CATC Highlight - Contributing to the Community through Leadership and Student Focus
The Moraine Valley CATC is a training center not only focused on quality instruction, but becoming a leader in technology, quality training, providing students with unique and interesting internship opportunities, and following through with one-on-one student planning and counseling.
The Moraine Valley CATC is a world leader in Information Assurance and Network Security. Under the leadership of Professor Erich Spengler and Dr. John Sands, the Moraine Valley CATC received a five million dollar NSF ATE award to establish the Center for System Security and Information Assurance (CSSIA). Established in 2003, this center serves as a regional resource for institutions and faculty members interested in establishing Network Security classes, programs and degrees.
Moraine Valley CATC staff members have worked with institutions from across the country in establishing new degree and certificate programs, articulation agreements, internship opportunities, student competitions and outreach efforts to increase the Cyber Security Workforce. The center provides subsidized faculty development workshops each summer. These workshops range from 2 to 5 days and are taught at Cisco Network Academies across the country by Cisco Academy Instructors.
Staff members from the CATC have also established important relationships with several departments across the campus. One of the most important relationships is a partnership with the College of Information Technology. Lou Balek, the CATC Internship Coordinator, has established a program in which Cisco Network Academy students are coordinating and implementing a one million dollar network infrastructure upgrade. The team consists of twelve students that are paid to unpack, test and configure all new equipment. These students are receiving a unique opportunity to work side-by-side with senior college network engineers and to work with state-of-the-art Cisco equipment.
One of the most successful initiatives at the Moraine Valley CATC is a student career orientation class, LAN101 – Orientation to IT Professions. All students are required to take this class before enrolling in any other classes in the program. Several years ago, Dr. John Sands and Professor Ricky Moore recognized several problems facing information technology programs across the country. They recognized that effective programs must be driven by workforce needs and trends that continuously change, which in turn has made it very difficult for college counselors and academic advisors to knowledgably serve their students.
The orientation class is an opportunity for the faculty to meet new students and work with them one-on-one. The seminar is used to identify the goals of each student and then better evaluate the success of each student against those goals. The class also provides a chance for students to discover the many career opportunities in information technology and assists those who are interested in transferring to a four-year institution by building a plan that includes the proper classes for transfer. This class results in a customized student plan for each student entering the program.
As a result of the orientation class, the Moraine Valley CATC has witnessed very high student satisfaction levels, higher completion rates, and great student success on assessments. Based on recent evaluation data, the students have indicated that they feel better informed and prepared for decisions related to class selection and career pathways.
We are pleased to highlight the Moraine Valley CATC and are thankful for their contribution to the community.
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