| December 2007
Drake Enterprises donated
$4,670 worth of software to
the college's new Macon Campus
computer lab in a team effort
to provide students with career
opportunities and the Franklin
corporation with needed employees.
”Drake's development
program is in PowerBasic software,"
DE founder Phil Drake said.
"Currently we have 68
developers licensed to use
this programming language
and we need more - badly.”
”The timing is especially
good,” said SCC web
and computer information technologies
instructor Scott Cline. “We’ve
expanded the curriculum at
the Macon Campus to include
computer information technology.
The
new computers at
Southwestern Community
College’s
Macon Campus now
have new PowerBasic
software, a $4,670
donation from Phil
Drake, center, founder
of Drake Enterprises.
With the assistance
of Drake and SCC
web and computer
information technologies
instructor Scott
Cline, left, Duane
Strain of Franklin,
a student in Macon’s
Computer information
technology program,
gets ready to try
out the program.
Each spring semester,
SCC will offer PowerBasic
within its IT program.
Spring registration
is Jan. 4.
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"The restructure and
the addition of the PowerBasic
software will allow us to
better pinpoint our focus
on the needs of the workforce,"
Cline said. "It's important
that we prepare students for
what they can expect when
they get out in the field.
With the increase in IT related
jobs in the region, such as
at Drake Enterprises, we have
to make sure that we have
prepared our students to fill
these positions.”
Cline said SCC students will
not only be ready for jobs
in the entire IT field, with
the addition of the PowerBasic
software, they'll be equipped
to fill positions at Drake
Enterprises if they choose
to pursue that opportunity.
If SCC's IT grads are employed
by DE, they will step not
only into a job but also onto
a career path, according to
Drake. "We have many
career opportunities, including
jobs for programmers, program
analysts, and tech support
personnel. Each year we hire
20 or so technical support
people, some full time and
some part time, depending
on what the person wants,"
Drake said. "We have
125 people in tech support
who answer the phones and
help people with support.
These folks have to know how
to run PowerBasic and how
to answer questions on the
phone. They have to have good
people skills. If they don't
have the skills before they
get here, we teach them ourselves.
"Our analysts define
changes that need to be made;
they manage the development
process. It's like the difference
between doing highway construction
and managing highway construction
from a desk. That's an analysts'
job.
"We need all these people;
and the people who work at
Drake have the opportunity
to move up. Programmers often
become managers of other programmers
and program analysts. At Drake
it's also possible to 'move
up' and stay in the job you're
in. We don't want to make
the mistake of moving someone
into another position just
in order to 'reward' them
for performance. If a great
programmer wants to remain
a programmer, it's possible
for him or her to stay in
that position and even earn
more than his or her manager."
Each spring semester, SCC
will offer PowerBasic within
its IT program. As a result,
students who are enrolled
in spring can take a fast
track to jobs at Drake while
also preparing themselves
for opportunities at other
companies in the region and
beyond.
And opportunities in the
field abound. For example,
graduates of the web technologies
program find career opportunities
as webmasters, Internet and
intranet administrators, Internet
applications specialists,
Internet programmers and Internet
technicians. Government institutions,
industries, and other organizations
employ individuals who possess
the skills taught in this
curriculum.
Also, computer information
technology grads can qualify
for a wide variety of computer-related,
entry-level positions that
include responsibilities in
systems maintenance and troubleshooting,
support and training, and
business applications design
and implementation.
Networking technology grads
seek positions as: LAN/PC
administrators, microcomputer
support specialists, network
control operators, communications
technician/analysts, network/computer
consultants, and information
systems specialists.
If you are interested in
entering one of the IT programs
at SCC, contact Cline at 828.586.4091,
extension 494. Registration
for SCC’s spring semester
is Jan. 4 on both the Jackson
and Macon campuses. To learn
more about information technology
at the college, visit http://www.southwesterncc.edu/acadprog/careers.htm.
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