Are Neumont students answering the nation's sputnik moment . . .

Exceperted, paraphrased, and otherwise blatantly pulled from the New York Times,  June 10, 2011 Article by Claire Cain Miller, paraphrased by Stacy Cahoon Hughes of Neumont University:
Computer Studies Made Cool, on Film and Now on Campus

It’s become very glamorous to become the next Mark Zuckerberg, and everyone likes to think they have some great idea,” said Ms. Fong, a junior, who has since decided to major in Yale’s newly energized computer science program.

Never mind that Mr. Zuckerberg, like other tech titans, did not major in computer science — or even finish college. Enrollment in computer science programs, and degrees from them, are rising after a decade of decreases, despite much handwringing about the decline of American competitiveness in technology and innovation from President Obama on down. And educators and technologists say the inspiration is partly Hollywood’s portrayal of the tech world, as well as celebrity entrepreneurs like Steven P. Jobs of Apple and Mr. Zuckerberg who make products that students use every day.

“It’s a national call, a Sputnik moment,” said Mehran Sahami, associate chairman for computer science education at Stanford, referring to the Soviet satellite launching in 1957 that pushed the United States into the space race. “Students are users of Facebook or Google, and they think about how the people who created it are not that much different than themselves. The realization that I can do this too is a powerful motivator.”

The number of computer science degrees awarded in the United States began rising in 2010, and will reach 11,000 this year, after plummeting each year since the end of the dot-com bubble in 2004, according to the Computing Research Association, which tracks enrollment and degrees. Enrollment in the major peaked around 2000, with the most degrees — 21,000 — awarded four years later. The number of students who are pursuing the degree but have not yet declared their major increased by 50 percent last year.

To capitalize on the growing cachet of the tech industry, colleges nationwide, including Stanford, the University of Washington, Neumont University, and the University of Southern California, have recently revamped their computer science curriculums to attract iPhone and Facebook-obsessed students, and to banish the perception of the computer scientist as a geek typing code in a basement."

In 2011, Neumont will enroll students in Web Design and Development programs, and a Software and Game Development program designed for PC, Console, and gaming on mobile devices - both in response to a growing national need for highly skilled developers in every medium.  This comes on the heels of the introduction of Neumont's BS in Technology Management Program which started it's first class of students in 2010.

Neumont has long been touting the fact that there is a breadth of career options available for people with a degree in computer science, and it seems the rest of the country's educators are now catching on.  But, as Neumont has also long mentioned, in order to be successful, these program have to embrace applied CS principles and move away from the more theory-oriented curriculums of the past.

“The old-fashioned way of computer science is, ‘We’re going to teach you a bunch of stuff that is fundamental and will be long-lasting but we won’t tell you how it’s applied,’ ” said Michael Zyda, director of the University of Southern California’s GamePipe Laboratory, a new games program in the computer science major. With the rejuvenated classes, freshman enrollment in computer science at the university grew to 120 last year, from 25 in 2006.

Still, computer science graduates do not come close to filling the jobs available. Technology is one of the few bright spots in the economy, with jobs growing at double the rate of job growth over all, according to federal statistics. And colleges say they do not have enough resources or professors to teach interested students. Meanwhile, the programs woefully lag in attracting women and many minorities, though the share of computer science degrees granted to women climbed 2.5 percentage points last year to 14 percent.

In 2010, Neumont received national media attention due to the fact that Neumont's female graduates often out-earn their male counterparts, recieve more job offers, and are more quicly promoted within the field.

Neumont Student Events, Activities, and Fun Times

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Coding Competition

When: This Friday, June 10^th.  

The competition starts at 8:00 am and lasts until noon.  Light breakfast and lunch will be served.  Students will not have regularly scheduled morning classes.  Classes resume at 1pm on Friday.

Register your team today.

Liberty Park Picnic

Sign-up on JP’s door for a Saturday trip to Liberty Park.  We will have a picnic, beach volleyball, bocce and croquet.  The featured event of the day will be “ice blocking” down Liberty Park Hill.  “Ice blocking” involves sliding down a hill while sitting on a big block of ice (if you didn’t know already.) 

