Linking Academic Information Technology to Workplaces in Rural Idaho
Linking Academic Information Technology to Workplaces in Rural Idaho

"The College of Southern Idaho, a comprehensive community college, provides educational, social and cultural opportunities for a diverse population of South Central Idaho. In this rapidly changing world, CSI encourages our students to lead enriched, productive and responsible lives." Located at the center of an 11,000 sq mile region, the College works closely with the area high schools as well as local businesses.

In 2003, the Information Technology Department combined forces with the Advanced Regional Technical Education Coalition (composed of 20 area high schools, the College and local businesses). Together they wrote a grant to the National Science Foundation/ Advanced Technological Education initiative for assistance in providing internship opportunities with local businesses as well as professional development opportunities for instructors in a state which had seen severe education budgets cut during the middle of the school year in 2002.

The grant has made it possible for 17 instructors to participate in one or two week internships with area businesses and 44 instructors to participate in a variety of professional development activities including re-certification conferences. With the participation of the instructors in a wide selection of information technology activities, there has been an explosion of new and improved programs in the field at both the College and high school level. When the grant was written, only nine of the 20 high schools had information technology courses offered in A+, Net+, Cisco, Microsoft, and Novell. Today, there are new programs in Web Design (including an online web program for high school students in eleven additional rural area high schools), HTML, Oracle, Computer Graphics, PhotoShop, and Visual Basic Programming. At the College Level, eight new courses in Computer Graphics have been added to the curriculum, Linux, Vista, and Internet Security in Computer Support, and an expansion of Programming including C++, Gaming, DHTML, and e-Commerce.

The Goals of the grant included providing:

  • Summer internships for instructors
  • Industry-based training for instructors
  • Expansion of the role of the regional advisory committee
  • Tracking of Tech Prep Information Technology students from high school to the College

As part of the goals, a number of documents were produced which can be viewed by clicking on the links provided. Those broad areas include surveys, letter templates, and assistance for planning a business focus group:

  • Graduate Survey
  • Employer Survey
  • Instructor Participant Survey
  • Focus Group

For more information, contact Claire Major, PI, at cmajor@csi.edu or Todd Schwarz, Co-PI at tschwarz@csi.edu.