Just over a century ago, the Marist Brothers arrived in New York’s Hudson River Valley to train young men to continue the brothers’ vocation as great educators. What started as a seminary for training has become a leading college of arts and sciences.
Marist’s proud tradition is the foundation for a state-of-the-art school, providing students with the intellect and character required for enlightened, ethical, and productive lives in the global community of the 21st century. The Princeton Review lists it in both “Best Colleges” and “Most Connected Campuses.”
Though a few remaining brothers teach courses, the college is no longer formally connected to the Marist congregation. It is, however, still committed to providing a well-rounded education that includes a sense of community and service to the community.
Emphasizing technology leadership, the college’s strategic plan notes that Marist “… seeks to distinguish itself by the manner in which it uses information technology to support teaching, learning, and scholarship at undergraduate and graduate levels. …” A longtime IBM mainframe flagship, the school is now a hub of worldwide mainframe education, both on campus and via distance learning.
Marist’s data center hosts a diverse modern server environment with:
• Two System z mainframes running z/OS, z/VM, and Linux on System z
• Three System p servers running AIX and Red Hat Linux
• Intel-based Linux and Windows 2003 Servers
• About 200 traditional servers
• More than 600 virtual servers
• 10TB state-of-the-art IBM storage.
Networking facilities—supported by partnership with IBM and Cisco— include:
• A gigabit backbone providing 100 Mbit/sec data transfer to desktops
• 7,500 campus network ports
• Security via Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA), Dynamic Virtual LANs (VLANs), VPN, proxy, and Network Access Control (NAC)
• Fully wireless campus with capabilities for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
• Multi-media-enabled, general-purpose classrooms.
IBM Partnership: IBM Advances Technology and Education
In 1984, Marist received $2.5 million in equipment and almost $2 million in software from IBM to expand academic and administrative computing. Beginning in 1988, a joint study with IBM placed Marist among the most technologically advanced liberal arts colleges in the country. Through this research, IBM tests concepts and applications in business, education, and other fields. The study provides advanced computer and telecommunications technology for instructional, research, and administrative use. Students joining research projects gain work experience, preparing them for successful, high-tech careers.
Marist has participated in numerous Early Support Programs (ESPs) and has been a mainframe customer since installing a System/370-138 in 1979. All administrative production systems run on an IBM z900 with z/VM 5.1. An active SHARE participant, the college is often a reference account for IBM customers.
In 1999, Marist became the first official host for the Linux for 390 distribution; since then, more than 7,000 copies have been downloaded. A year later, the current joint study projects began focusing on use of mainframe Linux for course instruction, and establishing Marist as a hub for System 390 education and multi-media streaming. The course instruction project has been successful with six courses and more than 600 current servers in place. The 390 Knowledge Center, created in 2002, is unique in the U.S. Students and professors access this system and use the z/OS image for lab exercises associated with courses taught at participating colleges.
In 2004, Marist created a non-profit Linux development lab to promote open source solutions, as part of Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), dedicated to accelerating use of Linux for enterprise computing through enterprise-class testing and other technical support for the Linux development community. A z990 runs virtual Linux servers that support open source Linux projects; IBM contributes to this OSDL participation.
The $25 million James A. Cannavino library showcases IBM digital technology, letting students and faculty access material stored on the z900 mainframe and online sources of information from around the world.
An innovative project supports the nearby FDR Presidential Library by digitizing and “Web publishing” holdings, including documents sought by researchers—such as Roosevelt and Churchill correspondence—and extensive photographic holdings.
Flagship Mainframe Education
Marist is an active member of IBM’s Academic Initiative (AI) (www.ibm.com/university/academicinitiative), especially for System z, but also other hardware platforms such as System p. Marist faculty have received several AI awards for work such as their Cell BE processor research and Eclipse course development.
Course materials developed are often provided to the AI for other universities to use. Marist occasionally counsels other colleges considering joining the AI and, with IBM, hosts a June conference for university faculty to learn about large systems hardware and software.
Beyond the AI, Marist participates in various industry events such as SHARE educator panel discussions and bringing undergraduates to IBM’s zSummit industry meeting to meet IBM executives and industry analysts.
Marist also collaborates with SHARE’s zNextgen project. For example, people new to System z and z/OS often complain that the vocabulary— acronyms, common terms used in unique ways, etc.—is overwhelming. So Angelo Corridori, Marist’s director of Large Systems Education, is developing a painless way to build their z/Vocabulary: grouping commonly used terms (e.g., hardware-related) that “z/Newbies” can receive as a “word of the day” subscription, including definitions, common usage, etc.
Exposure to the mainframe changes even experienced people’s attitudes, especially when they learn that rather than being old technology, it’s actually leading-edge. Corridori says, “Their eyes light up and they get excited about their jobs (online working professionals) or are eager to learn more (undergrads).”
