Friday, April 26, 2002

New Program Aims to Bring Community-College Instructors Up to Speed on Software By JEFFREY R. YOUNG Community-college leaders this week announced a new effort to provide software training for information-technology instructors at technical and community colleges across the country. The project is led by the American Association of Community Colleges and the National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies, which is located at Bellevue Community College. IT training for community-college instructors typically lags 18 to 24 months behind what is standard for workers in the private sector, says Duncan G. Burgess, a director at the technology center. When new software comes out, he says, most instructors at community colleges aren't trained to use it until at least a year after its release. The project is dedicated to making sure training for community-college faculty members is "equal and competitive with what's happening with the commercial sector," says Mr. Burgess. The project is an outgrowth of a training program the center has run for professors in Washington state for the past four years. The center and the community-college association hope to bring similar training programs to all 50 states within the next five years. This summer, intensive weeklong training programs will be held in Washington and Texas. Sessions in 10 more states will be added next year, though the states have not been chosen. So far, Microsoft is paying for the bulk of the training effort: It has promised to give $1.3-million in cash, as well as software, over the next two years. The community-college leaders hope to attract more corporate donors as well. Each instructor who takes part in the program must pay $350, which is usually paid by the faculty member's college. "That is well within what most community colleges can afford," says Mr. Burgess. He adds that the fee is just a fraction of what the training programs cost to run. Besides, he says, "whenever you don't charge something, there is no respect for it." The training is "vendor neutral," says Ann Beheler, dean of engineering technology for the Collin County Community College District. Ms. Beheler, who is involved in selecting what will be taught in the Texas programs, says that the training there will be held at Richland Community College and will be open to 120 faculty members from throughout the state. They will be able to brush up on skills in Java, Linux, and network-security software, among others, she adds. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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