Re: SAGE, certification, and you

[(John Sechrest) <sechrest@peak.org>]

--------


	Re: College Degrees.
	
	As someone who has organized System Administration Classes
	for many years at OSU, and helped get them started at PSU,
	I have found some specific things about System Administration
	as it relates to Universities:
	
		1) Faculty in Computer Science in general do 
			not appreciate what it takes to do 
			system administration. It is looked down
			on. And as such, it took years to get
			system administration courses approved.
			
			This may be changing, but it was a signifcant
			battle.
			
			And as a result, getting even a "core curriculum"
			component that would give you a system administration
			minor seems to me to be a big job.
			
		2) To do system administration WELL, you must marry 
			several departments together. A good
			system adminstrator can:
			
				1) program
				2) reason
				3) communicate in person
				3a) communicate in writing
				4) Manage people
				5) cooperate
				6) Manage finances


			Generally, these skills are really spread over
			several departments. 
			
			Interdepartmental cooperation is often difficult.
			And degrees that rely on multiple departments
			often become hungry step-children with no
			resources.
			

	So.. Under what circumstances could you see 
		a) A minor in System administration
		b) A department of System administration
		c) A faculty chair in System administration
		
		


William LeFebvre <wnl@groupsys.com> writes:

 % Dave Close wrote:
 % > We have lots of certification programs already. Most of them are called 
 % > college degrees.

 % Took the words right out of my mouth.  In my personal and humble
 % opinion, the best "certification" that SAGE could develop would be one
 % based on college degrees.  All other professions start with some form
 % of bachelor's degree, whether they eventually require separate
 % certification, licensing, apprenticeships, or what have you.  Why
 % not systems administration?


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