The educational opportunities for computer study have grown with the burgeoning demand for people trained in this high tech field. This presents a classic good news-bad news scenario. More education is available, but the quality of much of it has deteriorated. That's why it is imperative that once you have decided on a particular area of data processing to pursue, you do a thorough search for the right kind of training. The decision you finally make will be based upon a number of factors, including knowing yourself. A word of caution, however - what may be appealing to you today may change as you mature and as you spend more time in the field. I've seen numerous cases of men and women in every industry who set their sights too low in the beginning and then, once the promise of a broader and brighter horizon became evident, had to spend an inordinate amount of time making up for the deficiencies in their education. I recommend not only that you pursue the best possible data processing training available to you-taking into consideration your financial and geographic limitations-but that you also shoot as high as possible in order to prepare yourself for the future twists and turns that occur in virtually every life.
Management Information Systems (MIS)
This course of study often falls in the crack between hardware-software and more business-oriented computer curriculums. Some universities offer it in their school of business data processing, while others include it in their programming and more technically oriented schools. The basic difference is that students coming out of this academic discipline are usually more interested (and prepared) in the end use of data processing, rather than in the nuts and bolts of the machinery. That isn't to say that anyone involved in business applications of DP (data processing) shouldn't have a firm grounding in the technical aspects of the equipment that makes all end use possible, but it's a matter of emphasis. One of the most important and developing specialties within data processing is MIS, and it is a good choice for those who love and understand computers and who set their sights on broader applications.
Community and Junior Colleges
These schools fill a vital need in communities across America and for the most part do an excellent job of providing a different educational path for students to choose. This is especially true in computer sciences. Two-year schools often provide better training for fledgling DPers than their four-year counterparts. There is more of a focus on the practical, rather than on the theoretical, which makes sense. Students complete a course of study at most of these schools in two years, and some schools offer certificates for periods as short as six and nine months. More knowledge has to be crammed into less time when compared to four-year institutions.
One of the strengths of community and junior colleges is their flexibility. The administrators of these schools are not so bound up in bureaucratic red tape and tradition when it comes to modifying course material. This enables them to shift with the changes in data processing, which is important.
There are basically two approaches the aspiring data processor can take with these schools.
The first is a two-year program that usually leads to an Associate's Degree. Under such a plan, students take not only a full range of required computer-related studies, but also an array of liberal arts courses that provide a much-needed balance to the more technical aspects of data processing education.
Students coming out of a two-year study are prepared for a variety of entry-level data processing jobs and will have had enough grounding in the broad area of computer sciences to take on some advanced and challenging positions.
The shorter curriculums, usually six to nine months and culminating in a certificate, are naturally more limited. Still, with the right kind of faculty and equipment and, most important, an educational philosophy that adjusts to changes in the field of data processing, these certificates enable a student to seek, with confidence, such entry-level DP jobs as data entry, assistant programmer, word processor, and computer maintenance technician.
Naturally, the same questions should be asked of a community or junior college that you'd ask of a four-year university before deciding to enroll.