Pre-Finals Breakfast, presented by USG

The finals “Breakfast for Dinner” will be next Friday, June 17^th.  This free dinner will be served at 6:00 pm to Neumont students.  The dinner is provided by contributions from USG, Student Affairs and our University President, Ned Levine.  If you are interested in helping out, please contact Glen Watson at gwatson@student.neumont.edu

This is your last week to nominate someone for “Student of the Quarter.”  Do so by emailing students@neumont.edu, or send your nomination directly to JP.  Remember to include the name of the person you are nominating and the reason for your nomination.

Commencement Ceremony (aka “graduation ceremony”)

Support your friends/classmates, listen to an Oracle powerbroker speak, eat tasty desserts… hang out with the undead.  Details are on the Neumont website and on the Kilbourn-original posters around the building.  The event is located close to the University (of Utah) TRAX line; Neumont will provide rides to the Sandy TRAX station and tickets.  Sign up on JP’s door.

Neumont University Student Employment Opportunity

Title:                                 Academic coach

Department:                     Student Affairs

Reports to:                       student Advisement Coordinator

Introduction

An academic coach is one who acts as an assistant to the Instructor and assists in different activities associated with teaching for a specific course. Grading and provision of one-on-one assistance to students are the main responsibilities of an academic coach. The academic coach is a problem-solver in the classroom and a second source of tutoring/extra help for students.

Job Duties

•   Meet with instructor to discuss students' grades, and to complete required grade-related tasks.
• Notify instructors of errors or problems with assignments.
• Obtain materials needed for classes.
• Schedule and maintain regular office hours to meet with students.
• Assist faculty members or staff with student conferences.
• Evaluate and grade examinations, assignments, and papers, and record grades with timely and effective feedback.
•  Assist with class discussions.
• Assist in developing of teaching materials such as syllabi, visual aids, answer keys, and supplementary notes.
• Attend lectures on a regular basis given by the instructor they assist.
• Copy and distribute classroom materials.
• Inform students of the procedures for completing and submitting class assignments.
• Other tasks may be assigned by the instructor such as completing laboratory projects prior to assigning them to students so that any needed modifications can be made.

Supervision

The Academic coach reports to, and is supervised by, a Student Advisement Coordinator.  Regular and frequent contact, as well as attendance at staff meetings, is expected. Weekly reports are required as are weekly meetings. The Student Advisement Coordinator provides on-going feedback on the student job performance.


Conditions of Employment

1. Academic coaches are full-time students and must be enrolled each quarter.  Students will not be hired for the position if they are on academic or disciplinary probation. 
2. Academic coaches must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 during the period of employment, unless waived in writing by the supervisor.  The student must also have at least a “B” for the course(s) that he/she is assisting for.
3. Employment may be terminated if a student is placed on either academic or disciplinary probation while employed as a student.
4. Academic coaches are expected to abide by the Policies & Procedures of Neumont University.
5. Academic coaches may not be otherwise employed without supervisor's approval.
6. The term or employment’s recommendation is two quarters, unless terminated by the employer or the employee prior to the end of two quarters. An Academic coach may reapply for the position if they wish to remain on staff. They will be considered with all of the new applicants for the position. If a student wishes to reapply for an open position, he/she should speak with their supervisor. 

Find out about other student employment opportunities on the Student Affairs section of the Neumont website.

App Deployment at Neumont University is in the Air!

2011 App Deployment T Shirt for our Sweet Volunteerbies!

Calling all Neubies, and Neumontians, it's Application Deployment once again.

If you're a new student: Log on to www.encodingthenext.com to RSVP for the event and watch your email for an event schedule.

If you're a current student: Score your limited edition 2011 App Deployment T-Shirt, register to volunteer for the July or October, or both App Deployment weekends and score some sweet rags to help rock your Neumont pride (a.k.a. help the Neubies find out where to go and lug a box or two).

Email students@neumont.edu to volunteer, or weigh in on Neumont's Facebook.

