By Terrie Santamaria
High Tech Careers Editor
Special Advertising Recruitment Supplement to The Washington Post
Sunday, April 26, 1998

As technology firms in the Washington metropolitan area continue to experience rapid growth, the shortage of skilled technology workers grows more acute each day. Although no exact numbers exist, industry sources estimate that more than 25,000 technology jobs are now unfilled in the region. And since most of those jobs require four-year degrees, several of the area's universities have partnered with local technology firms to introduce a number of new programs to help meet the current and future demand for skilled technology workers.

"We in the Northern Virginia Technology Council have been working very closely with the major universities in the region to set up an entire range of technology training and internship programs to help the technology industry meet its need for skilled workers," said Michael A. Daniels, sector vice president at SAIC in McLean, and the current NVTC chairman.

One result of the academia-industry partnership is the formation of the George Mason University Top HATS (High Ability Transfer Students) program. Participants in the program, who are being solicited from schools around the country, must have a B+ or better average and at least two years of undergraduate work to be considered. Those accepted into the program enroll in one of four undergraduate programs: computer science, electrical and computer engineering, systems engineering, or urban systems engineering. All Top HATS students are sponsored -- and have their last two years of undergraduate tuition paid for -- by one of the metro area technology companies that have committed to being sponsors for the program.

Here's how the process works. After interviewing potential Top HATS students and selecting a candidate, sponsoring technology companies pay their student's full tuition for two years, match the individual with a company mentor, provide summer employment and internships, and possibly offer employment after graduation.

"One of my most important roles is to establish strong contacts with the local IT industry and build strong partnerships," said Lloyd Griffiths, dean of GMU's School of Information Technology and Engineering. "Once Top HATS was announced, we had committed sponsors within a few weeks." Among the corporate sponsors already signed up for the new initiative are Landmark Systems, SAIC, MetroCall, Mitretek Systems, and Lockheed Federal Systems.

SAIC, with 1,000 high tech vacancies in the greater Washington area, was among the first corporate sponsors of GMU's Top HATS program. "We are very interested in talking with what we believe will be highly qualified students transferring to George Mason under this program," said Daniels. "As the first group of students gets started in the program this fall, we will have those students working with us as interns in computer science, and in systems and electrical engineering. We will give these people hands-on, on-the-job training while they are with us and we plan to run them through our skills courses and put them in our program areas to work with our top people."

In addition to the new Top HATS program, GMU also has established two new minors aimed at providing technology skills to students enrolled in non-technology arts and sciences majors. Students enrolled in the new information technology (IT) and computer science (CS) minors will take 17 hours of coursework in their chosen minor. "Our initial estimates show that about 12 percent of all College of Arts and Sciences students will take advantage of these programs next fall," said Griffiths. "Thus, of the 8,800 non-engineering undergraduate students, we anticipate more than 1,000 students in the new programs."

Across the Potomac in the District, American University has created the TurnKey Technical Training (TTT) program, which aims to provide local technology firms liberal arts graduates trained in specific technical skills such as programming. Described by Patrick Valentine, director of corporate and government education and training at AU, as the first program of its kind in the nation, the TTT program involves companies in identifying available positions and the training needed to transition students from, for example, a history major to a software applications support specialist job.

After suitable opportunities and training needs are identified, AU faculty advisors and experts design a training curriculum and identify the top two or three non-technology graduates most suited to the open position. Company representatives then meet with the prospective candidates, put them through their company's standard interviewing process, extend employment offers, and students begin their training.

According to Valentine, the program benefits students and employers alike. For students, Valentine said, "Liberal arts majors get an opportunity to start working in a technology field that would otherwise not be available to them." What's more, added Valentine, "Graduates are hired for positions that they never dreamed they would qualify for when they finished college, and get their training paid for by the company."

As to the benefits companies derive, Valentine said, "Companies hire outstanding and successful AU graduates with a broad educational background and a desire to learn technology." He also noted that the AU program provides companies a pool of pre-screened, high-achieving candidates with an aptitude for and interest in an IT career, at a lower cost than traditional recruiting methods. "The cost of filling a position is approximately 1.5 times the salary paid that position," said Valentine. "The TTT program fills a position at one-fifth the cost."

So far, Valentine says the greatest interest shown by area technology firms has been for software-related positions including Cobol programmers and proprietary software support specialists. Valentine says plans call for placing 250 new graduates following the 1998-99 school year.

Hands-On Experience

Corporate Scholars is an internship program primarily for students in the University's computer science or decision and information systems schools. Introduced as a pilot program last summer, Corporate Scholars most often work with area companies as software developers, database designers, network engineers, systems administrators, Web developers, programmer analysts, and systems analysts.

"We now have about 200 students who have been approved and pre-qualified for placement as Corporate Scholars this summer," said Helen Rudd, assistant dean for career services, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences at University of Maryland College Park. "The program was created to weave hands-on experience into the students' education and to help them realize the importance of real-world experience to supplement the skills they learn in class and to educate them about the different types of working environments and corporate cultures."

In addition to full-time paid employment in the summer or part-time during the fall and winter semesters, Corporate Scholars attend monthly workshops, are teamed with both a faculty and company mentor, and receive credit for their work experience. Companies, in return for paying a student's tuition for the duration of their employment and a salary that usually ranges from $12 to $18 per hour, have the chance to "test drive" students and mold them into the type of employee that will work best for the organizations.

"Many companies realize now that the earlier they get students, the better chance they have to mold them into the type of employee they want," said Rudd. "And, the more information students have about various types of companies and positions, the better they will be able to make informed decisions when the time comes for them to select a fulltime job."

Another plus for companies that provide good internships, says Rudd, is the informal student grapevine. "These students are a company's best recruiting ambassadors back on campus," she said. "They talk about their summer jobs and their good and bad work experiences."

Rudd says the Corporate Scholars program is a tool the University plans to use to refine its technology curriculum to better meet the needs of high tech firms. "Our students go out and work in the real world environment, find out what additional skills or knowledge they need, and give us that feedback so we can adapt our curriculum," added Rudd.

Hughes Network Systems in Germantown, Maryland, was one of the first firms involved with the Corporate Scholars pilot last summer. The company had two students working last year and plans to have four this summer.

With more than 200 technology-related vacancies in the Washington area, Hughes Network Systems hopes to improve its relationship with the University -- and better its chances to recruit top students -- by being a committed Corporate Scholars sponsoring firm.

"Long range, we will get exposure to more top students earlier," said John Kenyon, Hughes Network Systems' senior vice president of engineering. "Because we've made a commitment to their education, we're hoping students will look more favorably on us when offers are extended."