Microsoft establishes IT Academy Program - Redmond, Wash - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, Dec 20, 2001 by Ronald Roach

REDMOND, WASH.

The Microsoft Corp. last month introduced he Microsoft IT Academy Program, a training program that academic institutions can adopt to offer information technology instruction to students. The program has course-work and tools that can prepare students for careers as network administrators, technical support specialists, software and hardware developers, and design engineers.

The IT Academy is geared toward four-year institutions, two-year colleges, vocational schools and high schools. The program will enable schools to set up Microsoft training and certification classes in networking and developer technologies, according to officials.

"Hiring managers report an anticipated shortfall of 425,000 IT workers to fill their open positions this year," says Diana Carew, program manager of the Workforce Development and Community College Relations for the Education Solutions Group at Microsoft.

"Academic institutions are increasingly working to help fill this gap through their technical training programs. The Microsoft IT Academy Program is aimed squarely at helping schools in their mission to deliver high-quality training to students seeking degrees or otherwise continuing their education," Carew says.

Interested schools and institutions in the United States and Canada may participate in the Microsoft IT Academy Program by signing up online at <www.microsoftitacademy. com>.