Integrating a Laboratory Experience into the Undergraduate Communication & Computer Network Administration (CCNA) Program

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Saint Ambrose University is one of a few schools nationally to take an integrated approach to computer network education in a baccalaureate degree program. Already, the number of qualified network administrators is lagging behind demand; network management is one of the fastest growing occupations nationwide and among the top new job opportunities. St. Ambrose prepares qualified network managers with a strong, consistent, and integrated education. The interdisciplinary communication and computer network administration (CCNA) program is being adapted from several programs that have been started recently in other institutions. This project is building on MIT's new undergraduate Communication Requirement, Walla Walla College's new flexible Network & Systems Administration Program, and Drexel University's undergraduate Information Systems program. The developing program at Saint Ambrose offers students both a solid technical background as well as the "people skills" to work effectively with co-workers and technology users. CCNA graduates will have acquired theoretical and hands-on experience with networking technology along with communication theory and practice in problem-solving, decision-making, teambuilding, writing, and making presentations. The CCNA program was planned in collaboration with regional industry leaders and designed specifically to meet the needs of working adults in the accelerated degree completion program and the traditional undergraduates. The objectives of this proposal are three-fold: (1) to equip two networking laboratories in which students gain practical experience, (2) to better integrate communication into the networking curriculum, and (3) to develop an interdisciplinary course that examines the relationship between technology and communication. The new laboratories allow students to apply the computer and communication theories learned in the classroom to "real-world," open-ended networking problems to hone their technical knowledge and their problem-solving, team-building and communication skills.