Re: SAGE, certification, and you

[William LeFebvre <wnl@groupsys.com>]

John Sechrest wrote:
> Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 09:47:35 PST
> From: (John Sechrest) <sechrest@peak.org>
> To: William LeFebvre <wnl@groupsys.com>
> Subject: Re: SAGE, certification, and you 

> 	Yes, it does sound familiar. And on many campuses, 
> 	computer science is still a step-child. 
> 	
> 	So that says to me that system administration as a 
> 	university certified process will not be quick in 
> 	coming. 

I didn't say it would be easy, just that it must be done.  :-)

> 	And will not move at all unless there is economic
> 	muscle behind it. 

Ah but the economic muscle IS behind it, or getting there at any rate.
All predictions for our industry (for all of IT) are that the demand
will continue to outstrip supply for the forseeable future.  Demand is
increasing at a rate that far exceeds current supply trends.  The
result is a lot of moderate to high paying positions desperate for
qualified individuals, those that do get hired get terribly
overworked, and a large number of unqualified and underqualified
people working these positions who are literally wreaking havoc on the
systems they support.  Companies that are continuing to treat their
SAs with little respect and low wages are noticing that these people
are finding better jobs elsewhere.  Literally every IT organization
that I talk to has openings, and they're always asking me if I know
of anyone who needs a job.

> 	No, I am not saying that are unreasonable. 
> 	
> 	I am asking you to outline some scenarios where would
> 	would move from the current state to a state where
> 	we had any of the above.

Well, I hardly think that I, personally, can do that for you in the
span of 5 minutes.  Speaking from personal experience I can say that
one possible path would be first the formation of a secialization of
an existing major (such as Computer Science), then a specific
curriculum, then several specializations within that curriculum), and
perhaps eventually a full blown department.  It can't all happen at
once: in most cases it would be a gradual process.  And, yes, it would
have to start as part of another department, be it CS, CE, SE, EE, or
something else.  This is how I saw a computer science department form
out of nothing when I was an undergrad.

When I was a freshman, the closest I could get was electrical
engineering with a specialization in computer science.  When I
received my Bachelor's it was a BA with a major in computer science.
A year later, the computer science department was formed as part of
the school of Natural Sciences.  MCS, MS and PhD track degrees were
formed somewhere along in there.  A few years later, the department
was moved over to the Engineering school and it started offering BS
degrees.  From a specialization of another degree, it grew to a
complete department (with endowed chairs) and now offers
specializations of its own.


> 	Could you suggest 3-5 Universities where the idea of 
> 	system administration as a minor would be open for 
> 	discussion?

I can tell you of universities which are incorporating systems
administration in to their curriculum in one way or another.  I
imagine that if such a minor were ever to be developed, it would
likely first happen at one of these places:

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado at
Boulder (home of Evi Nemeth) offers at least one course in systems
administration.

Central Queensland University (Australia) has a Bachelor of
Information Technology degree.

Florida State University has a Computer and Network System
Administration Master's Track.


				William LeFebvre
				Group sys Consulting
				<wnl@groupsys.com>
				+1 770 813 3224