HUTTO — A new Texas State Technical College’s Computer Networking and Systems Administration program is paving the way for students such as Andrew Howell to help solve crimes and protect children.
The college’s East Williamson County campus is the latest location to offer the program, which started this fall. It is also offered at the Waco, Abilene, Marshall and North Texas campuses, as well as online.
Howell’s ambition to pursue a career in digital investigations stems from constantly hearing news about missing children and human trafficking — crimes that make use of the digital space.
“I have my phone set to get all the Amber Alerts, and I get tired of them going off two to three times a week,” he said. “I pay attention to all the issues going on with human trafficking, child trafficking. The ways that the people that are engaged in those activities (are) using the internet and just the digital space … made me want to get onto a career path that would allow me to hopefully help.”
The area’s growth as a tech hub — with Taylor home to Samsung Austin Semiconductor and the Tesla Gigafactory near Bastrop — makes the program’s debut timely, educators said.
“The industry is growing so much in this area, and the need for experts as well as those who have a concerted effort on protecting those networks,” program instructor Eric Jackson said.
Among the students at TSTC’s Hutto campus are dual-credit students from Hutto and Taylor high schools and veterans, such as Howell.
“Being a veteran myself, I get to hear what brought them into the classroom,” Jackson said. “Many of them don’t have a previous career in it. They’re either pivoting, or they found interest in it. … So many individuals from different walks of life. Technology brings us together because we all use it.”
Howell is among the more than 60 students at the campus learning the fundamentals of computer networking and operating systems, looking at how data moves and how computers communicate through a network and then applying their knowledge to business decisions.
“They’ll find themselves doing anything from designing networks to implement as well as troubleshooting virtual area networks, local area networks, working in the cloud,” Jackson said. “Using different platforms and tools to help them understand how these applications can help organizations with sharing those resources.”
The program goes hand in hand with cybersecurity instruction, as both are held in the same classroom and Computer Networking and Systems Administration students have a cybersecurity portion in their curriculum about protecting networks.
Students move through the lessons at their own pace and have flexibility with the performancebased curriculum and the ability to schedule their own classroom time.
“I can do as much as I want, as quickly as I want,” Howell said. “It’s worked well with fitting around what I have going on outside of class, so it’s just been a great experience that way.”
When students complete the program, they will have gained an associate of applied science degree in the field with certificate options in IT Support Tier 1, IT Support Tier II or Cloud Computing.
In addition to a degree, students also gain career prep, as TSTC operates on an outcomes-based funding model that depends on students getting jobs after graduating.
“We have a lot of students who have come in, enjoyed the program, and we’ve changed their lives by also helping with finding jobs,” cybersecurity program instructor Stuart McLennan said.
Many businesses partner with the college to help design the curriculum to ensure graduates are equipped with the desired skills for hire, officials said. This allows for the curriculum to keep up with the changing industry.
“They want to hire our students, so we have this advisory committee that comes together that’s statewide,” Jackson said. “They help us design our curriculum, and they tell us exactly what they’re looking for in an actual employee.”
Educators said that students’ interest in the field can be attributed to the industry growth and the associated salary.
“It’s just a testament of the times,” Jackson said. “We’re now in the fourth industrial revolution. … At this point, our society had been pretty much built. … What organizations, companies and businesses are looking for is individuals who know how to continue to help them make money, and that is largely dependent on their capital expenditures, which a majority of it is technology.”
Interest could also stem from technology being a constant in people’s lives.
“Students pretty much grow up with a cellphone in their hand,” McLennan said. “They’re always constantly on it, constantly wondering how it works.”
The instructors aim to prepare students for entry and junior-level roles, such as a help desk position or a network and systems administration position, for which the median salary is $95,360, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
