RWWMAINT@MSU.BITNET (Rich Wiggins) (02/03/90)
This is a busy mailing list, so perhaps it's not wise to add to this line of discussion about how to train programmers, but: -- Universities aren't trade schools. They should teach computer science, not particular specialized operating environments.) -- Many universities have non-IBM mainframes for academic use. (IBM has made inroads the last few years.) You can learn mainframe computing without learning IBM data processing, and still be near ground zero stepping into a blue shop. -- IBM 370 mainframes are the overwhelming choice for large data processing shops. That will probably remain true for years. Microcomputers, LANs, & Unix are gaining fast. I wouldn't want to see a generation of CICS-savvy grads who won't migrate to the successor to the dinosaur. -- Whatever we say here, it seems that there are two choices: Train people from within, or be prepared to compete with large shops to hire specific skills. (Personal opinions only...)
FCLA@NERVM.BITNET (Mark Hinnebusch, FCLA) (02/03/90)
Bill Turner raises an issue that has had me steaming for years now. That is the anti-mainframe, anti-IBM bias of academic computing and Computer Science departments that has become pervasive in the 80's. I personally think that it is because many academics are now products of the same environment and couldn't program in a production mainframe environment without a complete shift in orientation and a total retraining equivalent to that necessary for their products (recent grads). The whys and wherefores could fill volumes. The problem extends far beyond NOTIS and libraries. It pervades the industry. Most companies have vigorous training programs to overcome the lack of pragmatic training given in the universities. At FCLA, we hire almost all new graduates and train them. We have the staff to do that but I realise that most other NOTIS shops do not. Now, a suggested solution. If every mainframe-oriented programming operation in every university were to make a committment of time and effort to agitate to be a teaching resource, preferably by offering staff to teach in an adjunct position, but acceptably by offering internships, senior projects, etc., then we could perhaps make some inroads. I realise that this is not the stated mission of our operations but it would have real long-term benefits in that you create people to take positions in your organisation upon graduation. You also give (especially if you teach) a larger audience a view of a world that they have been denied access to. By the way, when I was an undergraduate at Ohio State back in 1970, the Instructional and Research Computer Center and the Department of Computer and Information Science had an adjunct program. Some of the best classes that I took were taught by IRCC staff. As always, i am long-winded. Mark Hinnebusch Assistant Director for Computing Services Florida Center for Library Automation Suite 320 2002 N.W. 13th Street Gainesville, Florida 32609 voice: (904) 392-9020 fax: (904) 392-9185 BITNET: FCLA@NERVM (CMS) or FCLMTH@NERVM (CMS) or @45vw27@NER (TSO) Internet: FCLA@NERVM.NERDC.UFL.EDU or FCLA@NERVM.BITNET, etc.