School officials foresee boost to computer programs.
by Kevin Lilly
Pharos-Tribune news editor
With the help of grant funding, Ivy Tech will have a new network computer lab.
Julie Byrd, computer information systems program chair for the Logansport campus, announced that the college had received nearly $46,000 from the McTaggart Charitable Trust to buy the equipment and programs necessary to create a state-of-the-art lab.
“It was my desire to make sure the students were provided the hardware and software necessary to practice tasks that are pertinent in information systems and networking careers,” Byrd said.
As part of the curriculum, Byrd plans to establish a mock company that needs a network set up. The new computers for the lab will come in pieces, and students will have to build them from scratch, along with installing programs and equipment common in the workforce. During each semester, the network will be torn down and rebuilt numerous times.
“I don’t want any of them to graduate without feeling comfortable doing this particular work,” Byrd said. “It isn’t just theory. It’s hands-on.”
Byrd intends to buy the latest technology and have it all in place for the spring semester.
The lab will be called the McTaggart Network Center in the new building, where it will be moved once the campus is completed sometime before January 2010.
Byrd is looking forward to implementing the new lab with student participation. She said CIS and CIT students are excited about what the lab has to offer and will be provided the experience of planning and implementing the new lab.
The lab could also be used for workforce development training for local companies.
An open house for local officials and students is in the planning stages.
This is the second year in a row for a lab grant. Last year, Byrd secured a $53,000 grant from the McTaggart Charitable Trust for the a general lab that is now equipped with all new computers, a 60-inch plasma screen used like an electronic blackboard and new workstations.
Byrd had a message to students interested in computer-related studies.
“My main hope for doing this work is to let this community see that they have this localcollege that has the equipment, that has the instruction,” she said. “They don’t have to go anywhere. We have all this right here.”
Reprinted with permission from the Pharos-Tribune