The West Virginia University Information Technology Center for Workforce Development, where people will learn skills for tomorrows high-tech job market, opened Monday (Feb. 5) at 245 Cheat Road, Suite 1.

The Workforce Development Center is an expansion of WVU s Cisco Academy Training Center, which manages a regional computer network training program. The Cisco Academy will also move into the new office space from its present location in the University Services Center.

“By expanding our program, we are getting involved in the community by directly training information technology workers,”said Ken Orgill, chief information officer and associate provost for information technology at WVU .”Our goal is to lure more high-tech businesses into the area by developing a highly skilled workforce.”

Both the Cisco Academy and Workforce Development Center will provide certified training to individuals interested in entering the information technology field or enhancing their high-tech skills. Students will learn how to design, build and maintain computer networks. Training will include instruction in Cisco, Microsoft and Computer A+ languages.

WVU s Cisco Academy, which opened in 1998, is one of 16 such centers in the nation. Until now, the center focused on training instructors within its region, which includes West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. These instructors deliver the curriculum to high school and college students in the region.

But with 465,000 information technology job openings projected nationwide and a lack of qualified applicants for Web-based positions in the state, University officials saw a need to do more, said Ralph Chapman, program coordinator of both the Workforce Development Center and Cisco Academy. The new center is also tailored to the Universitys workforce development goals.

“I have received more than 100 e-mails from people who want to take the training, including University information technology staff,”Chapman said.”There is definitely a demand for what we will be offering through the Workforce Development Center.”

The Cisco Academy Training Center is a partnership between WVU s Office of Information Technology and Cisco Systems, the worlds leader in networking for the Internet. WVU graduate John Chambers (Classes of71 and74) is president and chief executive officer of the company.

For more information on the program, contact Chapman at 293-8769.