[48133] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Certification or College degrees?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (cw)
Wed May 22 22:11:14 2002
From: cw <security@fidei.co.uk>
To: <nanog@merit.edu>
Cc: Richard A Steenbergen <ras@e-gerbil.net>,
Nanog List <nanog@merit.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 03:07:55 +0100
In-Reply-To: <20020523005555.927DA5DE61@segue.merit.edu>
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On Wed, 22 May 2002 16:40:27 -0400, Kristian P. Jackson wrote:
>New England) focus their BCS studies on programing. Completely
>unrelated to the area of anything network related. This may not=
be
>the case everywhere.
>Maybe the industry leaders should assist the education scene in
>developing a degree program for future network engineers that=
beter
>prepares them for this field. It doesn't help the industry if a
>bunch of programers are running around acting like network
>engineers, just as a bunch of network engineers are no more
>qualified to program. Perhaps a bachelors in network engineering=
is
>in order?
I am currently studying a BSc degree in merry old England. I=
have
just finished my second year (well I'm part way through the=
exams).
When I applied to do my degree I found two universities whose=
course
were anything related to Networking. Mine is called Computing
(Networks and Communications).
I think we've pretty much been the guinea pigs for the course=
and
guess what, they didn't get it right first time.
Our first year entailed the following modules:
Business & Professional Skills
The Business & Professional Environment
Programming
Mathematics for Computing
Systems Analysis & Design
Principals of Computing Technologies
Not a single one of these modules made any effort to be network
related. The first two were similar and involved basic GCSE=
level
literature stuff along with spending a whole semester pretending=
to
run a company that made paint stripper out of pigeon excrement.
Programming was a very basic grounding in C++
Maths was again GCSE level with a bit of Matrices thrown in for=
the
Visualisation students. Systems Analysis and Design involved
theorising about making computerised versions of a couple of=
forms
for an obscure activities holiday company whilst Principals of
Computing Technologies tought us how to write assembler for the=
8085
chip.
In year two we have done the following:
Networking Technologies
Unix Networking and Administration
Unix, Linux and X
Web Based Systems
Software Development: Concepts and Methods
Databases
Here we are getting there, but it isn't exactly serious stuff and=
is
the kind of thing you learn by spending your spare time fiddling
about with stuff. Networking tech involved mostly installing=
Windows
95 systems to do peer2peer stuff and client server stuff. One
experiment involved a basic Novell server install and another
involved a basic Cisco router configuration. Unix Net & Admin is=
how
to add/remove accounts, file permissions and giving an adapter an=
ip
address. Unix Linux and X is literally bash shell scripting on a
server with a weird configuration.
Web Based Systems, ahh yes. First semester was html and=
javascript.
They got as far as form tags and input checking. Second semester
involved being given some perl code for connecting to a database=
and
integrating it (putting a website in front of it).
SDCM is all about how Billy Bojo and Frank Redneck came up with=
X
theory about Y. I think about 80% of our course a) didn't see=
the
point in the subject b) didn't understand any of the teachers (it=
was
a rarety that they could speak English anywhere near properly)=
and c)
have failed this subject.
Databases was mysql. That was fairly useful in that it went into=
a
fair bit of depth about the commands.
Third year (next year) we are all on placements yet the uni=
still
charges =A31000 for tuition fees.
I don't know what we're supposed to be doing in the fourth year
because all trace of our course description has been eradicated=
from
the website. It would appear, however that the people who=
started
their course this year have it better than us in that they are=
doing
all the networking stuff we did this year in the first year.
A list of next years networking degree is here:
http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/cms/ug/courses.html
I would provide a link to the actual course but I can't be=
bothered
looking at their javascript. If its anything like the uni=
network,
it'll be hours of fun (took them and Novell two months to=
realise
that all the serious login problems were due to all the=
computers
trying to use a server that had been removed).
Oh well, I hope noone from the CIS or CMS departments read this=
list
or I might end up not coming back next year. That is just an=
example
of how little a degree in networks might actually mean. I worked=
7
months nightshift at an ISP and learned far more relevant stuff=
than
the two years on a networking degree have taught me. Several=
times I
have considered giving it up and looking around for industry
certifications but I keep hoping that the next year will be
better...though that depends on whether I can find a placement=
that
doesn't just involve writing websites.
If anyone around here knows of a decent networking related=
company
that might offer an at least half decent placement then do let=
me
know. It seems this kind of placement is rather sparse this=
year.
--
O- cw, security@fidei.co.uk on 23/05/2002
"Part man, part monkey. Baby that's me"
