Networking has a radically different meaning today from a decade ago, when it brought forth images of face-to-face mingling and exchanging business cards at conferences, or telephoning a list of contacts for information and support.
The expansion of the internet, the web and computer technology such as LANs and WANs allow us today to instantly and easily communicate with people around the globe, watch a football game or a movie on our cell phones, monitor inventory depletions in chain stores, find people to fall in love with or get jobs from, research information from our desktops, shop for anything and
everything, have long-distance telemeetings where we can watch each other’s reactions and body language, and so much more.
Computer networking has, with incredible speed, turned our large world into a global community of communications. It has also become one of the most indemand and high-paying job markets here in Berkshire County.
So ??? OK, here’s the real news. Internationally respected training for these jobs is available right here in our own back yard. Cisco Networking Certification, ranked as one of the 10 hottest such certifications, is offered locally through the Regional Cisco Networking Academy at Berkshire Community College.
Academy training at BCC consists of four seven-week courses that can lead to the industry-recognized Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certificate, twelve college credits, and most importantly, exciting and up-to-date information technology job skills.
Cisco Networking Academies use comprehensive e-learning programs that provide trainees with Internet technology skills essential
for today’s ever-changing IT workforce. Academies provide webbased content, on-line assessment, performance tracking, hands-on
laboratory and internship experiences, instructor training and support, as preparation for industrystandard certification.
The Academies, which over the past decade have provided IT and networking skills to more than 2 million students in 160 countries,
have trained over 460,000 people in the U.S., to ensure U.S. competitiveness and innovation in the 21st century.
Interested techies can fast-track to prepare for the job application process, upgrade skills for a currently held job, get certified as a CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate), obtain an associate degree in the Networking Option of Computer Information Systems, and prepare to transfer to a baccalaureate college.
A Cisco Kid
Justin Counsell, a Taconic High School graduate, is a full-time BCC student of networking who had an excellent opportunity to intern this summer at Williams College. Justin describes the Williams internship as “an awesome hands-on learning solidifier” that allowed him to put into practice what he is learning in the classroom.
When asked how they found Justin, Todd Gould, Network & Systems Administrator at Williams, says he asked Shannon Pignatelli, from BCC’s Workforce Development team, to see if the Cisco Academy had anyone who would be interested in a paid internship at Williams. “She suggested Justin, who did very well in the interview. Justin helped us replace the entire distribution layer with upgraded 3750-fiberoptic concentrators.”
“We have just six weeks in the summer to get work like this done on campus,” says Peter Charbonneau, Williams College’s Senior Networks and Systems Administrator. “You’ve got to know your workers and have a clear understanding of the goals and how to accomplish them. We found we could give Justin a project and let him run with it.”
Todd Gould adds, “It was apparent that Justin had Cisco technology under his belt and could hit the ground running. I wasn’t too
surprised, having taken all four of BCC’s CCNA courses myself a couple years ago, with Linda Allen as the instructor, just to further strengthen my own networking skills for the this job.”
The two administrators expect to be working with Justin during next summer’s break at Williams.
A Geek with Get-Up-and-Go
Taler Schilling, a 23-year-old BCC student, left a job with The Geek Squad in Amherst to come home to Pittsfield and BCC to prepare for CCNA certification.
“Don’t make fun of geeks; you’ll be mowing their lawn in 20 years,” quotes Schilling with a popular joke line. “The pay level that
CCNA certification leads to is a really good incentive for me, plus the value of completing a degree.”
Professional Development
Another track of Cisco Academicians are those already working for local companies in their IT departments who want to polish
and update their networking skills to be more valuable to their workplaces. Among the local companies and businesses which sent IT employees to the Cisco Regional Academy for workforce development are Berkshire Bank, Crane and Company, GE Advanced Materials,
General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Interprint, KB Toys, Legacy Banks, North Adams Regional Hospital, Starbase Technologies, Waterfront Media, and Williams College.
High School-College Pipeline
High school students interested in this field can begin with the first Cisco course at one of the Local Cisco Networking Academies, where computer information teachers have been specially trained in Cisco by BCC faculty. Participating high schools include Taconic, Monument Mountain, Lee, Drury, and McCann. Incumbent workers may also occasionally attend Cisco courses set up to accommodate their work schedules by BCC at one of these high schools. Recently, IT staff from Williams College went to McCann for professional development in the most current trends of networking.
Perry Burdick, an IT faculty member at McCann Tech, teaches Cisco Networking courses to both incumbent workers and to high
school students at McCann. “It was only natural that McCann offer this high level of technology education. Berkshire County probably has the highest proportion of IT services employment in Western Mass, and we want to be ready for them.”
Ron Wojcik, director of Taconic High School’s Academy of Information Technology, teaches a class of 16 seniors the first CCNA
course, and likes seeing students apply themselves seriously to what they recognize as a college-level course. “One of our CCNA-1 graduates went on to Rochester Institute of Technology and is currently interning (for good pay, I might add) for Cisco Systems itself, in North Carolina. He’s pretty excited about the ways this field is opening up to him.”
Going Wireless
Although computer networking has been pretty much about a lot of sophisticated wiring, BCC is getting ready to move soon to training for wireless networks. Says Charlie Kaminski, Assistant Dean of Technology at BCC, “You see wireless ‘hot spots’ at local coffeehouses and cafes, people sitting down with a laptop, drinking coffee, and doing work, communicating online with friends, family or colleagues. The new wireless Cisco program will train local IT professionals to set up such locations throughout the region. It is definitely the next wave on networking technologies.”
Berkshire Compact Goals Met
According to Bill Mullholland, Dean of LifeLong Learning and Workforce Development at BCC and a member of the Berkshire Compact
for Higher Education, “Having Regional and Local Cisco Networking Academies here in the county addresses and meets all four
goals of the Compact.” Raising student aspirations to go beyond a high school education via the convenient pipeline from the college-accredited CCNA-1 in participating high schools to CCNA-2 through 4 at BCC; improving access to higher education by having this world-class network training right here where we live, so trainees don’t have to travel far; making Berkshire County residents among the most educated and highly-skilled workers in new technology and technology applications; and, developing new partnerships
and programs that satisfy employers and employees.
“BCC is proud to be part of this internationally respected training and certification process,” says Mullholland, “We know there are IT job opportunities in Berkshire County. Local companies and businesses need to be competitive in the global economy. The Cisco Academy ensures the availability of a technologically skilled workforce through this pathway which includes Cisco Systems, BCC, the business community and high schools. It is certainly a catalyst for economic growth and development in our region.”
Cisco Networking Academy contact at BCC:
Charlie Kaminski,
ckaminski@berkshirecc.edu.
413-236-2105
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