RE: giving an iSeries system to each college

Actually I thought that all of the Colleges, etc..., had dropped it.  It 
was a surprise to hear about the one in Mankato still going.  From what I 
have heard, even most of the schools on the northern and western side of 
Wisconson had dropped it as well.

Nick



Nick Radich
Sr. Programmer/Analyst
EPC Molding, Inc.
Direct  (320) 679-6683
Toll free  (800) 388-2155  ext. 6683
Fax  (320) 679-4516
nick_radich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx



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RE: giving an iSeries system to each college

CALL TO ACTION...If you want to see System i education offered in your

area, GET INVOLVED

It would be nice to be able to assess the situation a little more and gain
insight to where we could even apply our skills and donate our time.  I 
was
surprised at Nick's statement of Mankato MN being the last tech college in
MN that offers iSeries/RPG specific curriculum - is that really the case
Nick?  It would be cool to have a page on ibm.com devoted to the success
stories so the wheel doesn't need to be recreated.  I am guessing the one 
in
Kansas has some formidable support and man hours put into it, what about 
the
staff that is already stretched too thin?  How can they best leverage
upcoming programs?  How can they best get in touch with area businesses 
that
are running i5's to find people to donate their time?

Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mark S. Waterbury
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 1:49 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: giving an iSeries system to each college

The success of any program like the IBM System i Academic Initiative
(formerly iSeries Scholars Program, nee PIE), is predicated on several
things that MUST HAPPEN (not necessarily in this order):

1. availability of necessary infrastructure (e.g. access to an i5/OS 
system
either locally or remotely) and any i5-related software students need to 
use
(especially on their PCs, for IDEs, etc.)

2. availability of full-time i5/OS administrators or programmers from
industry who are willing and able to serve as "adjunct faculty" to teach
part-time courses in a local community college or university, and/or to 
act
as a part-time administrators for any i5 systems on campus -OR- 
availability
of full-time faculty with the necessary knowledge to do the same.

3. availability of textbooks, preferably with "instructor's guide" and
lesson plans, suggested homework exercises, sample quizzes and exams, 
etc.,
so that anyone trying to teach the course for the first time can get "up 
and
running" quickly. (This was a major inhibitor over the past
5 years at several schools I was involved with.) Many college professors
will not even attempt to teach a new course without this kind of support.
(Oh, by the way, Microsoft does an EXCELLENT JOB in providing all of these
kinds of materials to colleges, for their recommended courses, at very low
cost.)

4. students willing to enroll in such courses.  Without enough students,
most colleges will be forced to CANCEL those courses, as they cannot 
afford
to run them "at a loss" (or at least "break even" with regard to paying
adjunct faculty, etc.)  Many students are not willing to take any courses 
in
a curriculum for "some platform they never heard of" -- especially if they
have little or no faith that there will be any jobs available upon the
completion of such coursework.  This is a big "CATCH-22" ... I know of
several community colleges that listed several AS/400 related courses in
their catalog, but NO ONE EVER SIGNED-UP for those courses. There needs to
be some kind of advertising-marketing in the local community to attract
student interest, such as having potential employers (companies that use 
i5)
come on campus and give a lecture to the students in the "introduction to
computers" courses to explain that there are jobs in the local market for
people with i5 skills.  This requires some cooperation and assistance from
the i5 community -- most colleges generally cannot or will not be able do
this adequately by themselves (there are of course some rare exceptions 
who
do a very good job of this "promotional" work.)

CALL TO ACTION
If you want to see System i education offered in your area, GET INVOLVED 
...
Volunteer to serve on a local college's CIS Advisory Board (or whatever 
they
call it), so you can have input into their curriculum, etc. -- volunteer 
to
help to "spread the word" ... Employers who use System i in the local
community could pay for their employees to sign-up for and take courses
(evening or week-ends) at the local colleges, in these courses ... For
example, how many RPG programmers would like to learn Java for iSeries? 
etc.


It is not easy -- it requres a commitment of your time, effort, etc.; it 
can
take a year or more to "get the ball rolling" -- perhaps you may even need
to volunteer to teach one or two courses the first time around.

If we don't take any action, we will continue to get the same results we 
are
seeing now -- very few colleges are currently offering ANY courses related
to IBM System i, p or z.  (Think globally, act locally.)

Sincerely,

Mark S. Waterbury

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