Wall Street Journal - Industry Puts Heat on Schools to Teach the Tech Skills Employers Need

For years, Neumont has been saying that our curriculum bridges the gap between what traditional universities are teaching, and what industry is looking to hire.  And, today's Wall Street Journal pointed out the exact problem Neumont was designed in order to try to addess:

Wall Street Journal Education Section, June 6, 2011
James Hagerty

Industry Puts Heat on Schools to Teach the Tech Skills Employers Need


Big U.S. employers, worried about replacing retiring baby boomers, are wading deeper into education and growing bolder about telling educators how to run their business. Several initiatives have focused on manufacturing and engineering, fields where technical know-how and math and science skills are needed and where companies worry about recruiting new talent. Their concerns are borne out by the math and science test scores of 15-year-old students in the U.S., which continue to lag behind China, Japan, South Korea and Germany, for example.

Photo: Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2011

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report in May that said higher education had failed to "tap the potential of digital technology" in ways that would "transform learning, dramatically lower costs or improve overall institutional productivity."The Chamber report praised Internet educational institutions like Khan Academy, which built its reputation on YouTube.com math lessons.

The National Association of Manufacturers is leading a drive, partly funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to establish standardized curricula at community colleges across the U.S. with the goal of preparing students to qualify for certification in industrial skills ranging from welding to cutting metal and plastics.

The association isn't pushing for an end to liberal-arts education, but has said bright students should be encouraged to consider alternatives that lead directly to jobs. "We need to move aggressively to competency-based education" based on mastery of skills at the student's own pace, rather than on an accumulation of credit hours, said Emily DeRocco, president of the Manufacturing Institute, a research arm of the group.

One such employer effort is the National Math and Science Initiative, launched in 2007. The program, with $163 million of funding commitments from companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. as well as foundations and the federal government, trains math and science teachers and gives more high school students a chance to enroll in college-level courses.

Read the Complete Article

Competency based education is what Neumont University is all about, although mixed in with the standard General Education courses students would take at any bachelor's degree granting institution.  Students work in project groups and are graded on project outcomes . . . how well can you apply what you've learned into building a REAL technology solution.  This ensures that students have not only the necessary theoretical foundations of a topic, but the applied knowledge of how those theories can be used in Industry.  This unique approach is changing the way the nation's employers look at the crop of 2011 graduates, and is just one reason 100% of Neumont's 2010 graduates accepted offers in field within six months of graduation.

Neumont University and VMware Academic Software Partnership

We are happy to announce a new academic software partnership between Neumont University and VMware.  This gives all of our actively enrolled students free access to VMware tools.  VMware is one of the leading software manufacturers in the virtualization sector, providing the server virtualization platform for the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies.  This partnership provides our students with full access to a broad range of these tools.  While there are many applications for virtual servers/workstations in the I.T. industry, they can be particularly useful as development environments for programmers.

Accessing the Neumont VMware download site is very similar to our Microsoft MSDNAA/ELMS environment.  Visit http://my.neumont.edu/vmware, and enter your NUID credentials.  Select the Student tab near the top of the page, and choose the product you would like to download.  All actively enrolled students have access to this site, as well as faculty.  The license keys are good for a year, and may be renewed as long as you are an actively enrolled student.

If you haven’t learned about server and workstation virtualization yet, take a little time and research the topic.  It’s good stuff, and I guarantee you will eventually be using virtualization tools during your post-Neumont programming adventures.  The VMware tools site has some great eLearning tools you can use to get started.  

Also, here are some links on virtualization:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualization

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/bb802511

http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch01.html (VirtualBox is an open source, cross-platform tool)

http://www.vmware.com/

If you have any problems accessing the VMware tools, please email support@neumont.edu.  Have a great weekend!

Neumont Reviews the Sprint System with Student Success in Mind

Thank you to everyone who attended yesterday's Presidential Fireside Chat.  Although many issues were discussed, the one most pressing seemed to be the Sprint System.  For those who couldn't make it, here's a brief overview of what was discussed:

But First, for the uninitiated, what is the Sprint System?

