WMCC Campus News: President's Columns

Prepare to Be an Information Technology Specialist

Katharine Eneguess, President of White Mountains Community College

Recently I was cleaning out a forgotten desk drawer in my house when I came across an old copy of the New Hampshire Business Review (NHBR). It was the Nov. 8 21, 1996 issue. It seemed like only yesterday to me, so I was dismayed to realize that the issue is almost 14 years old.

My dismay quickly went away, however, when I did a bit of Internet research on several of the New Hampshire companies mentioned in NHBR's special section on the state's high-technology/Internet businesses. Aware that 14 years in this field is a lifetime, I was not optimistic when I googled "MicroArts" located in Greenland, N.H, the subject of the section's front page profile. The article noted that the four friends, all graduates of the University of New Hampshire, were "riding the wave of new desktop publishing technology" and working with high-tech companies to market those companies' products "with a combination of graphic arts and a personalized business relationship."

I expected, when I put MicroArts into the search box, to find that the company had ridden that wave as far as it could, then wiped out, perhaps during the dot.com crash at the turn of the century. Not so! It is still a thriving company, though some of the principals have changed. The then-29 year old vice president of operations is still at the company, but the then-33 year-old art director has left, retired from the marketing business to be a full-time artist.

One of the other companies I googled was a provider of web-based customer service software. In 1996 the company received $2.3 million in venture capital financing. In 2000 the company was acquired by a California firm for $4.2 billion in stock. The California company was able to hold on during the dot.com bust and continues to be publically traded.

Our reliance on computers and computer networks has only grown in the past 14 years. No doubt the successful companies mentioned above, even the one focusing on marketing, have information technology specialists on their staff. No matter what the end product of the companies, they are dependent on computer equipment.

Here at White Mountains Community College we offer an associate degree in Information Technology. The program is offered in partnership with Cisco Networking Academy. Cisco-certified instructors prepare students for Cisco Certified Network Associate certification. Students are prepared for the CompTIA A+ certification by A+ certified instructors. Those receiving an A.A. will have the skills necessary to keep personal computers, networks, peripherals and software running smoothly. For those wanting to continue their education, WMCC has a new articulation agreement with Plymouth State University. Students who complete our IT program with course grades of C or better, can transfer all of their credits to PSU's Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and enter under junior status.

We also offer a two-semester Information Technology Certificate, with required courses in web design, hardware and software essentials, programming, and Unix fundamentals. For more information on our informational technology courses, go to: http://www.wmcc.edu/courses/cet.html.

Every segment of the economy has become dependent on the efficient operation of computers. I would not have been able to gather the facts I used in this column without the ability of my computer to hook onto the stream of information that flows through the Internet.

Thank you, to those at White Mountains Community College who keep my computer up and running, and thank you too, to all the information technology specialists out there, who make it possible for me to find out so much, so fast.

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