RE: giving an iSeries system to each college

Our local community college had a tremendous program that was ran by
Jerry Fotral (who wrote the as/400 book).
It also suffered from poor enrollment, and when last I heard, the
program was not in good shape.  Everyone was signing up for PC
programming classes. 

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces+joe.hayes=fiserv.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces+joe.hayes=fiserv.com@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of fkany@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 9:00 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: giving an iSeries system to each college

I tried to register at Volunteer State Community College(Livingston, TN
campus) to take a few JAVA classes.  The instructor told me they dropped
JAVA and are now teaching C#.  This was in September 06.



 

             Jerry Adams

             <jerry@bwwholesal

             e.com>
To 
             Sent by:                  Midrange Systems Technical

             midrange-l-bounce         Discussion

             s@xxxxxxxxxxxx            <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

 
cc 
 

             01/25/2007 06:46
Subject 
             AM                        Re: giving an iSeries system to

                                       each college

 

             Please respond to

             Midrange Systems

                 Technical

                Discussion

             <midrange-l@midra

                 nge.com>

 

 





Nashville Tech dropped its RPG programming class several years ago.  The
only other thing they had was an Operations class.

The RPG class was III.  I tried convincing them to change it to IV but,
they said, employers wanted III (probably true, sigh).  The other
"reason" I fear is because the instructor didn't know IV.

Anyway, they, as Mark pointed out, dropped it because they couldn't get
enough enrollment.  Most of us don't think of it, but colleges are
businesses.  Unless the course is mandatory for a core offering, such as
engineering, or has enough students to "pay" for the instructor,
facilities, etc., it's a money loser and is dropped.  I guess an
exception might be made for an endowment.  Wanna set one up, Aaron?
That was certainly be a way of getting involved.

And the people who make the business decisions regarding systems (as
well as other things), are *not* programmers.  It is necessary to
convince and prove to these people that the iSeries is not a legacy
system, that it can do damn near anything, etc.  As Mark pointed out,
it's a Catch-22: The colleges won't start the courses until there's a
demand; the businessmen say, "There are no people available to make this
thing go."


             * Jerry C. Adams
*IBM System i5/iSeries Programmer/Analyst B&W Wholesale Distributors,
Inc.* * voice
             615.995.7024
fax
             615.995.1201
email
             jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>



Nick_Radich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

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



"albartell" <albartell@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent by: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
01/24/07 02:27 PM
Please respond to
Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>


To
"'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx> cc

Subject
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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