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03.13.07
Tech Upswing Leading To Decrease In Instructors?
 By
Dan Morrill
I have been visiting colleges in the local Seattle area, and many of them desperately need adjunct faculty.
Just when colleges need technologically well informed instructors, there is an instructor shortage happening in the trade and technical colleges here in the Seattle area as jobs get more plentiful and the worst of the tech bust seems to be past us for right now.
When the Seattle tech bust happened in 2002, many folks left the area, or started becoming instructors at many of the trade and technical schools here in the Seattle area.
In my travels around, I am noticing that the same trending is happening in other parts of the country with a high density of tech companies.
The students that are in these programs now are going to be the ones that we are going to hire years from now as part of a candidate pool.
Those contacts that the students make with their instructors and those instructors who remember the best students in the schools both miss out on the opportunity to shape the next generation of computer, security, and administrative support that our companies are going to rely on.
Being an instructor is hugely rewarding, and something that people who have been successful accomplishing, those that care about what the schools are teaching against what is in the real world that we deal with.
Everyone benefits from staying in the teaching field if there is time to do so. Students, instructors, and the quality of education that the technical colleges and smaller colleges offer to their students, are very important.
The mixture of real world against academic requirements provides an essential view point into the technology industry that people who work and teach the industry know.
The stories that we tell, the things that we say, and the way that we approach both work and education also helps the students determine if this is the right thing for them to be doing.
Poor instruction will lead to poor students, who will not have the insider passion and knowledge that they will get from instructors who are both working in the field and teaching at the same time.
Something to think about, if you have the extra cycles to pick up one or two classes a week, even on line, the difference you make is immeasurable to the lives and futures of the students that are coming through the system.
About the Author:
Dan Morrill has been in the information security field for 18 years, both
civilian and military, and is currently working on his Doctor of Management.
Dan shares his insights on the important security issues of today through
his blog, Managing
Intellectual Property & IT Security, and is an active participant in the
ITtoolbox blogging community.
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