Faculty Spotlight

Do you want to be sure your students are well-equipped for technical careers in the future? Then you would do well to follow Dr. Jong's example. He has been instrumental in developing an Enterprise Computing Systems program at Illinois State University (ISU) that is effectively preparing the next generation of enterprise computing experts. Dr. Jong's approach followed these three guidelines for success and included the real-world perspective at every step:

• Teach the correct skills
  Dr. Jong participates in quarterly planning sessions with large financial services companies in the Midwest. All these companies use large mainframe systems and have emphasized the need to include large-scale computing as part of the Computer Science and Information Systems curriculum. The ISU curriculum includes Introduction to Enterprise Computing Systems, Data Communication and Networking in Enterprise Computing Systems, Database Processing (with DB2), COBOL as a Second Language, and External Data Structures (includes JCL and VSAM). Topics such as Enterprise Systems Integration, Enterprise Computing Architecture, System Programming and System Administration are also included for advanced study.

• Give them hands-on experience
  Sure, lab exercises are good, but Dr. Jong has found extra ways for his students to get their hands on real code. In the 2006 Fall semester, every student in the introductory course participated in the IBM Master the Mainframe contest. This semester the students will take the IBM Mastery Exam for mainframe programming skills.

• Make it real
  Dr. Jong brings their real world to his classes and brings his classes to the real world. He invites people from large Midwest companies who are using the technology to speak as guest lecturers. He has also taken his students into the data centers at these companies to see the people, processes and equipment in action.

Results:
Dr. Jong was recently invited to be a guest presenter at the "Head of the Class" session at the SHARE conference in San Diego. ISU students will be well positioned to secure internships and employment in technical jobs for the largest and most successful companies. And, these companies will be able to hire from a skilled pool of students who understand mainframe computing and can hit the road running.

Benefits:
Through their involvement with the IBM Academic Initiative program, ISU will be able to expand their enterprise systems curriculum with a System z mainframe system that IBM is loaning them. The future of mainframe computing is looking brighter for everyone in the Midwest.

Learn more about the products and technologies referenced in this spotlight.

Already an Academic Initiative member? Get the resources for the products and technologies referenced in the interview, free of charge.

Not a member? Join now!