Computer Networking and Systems Administration at Texas State Technical College brings the digital world to life for students enrolled in the program.
Instructor Emanuel Palacios discussed the highlights of the field, as well as what students can expect during their time in the online program and beyond.
“This program will provide students with the opportunity to gain the skills and knowledge needed to perform in a variety of technology roles,” he said. “A few of the common job titles that our alumni currently have include network or systems technician and administrator, technical consultant, cloud architect, cloud technical trainer, and security analyst, to name a few.”
While there are many reasons why this program is particularly unique, Palacios said that the curriculum’s coursework speaks for itself.
“TSTC’s program is a member of the Cisco Network Academy and Amazon Web Services Educate,” he said. “There are several industry certifications that the coursework is designed around, such as Cisco’s Certified Network Associate certification and CompTIA’s Network+, Security+ and Cloud Essentials+ certifications.”
Despite being an online program, students are still required to complete labs that will enable them to get into various operating systems.
“Many of the courses have labs that are completed by remotely connecting to real
servers and networking equipment hosted in a data center on a TSTC campus,” he said. “Understanding the physical infrastructure and maintenance is fundamental, but the vast majority of being hands-on in this field means knowing how to handle software and operating system configurations and installations.”
He said that those who are curious about technology will benefit from the program.
“If you enjoy playing with tech gadgets or brain games, that may be a good indication that you will not only do well in the field, but also love what you do,” he said. “Women tend to perform exceptionally well in computer networking, and I would highly encourage them to pursue that passion.”
Palacios added that like technology, this career will never get boring.
“The field is very rewarding, and jobs can be found in virtually any city,” he said. “The great thing about information technology is that the more skills you gain, the more valuable you become.”
To learn more about TSTC, visit tstc.edu.
