By Tysen Kendig
Public Information
The booming economy and low unemployment that the nation and Centre Region enjoys has been no cause for celebration in certain units across the University Park campus. In particular, the Office of Administrative Systems (OAS) has discovered that with such prosperity comes the arduous task of keeping pace.
According to Robert Crothers, deputy director of OAS, the low jobless rate combined with a national shortage of trained people in the information technology field has presented OAS with problems recruiting and hiring quality computer programmers and analysts. An additional challenge has been keeping those people on staff once they are trained for a particular job.
"It's very difficult to find people with all the right skills -- so, we must train them," said Crothers. "You obviously don't want to train someone and have them go somewhere else, and that's been a problem."
In an attempt to circumvent this problem, OAS has started an in-house training program designed to educate staff assistants at the level 17 pay grade for applications programmer and analyst positions.
Launched in the spring of 1999 and offered to employees at all Penn State locations, the program offers mutual benefits: candidates receive quality training and eventually a higher-paying position with advancement opportunities, while Penn State gets much-needed programmers with a history at the University -- employees more likely to want to remain on campus for the long-term.
"This is a great opportunity that was given to us, and I hope other areas around the University look at the 'breed your own' type of program for those in the computer field," said Lisa Dibert, who worked as a staff assistant in the Eberly College of Science before being selected for the first training class. "The staff at Penn State have a lot to offer if given a chance. Once a chance is granted, they build a loyalty and desire to stay."
The five-member class began an intensive five-month training program in January consisting of on-the-job experiences, classes, computer courses and exercises. The result will be new positions for each of the candidates -- four working with Integrated Student Information Systems (registration, grade reporting, transcripts and all other student-related computer systems) and one with the Office of University Development and Alumni Relations -- with immediate pay raises following training and advancement to the level 19 pay grade after six additional months on the job.
Gail Dunmire joined the program after 13 years at the University, most recently in the engineering library. The tailoring of the training program to each individual appeals most to her, and she hopes it will result in a new career as a programmer that will enable her to stay at Penn State.
"This is a whole new atmosphere and line of work for me, so it is a slow process of learning," said Dunmire. "But the program is really good, and lets you go at your own pace. If someone finishes a computer exercise before others in the class, they just move on to a different exercise."
"I've had a growing interest in computers and this seemed like a logical step in order to further my education about them," added trainee Darryl Griffin, previously a lab coordinator in the College of Communications. "In addition, it presented far more opportunities for advancement than my previous position."
This 'grow your own information technology professional' idea was developed by the Administrative Information Systems Strategic Planning Committee, an executive group chaired by Gary Augustson, vice provost for information technology. The initial goal for the program is to conduct two training classes of five students per year for at least three years.
Interest in the first class was expressed by 43 employees at University Park, of which 39 took an information technology aptitude test to help OAS determine who had the basic skills needed to be an effective trainee and worker. Twelve people scored well enough to earn interviews, and a final group of five was selected.
Suzette Poremba from Continuing and Distance Education and Melanie Schuster from University Libraries join Dilbert, Dunmire, and Griffin as the inaugural class of trainees.
Crothers hopes that this will be the first of several OAS programmer classes, expressing optimism that the program will receive funding that will enable it to continue beyond the three years currently planned.
"So far, we're very pleased at the turnout and the quality of people we received in the program," he said. "Obviously, there's still some things we don't know, so we'll modify the program as needed to make it successful based on feedback of what seems to work and what doesn't. But we're hopeful that it becomes an ongoing program to help sustain our needs."