ETSU Computer and Information Sciences students take care of business
| Contact Information |
| Email: Carolyn Novak Phone: 423-439-5824 |
The stereotype of computer students spending all their time alone with their computers, code and programs is being debunked at ETSU this fall. The newly formed Emerging Technology Center officially opened this semester, but already has numerous paying clients who are putting computer and information sciences students to work.
These clients are receiving high quality work for a lower price, says Carolyn Novak, special projects coordinator for the ETC. "We have people calling every day wanting more," Novak says.
After hearing about the ETC, businesses come to the computer science department and request student work on software and Web site development, she says. The faculty then reviews the project for approval. Currently the ETC only accepts non-profit and academic projects. "We want to make sure that they're not only do-able projects, but they're good projects for students," she says. "We want to make sure it's a fit.
"We're not going to take on something we can't do a good job with. We're not going to take on something that doesn't have value to both us and to the client."
Both faculty and students work on the projects, depending on the level of expertise needed, but the students are very capable of producing quality work, Novak says. "The students have a great background," she says. "They can program mountains around me." Computer and Information Sciences Chair Terry Countermine came up with the idea for the ETC, Novak says. "He based the concept on a need he saw for both the regional community and for the students at ETSU," she says. "This is the first year that ETC has been officially recognized by ETSU administration. However, a pilot program was started last year."
Right now the ETC has about half a dozen clients, she says. "We have more than that, but we're actively working for about six clients, some more active than others," Novak says. "It's a real challenge. It's a good challenge to figure out how to juggle everything." Last fall, the ETC worked with Elizabethton's Tennessee Technological Center. Students worked for two semesters rebuilding the TTC Web site to make it easier to navigate and more appealing, Novak says. "We did the project beginning from the requirements gathering, coming up with specifications, to totally finishing the Web site," Novak says. "It's an ongoing project."
Assistant Director for Elizabethton's Tennessee Technological Center Roberta Bowers says they have had numerous compliments on the new Web site. "Our center has limited personnel and resources," Bowers says. "The ETC made it possible to have a Web site that faculty, staff, and students had input on and we are very proud of the results.
"From our very first meeting, it was evident that the ETC was a professional center with staff willing to listen and provide input into the development of an excellent, working Web site."
This year, the center also has taken on a major project with the Tennessee Board of Regent's Online Degree program (RODP), Novak says. "We're going to help them assess all of the Regent's online degree courses," Novak says. "There are 15,000 students taking online courses through RODP and they don't have a way to effectively do course assessment online. "We're going to create a way for them to log on online and fill out an assessment form. Then we're going to tally those statistics and be able to create a report. It's a big project."
The workers strive to help others and in turn help themselves. The ETC is a for-profit business, Novak says, but does not charge rates as high as professionals because it employs students. "It will go back into software and hardware for the computer science department, to funding the salary for the director, funding graduate assistants, that kind of thing," she says. "We are a non-profit entity, but we can make money to expand the program."
Working for the ETC is both a job and an educational experience, says graduate student Ihab Abuzayda. "I acquired project management, communication and troubleshooting skills," Abuzayda says. "I also learned to create Web sites from the ground up. I'm really glad to have this opportunity. It's not too academic and it's not too business. It's somewhere in the middle."
This is Abuzayda's second year working for the ETC and things didn't always come easy (referring to his skills), he says. "It's one step at a time," he says. "You just have to show so much effort. Compared to the way I saw myself in the past, I think I've improved a lot."
Working for the ETC exposes students to skills they would not acquire in the classroom, says Joshua Banks, who worked for the ETC pilot program. "This seemed to be more beneficial and practical than working in an artificial classroom setting made up by a professor to illustrate some point or points," Banks says. "My work for the ETC was a great experience, always fast-paced and interesting, and I would most certainly do it again if able.
"If you are a student looking to both acquire real-world experience and learn something new in the process, then I encourage you to give ETC a try. I cannot recommend it highly enough."
The program is already expanding. The department of computer and information sciences will be moving to the newly-renovated library in 2006 and the ETC will have a space there at the end of the Spring semester, Novak says. "The way I see it eventually, is that we'll have a lab and people can come in and work specific hours and there will be somebody there that can oversee things," she says. "We're proving ourselves this year. ... We've got our plates full and we're working on real viable projects."
Challenges ahead for the ETC include securing funding, securing clients, training new workers and establishing policies and procedures, Novak says. "Starting ETC is literally like starting a new business," she says. "I guess the biggest challenge is going to be working with a constantly changing 'pool' of workers."
In the future the ETC hopes to employee students and faculty across various disciplines, Novak says. "I could conceive of certain projects using student or faculty resources in all different departments," she says. "We have a tremendous amount of expertise on campus in all sorts of fields, so this is a way to tap into those resources."
For information on the ETC, contact Carolyn Novak at 439-5824.
— Article by Nola Jessee, Senior, Mass Communications
