YSU Computer training levels off

To get hands-on experience, YSU students are doing computer networking projects for local agencies.
By RON COLE
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Cisco Networking Academy opened 21/2 years ago at Youngstown State University in the midst of an unprecedented boom in high-tech computer jobs.
Some Cisco-certified students, some right out of high school, were getting positions paying $50,000 a year and more.
Nearly overnight, 120 aspiring information technology workers enrolled in the noncredit program at YSU; the names of another 250 applicants were put on a waiting list. YSU hired six instructors to meet the demand.
Then the bottom fell out.
The Nasdaq crashed. The dotcom market plunged. Plans for a high-speed fiber-optic Internet system ringing downtown Youngstown fell through. Terrorists struck New York and Washington, D.C.
Industry experts said as many as 600,000 information technology workers lost their jobs.
"There was a phenomenally dramatic change," said Dr. Gordon Mapley, YSU assistant provost.
The 'dramatic change'
Today, the noncredit YSU program enrolls 10 students and has two teachers. Once a self-funding program that required no money from YSU, the academy is expected to get about $100,000 in a university budget line item to continue next year.
"I've got people who have got their certifications, and they're calling me up, and they're hot because they can't find work," said Robert Meyers, academy director.
"I apologize to them, but who was going to predict what happened to us in this country and the economy."
Nevertheless, Meyers said information technology-related jobs are still out there, especially for skilled, motivated people willing to move out of the Youngstown region.
And, while enrollment numbers may never again reach those of a couple years ago, Mapley said Cisco remains a vitally important credential.
"We're assuming there's going to be a rebound," Mapley said. "The Internet's not going to go away."
Cisco Systems Inc., a worldwide leader in Internet technology, has opened more than 3,000 training academies worldwide. Students receive a Cisco Certified Networking Associate certificate, an industry-based standard of skill for designing, installing and maintaining computer networks.
Ohio has 161 training academies, up from 80 only two years ago, said Matt Tillett, an instructor at the Ohio Cisco Academy Training Center in Marion.
That competition could be one of the reasons why YSU's enrollment has dropped, he said.
"There was a lot of hype when the academies first opened, and I think we've all taken a little more realistic perspective of what the job markets are," said David Watts, technical programs representative at Columbus State Community College.
CSCC has offered Cisco certification for two years and enrolls a maximum of 40 students.
"This, I think, initially was billed as, 'Get your [Cisco certification] and go out and make a bunch of big bucks,'" Watts said.
"Realistically, it's like anything else. You've got to like what you're doing. You've got to have an affinity for it. You've got to work to do it well. It's not something that we can just pump a lot of people through."
High school training
As one of 14 regional academies in Ohio, YSU trains instructors to staff 15 local Cisco training sites at area high schools. High school students can finish the course in two school years.
YSU also offers the training on campus. Students already enrolled in YSU classes can take a two-semester course for college credit toward graduation; others can take it in four, 10-week sessions without credit.
While the non-credit enrollment has plummeted, the number of for-credit students has increased in the past year from about 40 to 95, Meyers said.
With jobs tighter than a couple years ago, Mapley said many people who otherwise would just get their Cisco certification, now are building a portfolio of skills -- including a college degree, training in Microsoft and hands-on experience -- before hitting the job market.
To gain experience, YSU tries to team each Cisco class with a local nonprofit organization to complete a computer networking project.
So far, students have networked offices in the Liberty Township administration building, a couple local churches and the offices of the Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities building on Marwood Circle in Boardman.
Students now are wiring MRDD's building on Bev Road in Boardman and plan to do the same to MRDD's site on Rayen Avenue this summer. MRDD pays for materials, while the YSU Cisco students provide the labor for free.
Roger Aiello, MRDD assistant superintendent, estimated the wiring project would have cost as much as $55,000. Under the partnership with YSU Cisco, the cost is about $12,500, he said.
Real world experience
Christina Pedas of Sharpsville, Pa., a YSU student in the Cisco program, said her experience wiring the MRDD building should pay off when she completes her degree in computer information systems at the end of this summer.
"You can only learn so much in the classroom," Pedas, 24, said from the Bev Road work site. "Bob has talked about problems you face, but to actually see it..."
Pedas, with a drill, wire cutters, pliers and gloves hanging from a workbelt around her waist, conceded that the telecom market has changed dramatically since she entered YSU six years ago.
"I had really high hopes," she said. "I was excited. I was determined."
But jobs are still out there to find, she said. She already has a job offer in Sharon, Pa., and she's thinking of moving to Dayton.
"It's challenging," she said. "It's competitive, and you really have to look for them, and you really have to have the skills."