InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
August 23, 1999
Partners In Education
New University of Nebraska institute aims at boosting technology workforce
The $70 million state-of-the-art computer-science facility, which was completed in June, comprises the University of Nebraska's new College of Information Science and Technology and its Lincoln College of Engineering and Technology. Two-thirds of the funding was raised by the Omaha business community; the remainder was contributed by state government. Local businesses have also funded scholarship programs and internships for the institute. The land was donated by First Data Resources, a provider of transaction-processing products and services. First Data is also building a new facility in Omaha that will employ 2,000 workers, many of whom will be technology professionals.
The Peter Kiewit Institute is designed to bolster the IT labor pool, a noble goal given that there are 1,600 open IT positions in Omaha alone and that the state has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. A board of 11 policy advisers, made up of Nebraska business and industry leaders, hopes to ensure that the institute offers programs and training in response to the rapidly changing requirements of IT professionals. "Colleges have a reputation for being slow to adapt to change," says Walter Scott, chairman of the institute's board. "This institute will be an example of education being responsive to the needs of businesses."
Other businesses involved with the institute include Compaq's telecom wireless division, which is located in Omaha. Compaq will work with students to identify emerging wireless and intelligent network architectures, implement training in these areas, and provide student internships. The computer vendor is also examining other opportunities with the school, including business-to-university and faculty-to-business relationships, in which Compaq executives could teach classes at the institute and faculty could learn from Compaq.
The institute offers more than a dozen information science, technology, and engineering undergraduate programs, including degrees in telecommunications, IT, computer science, information systems and quantitative analysis, and computer, industrial, manufacturing, and construction engineering.
Winnie Callahan, the institute's executive director, says the school has been aggressively recruiting students from across the country. She estimates graduates will command starting salaries of more than $55,000. Classes for the Omaha campus will begin in the fall. Callahan says the institute will eventually add graduate IT programs to its roster.
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he Commerce Department's message was clear in its latest study, The Digital Workforce. For the IT labor shortage to end, businesses, government, and educational institutions must band together to train more individuals in technology and business skills. The University of Nebraska's newly formed Peter Kiewit Institute in Omaha is an example of all three sectors working together.
The institute has incorporated several features to meet this goal. An "experts-in-residence" program, for example, will let executives from high-tech companies around the world spend a year or more teaching and mentoring students at the Omaha facility. Boeing Co. and IBM have already committed to participate in the program. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems and US West Inc. have donated technology to help deliver distance-learning capabilities to the institute. The school has also put in place venture-capital programs to fund student-initiated IT startup companies, as well as joint research and development opportunities with businesses near the campus.
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