Network Technician

The NetworkTechnician program prepares students to work in the Information Technologyindustry performing a variety of network related jobs, such as NetworkTechnician, Network Administrator, and Network Engineer. Students learnimportant skills like installation, configuration and troubleshooting ofcomplex computer networks. This program also prepares students to take Cisco’sCCNA certification, which is the premier industry-recognized certification indata networking.  Many of the courses inthis program also help prepare students for other industry recognized certificationexams such as the CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ certifications. For thedegree, students must fulfill the following major requirements with grades of“C” or better, complete a minimum of 60 degree-applicable semester units (12 ofwhich must be completed at Sierra College) with a grade point average of atleast 2.0 and complete one of the following three general education patterns:

Sierra College AssociateDegree Requirements;

California State UniversityGeneral Education Breadth pattern;

Intersegmental GeneralEducation Transfer Curriculum (IGETC).

PSLOs -Students completing this program of study will have the skills to:

·       Install, operate, configure, and verify a basicIPv4 and IPv6 network.

·       Operate a medium-sized LAN with multipleswitches, supporting VLANs, trunking, and spanning tree protocols.

·       Describe WAN access connectivity options.

·       Describe the effects of cloud resources onenterprise network architecture.

Once the degree is approved and listed in the catalog the expected enrollment will be 20+ students per year with an anticipated completion rate of 70% or higher.

The network technician pathway is designed to prepare students for high demand careers in the associate-level jobs in the ICT industry. The courses align with Industry Certifications for Cisco CCNA. Cisco is rolling out an update curriculum for this pathway and as with most information technology pathways this will need updated on an ongoing basis to stay current with industry needs. Course level modifications are already underway.

A recent Burning Glass report ranked the Cisco CCNA certification as the third most in-demand certification for 2019 California job postings. When data to support this proposal was requested from the COE the report prepared for College of the Redwoods and Lake Tahoe Community College was provided as it shows significant need for network support specialist and related job now with a continued increase.

An additional 36 units of appropriate GE and Elective credits will be required to complete this degree. Some students may be able to complete the IT 0100 course at their High School through the Dual Enrollment shortening the numbers of semesters required.