Students in the Computer Systems Technician

Co-op program will be able to receive advanced certification at the College's Pearson Vue test centre, adding Certified Netware Administrator (CNA) status to their resumes.

Algonquin College in the Ottawa Valley is in partnership with Pearson Vue to be a test centre for industry-recognized certifications including the more popular A+ and Certified Netware Administrator (CNA) designations.

This means Computer Systems Technician students, and employees in the community who are already working in the IT field, can come to Algonquin College in Pembroke for extra certifications in their field. The Pearson Vue testing capacity allows the College to administer more than 2,000 certification tests for many hi-tech firms including CompTIA, Cisco Systems, IBM, Novell, and Sun Microsystems.

These industry certifications give an employee an advantage over others without any designations and add credibility to your skills.  They show an employer that you have what it takes to work in today's competitive high-tech workplace.

Fully Networked Lab for Students

The acquisition of the Test Centre came on the heels of a major renovation project in the IT lab under the direction of CST program coordinator Paul McGuire.  Several alumni and faculty of the former Electronics Engineering Technician Program assembled and installed a fully-networked Category5e computer lab in the classroom.

In layman's terms, they created a simulated workplace environment where students can gain hands-on experience in operating a local or wide area network.

Between the sound electronics theory, the practical lab work projects, and the capacity to earn additional certifications, the students in this 18-month Computer Systems Technician Co-op program will be receiving a value-added diploma when they graduate.