Over a quarter, students take two or three classes at a time, which reduces distractions from multiple, competing subjects, and attend those courses 5 days per week, for 5 weeks straight, for up to 4 hours (per class) per day, for up to a full 8 hours per day of instruction. A student might have a 3 hour class, a 2 hour class, and a 1 hour class.  Some classes carry over from one Sprint to the next, but for the most part you'll have a 25 day lecture topic in Sprint One, followed by a 25 day lab on that same topic in Sprint Two, a Core Course on an elective-type topic in one Sprint and a General Education class in the next. 

Why does Neumont have a Sprint System?
Without the Sprint system we found that students were struggling to keep up with the homework demands of taking 4-5 classes at a time, and our project classes didn't have adequate classroom time to give students real focus on their projects (and since projects is what we're all about we wanted to make sure to give MORE project time.) Plus - for some of our less exciting courses (not that we have them, but our students tend not to love English for example) you can move through the course and on to topics you're interested in much faster. Plus, it moves at a pace that more closely resembles industry. Plus, in the real world you've got to be ready to learn on your toes, nobody's going to give you 10 weeks!

Now, for the downside the students expressed (Student Complaints:
Some students who started at Neumont before the Sprint system began found the adjustment to the intense 25-day sprints a little intense, while those who entered after the Sprint system was already in place had any easier time adjusting.  During the first quarter when Neumont students moved into the Sprint system (vs. the standard quarter system) there were some hick-ups - courses moved too quickly and students didn't feel they had the necessary time to absorb the content. This was mostly an issue in elective courses rather than curriculum-critical courses, but Neumont's curriculum development committee took those concerns very seriously and responded by Neumont reviews of EVERY single class, syllabus, and student performance outcome (GRADES and TEST SCORES), quarter over quarter student retention, and also carefully reviewed the course and faculty assessments by Neumont students at the end of the each Sprint in order to make the best possible adjustments to the Sprint scheduling in the future.

As a result:
Some courses were moved off the Sprint system and now continue to run during the standard quarter, and some courses were given more in-class time, or changes to the syllabus , students on campus have probably noticed this by looking at the Course Schedules.  Neumont has now been on the Sprint system for four quarters and we've seen that grade point averages are up across the board, student satisfaction on faculty assessments is higher than previously reported (although we've always been fortunate to have high student satisfaction of our instructors), and our Industry Partners are amazed at how quickly students can grasp new concepts.

Still, due to the rigorous nature of attending classes on a Sprint system, there are some students who aren't happy with the Sprint system and would like to move back to the traditional approach -  assuming that would make it easier to grasp the complex topics.  The issue that idea forgets is that the students would then take MORE classes at a time and actually have LESS time for the homework in any given class than the Sprint system allows.

Educating students for exciting careers in a fast-paced, ever-changing, industry is a challenge, especially in an intense 2.5 years.  And Neumont's TOP PRIORITY is ensuring that our students leave fully prepared to launch into exciting careers at a generous rate of pay.  Just as technology evolves, Neumont must continue to review and adjust our approach from time to time, but our commitment to our mission, and that top priority remains unwavering.

President Ned Levine strongly encouraged any student who is concerned about the CURRENT approach to the Sprint to voice their concerns on instructor assessments, or to our VP of Academic Operations, we can only support and adjust based on information that we have available, and the students and the administration are 100% aligned in our desire to ensure you succeed - unlike at big state schools that talk about legacy and tradition, Neumont REALLY cares about how well our students DO in school and after graduation, the better you do professionally, the better we look academically, everybody wins! 

With such a bold statement about graduate placement and salary, we obviously have no interest in making any changes to our approach that would make Neumont students or graduates less prepared for the world of work; that would be counter to everything we say to help bring students in.

It's this type of approach that the US Department of Education and The Chronicle of Higher Education have recognized in Neumont and reviewed as innovation in higher education. Read more about the recognition we've received, to see why Neumont can honestly say we are the MOST results oriented educators in the nation.