Community Colleges may be the way to go. They are much more flexible than Universities and can reprogram their curriculum a lot faster. I'm not just a spokeperson, I'm a satified customer! Up until this year all I had was an Associates degree and I have done quite well, thank you.
Jon L. Veilleux [EMAIL PROTECTED] (860) 636-2683 -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steve Comstock Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 12:17 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Curiosity Veilleux, Jon L wrote: > Have you looked into the IBM Scholars program? They are working with > Universities to generate interest in the mainframe. There does seem to > be a good deal of interest from the schools and from the students, > they just need to know that we are here and aren't going away. Once > students have the opportuinity to play on a mainframe they like it. > There are several Colleges and Universities that are offering > mainframe courses. > > > Jon L. Veilleux > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > (860) 636-2683 But, as I pointed out on an earlier thread: 10 April, 2006: Joel Ewing posted a pointer to IBM's academic initiative page for iSeries: https://www-304.ibm.com/jct09002c/university/scholars/products/iseries/c onnect/participatinguniversities.html There are over 250 schools there. But on the left had side of the page is a link to the zSeries program, which is: https://www-304.ibm.com/jct09002c/us/en/university/scholars/products/zse ries/ Here there are only 20 schools (check the "Participating universities" tab). ------------------------------------ then, later the same day: Most of these schools are 2nd or 3rd tier schools, including a number of community colleges. [Not that there is anything wrong with community colleges, but my point is there are no top-of-the-line US universities on the list.] Follow the links to the schools sites and do a Search on "mainframe" and you either turn up no hits (is there really a program here, or is the university just slow to put it on their website), or you get Linux on zSeries, or you find an instructor bio that says he has seen the "rise and fall of mainframes", or you get some actual courses (e.g., Columbus State University) that are "OS/390" or even "MVS" or "the Hitachi AS/EX 80 mainframe" [which, we are assured, runs "MVS/XA"]; I haven't found a z/OS hit yet. So, let's train them on out of date technology and count our good deeds for the day. This doesn't help IBM's image of commitment to the z/OS platform, nor does it help the students attending. One more sign that perhaps IBM doesn't really consider z/OS "strategic". -------------------------------- Finally, again the same day: OK, I found a z/OS hit in this program. Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada offers a free mainframe course, non-credit, on Friday afternoons at 3:00! I'm sure that is a perfect time for college students to focus on mainframes. But at least it's z/OS! --- Our favorite, Marist College, that hosts the mvs-oe list, of course, lists z/OS, and that's cool. The program looks very strong. --- I love this quote, from Northeastern Illinois University, which is listed as participating in the program: "Unfortunately we have lost our mainframe. Therefore simulating the mainframe using Microfocus JCL which is located in CLS 2108 and hopefully also in our classroom FA104." --- Sao Paulo State Univirsity at Campinas, Brazil, mentions they run z/OS 1.5 --- Looks like University of Tuebingen in Germany runs and teaches some z/OS (my German is not that strong, though, and I could be mis-reading). --- University of Latvia offers some mainframe training, can't be sure of z/OS-ness. --- Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden turns up 4 references to z/OS; 2 are Tivoli manuals, 2 are pages of links to IBM docs on the web. --- Technical University of Denmark looks to have a real z/OS series to offer. =========================================== I wouldn't be too quick to praise the IBM program until it shows signs of being a serious effort. Kind regards, -Steve Comstock ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html ----------------------------------------- This e-mail may contain confidential or privileged information. If you think you have received this e-mail in error, please advise the sender by reply e-mail and then delete this e-mail immediately. Thank you. Aetna ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
