The faculty of Three Rivers College’s Information Technology program is looking at changes to the programs.
Dr. Michael Malone, assistant professor in the IT program, said the past year had some challenges, but he’s looking forward to updating the curriculum in the short term and working on enrollment in the long term.
Malone was an adjunct professor with the program until August when he moved to full time.
In the spring of 2020, the college at large experienced a ransomware attack, which resulted in the cancellation of classes for the two weeks leading into spring break. They returned for a week before transitioning to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Malone said the faculty wasn’t prepared for that transition, but did an “OK job” considering the situation.
However, he said, the program is working to learn from that experience.
The IT program moved into the new Crisp Technology Center after its completion and expanded from one classroom to two. Malone said the classrooms will both be set up with a large smartboard and a camera to help with instruction.
Including cameras in the classrooms means students who can’t come into class, either in the short-term or long-term, can still take part in the course.
“We will be ready for a student who can’t come in,” he said.
For instance, students who are homebound or grow ill could watch the class online through the camera and participate online.
Malone said this is a similar approach to how the instructors handle students out for COVID-19 issues and it’s about continuing that practice after the crisis is over to better meet student needs.
The program does have some fully online courses, he said, but most aren’t.
Malone is also in the process of revising the IT curriculum, he said. For instance, the program has included four networking classes, but under updates to the curriculum used there would only be three.
He’s also looking into only requiring one semester of internship rather than the current two.
As a result, the faculty could add courses on Microsoft, which Malone said he’s looking at, and a workplace readiness course.
In that course, he said, students would learn about writing resumes and cover letters, practice mock interviews, go over workplace expectations and the “soft skills” employers have reported some recent graduates around the country are missing.
Malone said there are also many options when it comes to electronic textbooks that come with associated virtual labs they could look into using.
The focus on any changes made to the curriculum, Malone said, is to get people ready for work in the industry.
His long-term goals for the program are to work on enrollment and retention of students.
Some students who start with the program end up transferring to another one. The faculty is working on a way to better keep track of those students who don’t complete the program to get an idea of the main reasons why.
Malone plans to work with area technical schools with IT programs to streamline the transition between the experience students get there and what they could get at TRC. That would also extend to partnered four-year colleges if the student wants to continue in education.
In addition to the general curriculum, Malone said, he wants to explore offering multiple specialties, such as programming, as well.
This is a long-term goal that wouldn’t happen quickly, he said. One suggestion was to add certificates students can earn on top of the Associates of Arts degree, but the faculty plans to explore the options before going forward with a decision.