Thank you Howard for taking the time to respond to my post! You made some
very good and greatly appreciated points in your response.
I think the reason I asked the group the question stems from the fact
that a friend of mine just received his Bachelor's in Computer Engineering,
and is having a very difficult time finding a job. I quite honestly think
that the problem is that he is very well rounded, but doesn't really know
alot about any one area (i.e. programming, networking, etc...).
So, here I am, working as a Systems Administrator for a well known
company, wanting to get away from the "NT babysitting" I find myself doing
on a daily basis, and getting into something more WAN intensive. I am just
fearful that if I elect to finish my Bachelor's in CE, CS, or MIS, I will
not gain the same level of "relevant" information that I would if I had used
the time to study for a vendor specific certification such as the CCIE (or
something much more specialized such as the Bachelor's degree in networking
I originally inquired about), nor will the degree help me find a job any
quicker than the CCIE would (based upon one individual I have observed). I
guess my first question should have been, "OT: Certs or degees, which one(s)
first?"
Thank you again,
jay
>From: "Howard C. Berkowitz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: "Howard C. Berkowitz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Re: OT: WAN degree?
>Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 12:46:25 -0500
>
> >Hello,
> >
> > I am currently a MCSE/CCNA and I am finishing up my AA degree at
>the
> >local junior college, and looking to start my 3rd year in the fall. Are
> >there any colleges that offer a Bachelor's degree in networking? I have
> >visited several college websites and it seems that they all offer just
> >Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or Management Information Systems
> >degrees. After reviewing the individual coarse outlines, there appears to
>be
> >very few classes relating to networking. If anyone can offer there
>advise
> >on this issue, I would greatly appreciate it!
>
>
>I have seen telecommunications management courses at the master's
>level, and networking concentrations in all the programs you mention.
>But if I might try to read between the lines of your post, let me
>offer some observations about relevance.
>
>Being good in networking means lifelong study. While you may not see
>specific networking references in some of the course descriptions,
>many of the courses cover subjects that will equip you to learn and
>continue to learn, at a level beyond relying on vendor manuals.
>Don't get me wrong -- it is possible to learn this sort of theory on
>your own. I did, but courses weren't available at the time I entered
>the field.
>
>Most computer science programs have a course in operating system
>design at the sophomore or junior level. Without understanding how
>operating systems work, you won't ever really understand how buffers
>are managed, how interrupts affect processor throughput, why
>different amounts of memory are required, etc.
>
>Typically, there will be a course called something like "discrete
>mathematical structures." You may have gotten information on finite
>state machines in a programming course, but you need to refine finite
>state machine/automata theory if you are ever going to feel
>comfortable picking up a protocol RFC and understanding the
>definitions. Such a course also will give an introduction to
>information theory and coding algorithms, which underlie compression,
>modulation, and error detection and correction.
>
>In the more MIS courses, you are going to get some business analysis
>techniques that can be important in understanding customer
>requirements. I slept through economics 101 -- literally, I
>overslept the final and flunked the course -- but I've had to go back
>and study economics to be able to give the best solution
>recommendation to clients, such as the tradeoffs between acquisition
>cost and life cycle cost.
>
>Statistics courses are a strong foundation to performance measurement
>and capacity planning. Unfortunately, many academic programs spend
>too much time on mathematical analysis ("calculus"), and not enough
>on the things you really use, such as statistics, operations
>research, and the oddly named abstract algebra. (Yes, I recognize
>analysis underlies statistics. But in the real world, a network
>engineer needs to recognize and use such things as probability
>distribution functions, not derive them. My attitude there is
>"yup...that derivation involves an incomplete gamma function. I'll
>leave it alone if it will leave me alone." Really understanding the
>derivations is more of a matter for graduate programs in mathematics.)
>
>Programming language and software development courses, even if you
>don't program routinely, will give you insight into software
>maintenance. Again, even if you aren't looking for a job as a
>programmer, really decent system/network admins will write programs
>as tools.
>
>What would you think of as pure "networking" courses? I don't think
>of router configuration as an advanced academic subject. No question
>that there are lots of networking computer science programs, but they
>tend to be more at the master's level.
>
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