Learning From Practitioners
Marist offers z/OS certificate training. Taught by industry experts and available online worldwide, the training combines technology focus with business exposure so graduates can immediately make real-world contributions. First-year modules are Introduction to z/OS and Major Subsystems, z/OS Networking, and z/OS Security; the second year covers Advanced Topics, RAS and Diagnostics, and Emerging Technologies. A qualifying exam provides direct entry to a professional certificate and all classes in the Associate and Professional certificate programs grant academic credit.
Campus students are of typical college age. Distance learners tend to be older working professionals with System z experience ranging from little (three or fewer years) to significant (10 to 15 years).
Classes and labs introduce campus students to the technology, and a mentoring program is planned with IBM Poughkeepsie. Undergraduate students will perform projects ranging from participating in IBM’s Master the Mainframe contest, to interviewing experienced z personnel, to learning aspects of dealing with large system technologies. Marist is integrating online, large-system class materials into the undergraduate curriculum with the long-term goal of allowing students to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology and Systems or Computer Science with a concentration in large systems.
An advisory board, composed of Marist staff and industry professionals, helps direct the certificate program’s curriculum. It’s chaired by Marist’s director of Large Systems Education and includes the dean and assistant dean of the School of Computer Science and Mathematics. Individual participants from Bank of America, Charles Schwab, Verizon, Wachovia, BMC Software, and many other organizations are experienced mainframe technologists such as system and application programmers, responsible for, or interested in, developing z skills. They engage others in their organizations, as needed, depending on current advisory board discussion topics and guide courses based on their company needs. Members serve as long as they wish; most have participated since the certificate program began.
Marist’s Center for Collaborative and On-Demand Computing (CCODC, http://marist.edu/) is supported by matching New York State and IBM funds to help establish the z/OS workforce development program, leading to job and revenue growth. This funding supports the Institute for Data Center Professionals (IDCP, www.idcp.org) scholarships for z/OS certificate program students.
Susan Scanlon, director of Corporate Outreach, is pleased that it hasn’t been too difficult finding qualified mainframe instructors. “Mainframe experts at IBM and other large systems understand the skills shortage and are very willing to pass on their knowledge,” she says, “but some are really time constrained, and even with the best intentions, find that developing a full online course for the first time takes a great deal of commitment.”
People learn in different ways and sometimes worry about new methodologies. But students generally can overcome a short learning curve and find online/distance learning to be both effective and advantageous. Courses are available on flexible schedules and students can continue taking them even when they travel. Feedback is positive, and many students who sign up for an introductory certificate return for more advanced credentials.
It can be challenging, developing materials. Corridori explains that even though there are ample materials on large system technologies, creating cohesive, organized collections with “flow” and supporting materials (e.g., quizzes, labs, Web resources) is time-consuming even for subject matter experts. He says he’s gratified—and was initially surprised—that people with significant z/OS experience are interested in even basic classes. In fact, he observes, many have never had formal z training; they were thrown into technical areas and learned as they went. For some, this informal education left gaps in their understanding of large systems and hindered their further development. Some felt pigeonholed in one area (e.g., security or database) and want to grow technically and in job responsibilities. So, this education gives them a framework and broadening they otherwise wouldn’t get on the job.
Noting that industry and government organizations sometimes struggle to replace the aging workforce running their enterprise computing systems, the National Science Foundation funded an academic/industry partnership to revitalize the undergraduate curriculum in enterprise computing technologies. Called the Enterprise Computing Community (ECC, http://ecc.marist.edu/), it develops a cost-effective curriculum based on non-proprietary standards. Industry partners identify necessary current and future large systems skills; academic partners share current curricula and identify their areas of specialization; and the community develops broad-based, undergraduate curriculum that partner schools share. Marist hosted a national ECC conference in June, bringing together academic and corporate partners, industry sponsors, and experts in education and technology to share insights on a variety of issues such as workforce development.
Christine Bullen of Stevens Institute of Technology presented a paper, “IT Workforce Trends: Implications for Curriculum and Hiring,” which concluded that academic programs aren’t changing fast enough and that “The marketplace is moving forward and academia is lagging; this may be the driver for special training companies expanding their presence in the market.”
Marist’s multiple educational offerings and partnerships address these widespread problems. Junior and experienced mainframers are creating and strengthening their careers, reacting positively to courses, class materials, instructors, and local/distance learning. All are impressed with the breadth and depth of instructional materials. And employers vote with their training dollars; several (Citigroup, Nationwide, Progressive, and IBM are the top-four users of online classes) regularly send students.
More than a century after the Marist Brothers arrived in New York, a proud tradition of great education continues at Marist College—education that’s nurturing a new generation of mainframe professionals.
