The first module, in C++, which began in August at the Prince William Campus, was fully subscribed, with a mix of about 40 percent military and September at the Arlington Campus, and in Visual Basic, which started in October at Prince William, also had full enrollments. "These are highly motivated, highly committed people, who come from a wide range of backgrounds," says Janet Niblock, Professional Training and Development. Eugene Norris, IT&E director of professional education, concurs, saying that the program's developers are "very pleased with the quality of students," who range in age and experience from a recent high school graduate to senior military officers. Applicants, who may have some or no computer experience, are screened through a challenging aptitude test, which only one-third of the applicants pass. Once they enroll in a certificate program, students commit four months to a rigorous schedule that involves 18 hours of class work per week, as well as extensive homework. The first month of the course is dedicated to the fundamentals of programming, with the remaining three months focused on intensive study of the particular programming language and software design. The students are in contact with the six participating employers--EDS, BDM/TRW, Booz Allen & Hamilton, ManTech Systems Engineering Corp., BTG, and Unisys--early in the program, and may land a job before graduation. "I would hazard a guess that the jobs would pay about $35,000 a year and more, commensurate with experience," says Norris. Once a civilian student completes the course, he or she is eligible for partial reimbursement toward the $4,000 cost--$1,000 from the Regional Partnership, and $1,000 from the participating company that employs the student. Certificate programs are taught by George Mason faculty members or outside contractors, and are designed by the School of Information Technology and Engineering (IT&E). The expectation is that some of the students will want to continue their education through Mason's undergraduate programs in IT&E, and faculty members are in the process of determining what credit the school will assign to the course work in the modules. The C++ material, for example, will likely count as four undergraduate computer science classes. Oracle Developer 2000 will start Nov. 23 at Arlington, and the four module program will repeat starting in January. In addition, the program may expand to include a module that will certify students as Microsoft systems engineers. Civilians who would like more information about Transition to Technology should contact Niblock or Mary Salmon at x32111.
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