[TriLUG] OT schools

[Nathan Conrad]

Hi,

I am currently going to UNC-C and working towards a double major of CS
and electrical engineering. Looking through our course catalog, I do
not see many classes that have to do with network
administration. As noted before, the BS degree in CS has fair bit of
theort, but less than UNC has. As always, there are some bad teachers
here, but I have found the majority of mine to be excellent. There is
also a BA degree available in information sciences.

One problem that I ran into last semseter is that there are few campus
events, especially on weekends. This does not matter so much now since
I have acquired a group of friends that are here usualy. About 30-40%
of my building leave over the weekends.

As for Linux, it is not used on campus. We have a number of Solaris
labs and Netware/Windows2K setups. I was thinking about starting up a
LUG here, but got involved with fencing instead. There are some
Linux users here (a few percent of CS majors....). 

-Nathan

On Mon, Mar 24, 2003 at 01:50:40PM -0500, Merle Watts wrote:
> Thanks for the info.
> I think he sent an application to charlotte yesterday.  He's lookin at
> network admin an he's interested in Linux.
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ben Pitzer" <uncleben at mindspring.com>
> To: <trilug at trilug.org>
> Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 10:38 AM
> Subject: RE: [TriLUG] OT schools
> 
> 
> > I'll agree with this, for the most part.  If you want a job in this field,
> > then getting a 4 year degree is invaluable.  Getting one in the
> > IT/CS/CIS/MIS/CompEng field is great, but no matter what degree you get,
> > you'll probably start out on the bottom end of the job market quickly.
> This
> > business rewards competent folks still, in my experience.  The
> incompetents
> > are either good enough BS artists to get by, or else they get replaced
> > fairly quickly.  The competent folks on the lower end are more likely to
> > move up, especially if they learn and do individual career development
> > outside of work (eg, buying an old Sparc and learning Solaris, an old HP
> and
> > learning HPUX, setting up a decent home network, learning software, etc).
> > It's not as easy a road as it was 4-5 years ago, but it can be done.  I
> > recommend that 4 year degree, but where he gets it from is less important
> > that finding a way to get an 'in' on a job afterwards.  Internships can be
> > invaluable.  IBM picks up alot of grads from various schools and throws
> them
> > into the software grinder to see who comes out whole on the other side.
> >
> > As for local schools, from what I hear, Duke's CS program isn't
> spectacular,
> > as that is primarily a LibArts school and focuses little money or
> attention
> > on CS/MIS.  CS at UNC is highly theoretical and focuses to a great degree
> on
> > graphics and graphical rendering technologies (again, that's hearsay from
> > some folks who have done some undergrad work there in CS), and at NCSU,
> the
> > CompEng degree is more intense, but also more valuable later on than CS.
> >
> > CS in most schools traditionally has been all about programming.
> Potential
> > sysadmins and network engineers should probably stay on the compeng side,
> or
> > go for a CIS/MIS degree.  Network engineering hopefuls might also benefit
> > from a standard electrical engineering degree, as sometimes that
> discipline
> > can be critical to truly understanding how an particular networking
> > protocol/transmission medium works, and how it must be managed.  Of
> course,
> > that's also most valuable if he/she wants to work for cisco and design and
> > build routers and switches.
> >
> > Basically, the earlier this kid decides what he wants to do 'after'
> school,
> > the quicker he'll be able to decide what he should be doing 'in' school.
> As
> > for myself, I got a degree in Public Policy (like poly sci, just less
> theory
> > and more analysis and practical study), and wound up being a sysadmin
> > because I fell into a tech support job for a national ISP.  I developed my
> > career from there.  Of course, I've had 4 different jobs in 5 years, but
> > I've more than doubled my salary since then, and gotten better benefits,
> > tons of training, and chances to work on more and better software and
> > hardware each time.  Only one job ended involuntarily, and that only
> because
> > my job at the company was being eliminated altogether.
> >
> > That's my thought on this.  YMMV.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Ben Pitzer
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------
> >
> > "Those that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
> > safety
> >  deserve neither liberty nor safety."
> >  --Ben Franklin--
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: trilug-admin at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-admin at trilug.org]On Behalf
> > > Of Jim Ray
> > > Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 6:37 AM
> > > To: trilug at trilug.org
> > > Subject: RE: [TriLUG] OT schools
> > >
> > >
> > > There is absolutely *no* replacement for the school of hard knocks.  If
> > > you really want to succeed in the IT profession, get the software and
> > > load it up.  Over and over again.
> > >
> > > I'll take practical experience over book knowledge any day.
> > >
> > > Now, there's a lot to be said about that 4 year degree as far as
> > > employment goes...
> > >
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Jason Tower [mailto:jason at cerient.net]
> > > > Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2003 9:10 PM
> > > > To: trilug at trilug.org
> > > > Subject: Re: [TriLUG] OT schools
> > > >
> > > > many of the IT people i know are recent graduates of the school of
> > > hard
> > > > knocks.
> > > >
> > > > jason
> > > >
> > > > On Sunday 23 March 2003 19:38, Merle Watts wrote:
> > > > > Any body know which schools in North Carolina are good for IT.  My
> > > kid
> > > > is
> > > > > in UNC Pembroke taking computer science, but they don't have the
> > > classes
> > > > he
> > > > > wants.  He's interested in Network Administration and also
> > > Unix/Linux.
> > > > >
> > > > > Looking into transfering and he doesn't want the most expensive
> > > schools.
> > > > > Just good ones.
> > > > >
> > > > > Any ideas?
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks
> > > > >


-- 
Nathan J. Conrad   (XXX)-687-7449    http://bungled.net
312 Moore Hall // UNC-C // Charlotte, NC 28223-0001
GPG: F4FC 7E25 9308 ECE1 735C  0798 CE86 DA45 9170 3112
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