SCC Offers Revamped IT Degrees for New Virtual Era

Published: 10/12/2020

In the last several months, technology has become more of a focal point for day-to-day business. Schools and services have pivoted from in-person to the virtual space. The need for qualified IT professionals is growing, and the skills they need to be successful are changing.

St. Charles Community College is at the forefront of offering the next generation of IT degrees.

“Skills needed in the IT job market today have transitioned to cloud technologies, automation and network programmability,” said Michael Fuszner, SCC information technologies department chair. “Few colleges have updated their degrees to reflect these trends. We are on the cutting edge.”

Fuszner added that IT workers need to keep their skills up-to-date to maintain or increase job security in the age of COVID. The newly designed degrees and short-term certificates at SCC will prepare students for a new world.

“We’ve updated all our curriculum,” said Fuszner. “We are focusing on the things that matter right now – Microsoft Cloud Technologies, Azure and Amazon Web Services, for example. We also are Red Hat Academy and Cisco Networking Academy.”

SCC currently offers three degrees in IT –Associate of Applied Science: Cyber Security, Associate of Applied Science: Networking and Associate of Applied Science: Information Technology. Short-term certificates are also available for each field.

“Our cyber security degree helps students prepare for the CISSP certification exam, which is the most requested cyber security certification in most job postings,” explained Fuszner. “We also cover ethical hacking and digital forensics in the curriculum.”

The networking degree, Fuszner added, is shifting more towards automation and network programmability. The degree now dives deeper into advanced Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) level certification skills.

“The information technology degree still covers the basic skills needed to work in IT,” he said, “but the courses have been updated to reflect the trends towards cloud, automation and network programmability as well.” 

Learn more about IT degrees at St. Charles Community College.