Students have the opportunity to sign up for self-paced classes to earn a certificate in CISCO and network engineering.
“These are self-paced online information technology programs that are built based on the current CIS computer systems program that we already have, but we are just changing the delivery mode,” Jessica Stumpff, TAACCCT recruiter and admissions counselor said. “So classes are the self-paced format which would allow the student to either move more quickly through the program if they have experience in it, or if they don’t have experience in the field, then they can always take more time learning the material that they’re unfamiliar with.”
Students are able to sign up at any time and will pay the normal tuition rate based on whether they pay in-state, out-of-state or in-county tuition, plus $8 more because it is an online class. However, the admissions requirements for the program is different than normal online and in-person courses.
“All of the Accelerate IT students need to come through me, because I am the recruiter and the admissions counselor specifically for the Accelerate IT programs,” she said. “The students have extra admissions requirements that they need to complete in addition to doing ‘How to Succeed in an Online Course’ which is the requirement for all online students. These students also have to do something called a readiness assessment. It’s not a pass or fail, it’s designed to asses a student’s fit for online and technology-based programs. They also need to test into the second level of DEV courses or have taken them already.”
She said the program is self-paced, meaning students can take the course as fast or slow as they need.
However, she said the courses could be better-suited for students with previous IT experience.
“People that have experience in the program are going to be better at them because they’re designed to be accelerated, so the only way you can accelerate is if you can skip through some of the material with knowledge that you already have,” she said. “It’s definitely not to say that someone with an aptitude for IT wouldn’t fit, because if you have an aptitude, I’m definitely not going to turn you away because you don’t have experience, just be aware that it may take you a little longer than someone who does have experience.”
In addition, she said students are able to sign up at any time, because the courses are self-paced.
“The way that we’re doing it, you don’t really need to think of it as in terms or semesters, because the students can actually start classes on any of the first 12 Mondays during the semester, so the only times we are not enrolling students are the last four weeks of the semesters.”
The teachers who lead the courses are already familiar with online classes. Because the program is new, they are assisting in building and grading the courses.
“I would think of it just as a regular online course,” she said. “So you would log in, do your work, your teacher would grade your assignments. The only difference with these courses is that the teachers have a little bit more accountability and responsibility for turning in grades, because you have to turn in the grades when the student is done with the class and if the student gets done in the fourth week of the semester, that means their grade needs to be submitted in the fourth week of the semester as well.”
Students need to maintain an 80 percent in classes in order to continue in the courses. If the student does not meet this requirement, they are able to finish out the course with the grade they earned and will not be able to take anymore accelerate IT courses.
However, she said the program will be taken on a case-by-case basis.
“When you sign up … you’re able to start at the very beginning and if you happen to finish in a couple of weeks, that’s great and if you need until the end of the term, that’s fine too,” she said. “You still have the option of taking an incomplete when finished, just like any other student would and you’d have that extra 30 days to finish the curriculum that you’re working on for the course.”
For more information, visit Sinclair.edu/accelerate.