CyFair Cisco Academy
CyFair Cisco Networking Academy
CyFair Cisco Academy
Knowledge
Students gain knowledge of networking theory through lectures and
reading materials.
Skills
Students gain skills while working with lab equipment.
Empowering
Through knowledge and skills acquired in the academy the students
become empowered. Students gain important skills that the Information
Technology industry requires, thus providing the student with a path to a
career
Exposure
Students gain practical hands-on exposure of real world situations from
field experience to better understand how networks operate
CyFair Cisco Academy
Growth
CyFair Cisco Academy
Classes Taught in 2013
CCNA-prepares the student for the Cisco industry
certification 200-120 test while providing foundation
networking knowledge and skills.
CCNA-Security- prepares the student for the Cisco
industry certification 640-553 test while providing
foundation knowledge and skills in network security.
CCNA-Voice-prepares the student for the Cisco industry
certification exam 640-461 while providing knowledge
and skills for voice over IP telephony.
CCNP-provides the student with advanced knowledge in
routing and switching and preparation for the three Cisco
CCNP level industry exams.
CyFair Cisco Academy
The Academy opened in 2003 with two
classrooms and two instructors offering
CCNA classes
Student enrollment since 2003
2003-30 students enrolled 50% graduated
In 2012 Voice over IP and CCNA Security
classes were added. This increased the
instructors to 4 and classrooms to 2.5.
One classroom used for lecture only.
2013 saw the addition of CCNP classes
added to the growing curriculum offering.
This drove the need for additional
classrooms. 3 additional classrooms were
added.
2007-30 students enrolled 53% graduated
2010-85 students enrolled 70% graduated
2012-135 students enrolled 77% graduated
2013-177 seats available to students
CyFair Cisco Academy
2013 Growth
Staff—7
 Training of businesses IT
professionals
1 full time Director
5 adjunct instructors
1 part time lab coordinator
1 full time instructor-hiring
 Internships for students
 Partnering with local
companies willing to hire
Academy graduates
CyFair Cisco Academy
Our expansion into three new rooms
 The new rooms allow us to put all the equipment in a
closet thus simulating the real world where equipment is
located in closets not co-located with the network engineers
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We put student volunteers to work assisting with the
relocation of the equipment into the new rooms
Equipment installation
New rack
installation
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How we do it
CyFair Cisco Academy
We recognize that without students there would
not be an Academy. Our students are our
customers and with that in mind we:
 Make sure to return all emails and voicemails
before the end of the business day or the next
morning
 We make time to meet with students
 The Director visits with the students in the
classrooms several times a semester
CyFair Cisco Academy
We provide support to our advising staff to
assist them in understanding what the Cisco
Academy is all about and how to advise
students interested in the program.
 We provide information about the Academy
and classes to the College advisors
 Meet with the advisors to provide information
about classes in the academy
 Provide advising assistance to the College
Advisors in the form of speaking with the
students
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Hire qualified instructors
 All instructors are currently working in the field or have recently
left the field
 All instructors have the industry certification(s) of the class they
will be teaching
 Together our instructors hold the following certifications
CCNA, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNP Security, CCNA
Voice, CCNP Voice, CCNP ISP, CCNA Data Center
 Two current instructors are working on their CCIE’s at this time
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Equipment for Labs
 Provide the students experience with equipment that is
used in industry today
 Labs are equipped with the latest Access level routers
and switches
 Current Cisco VoIP phones and Unified Call Manager
software are used for the Voice class
 Security and CCNP classes use current ASA firewalls
and Wireless LAN Controllers with LWAPP AP’s
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Retention
 The instructors provide real world experience in the
lectures
 Instructors provide real world application in the labs or
projects they have the students do
 Ex: build a network to meet company requirements
 Solve the random problems that appear
 Open labs are offered to alumni to prepare for
certification tests
 Certification prep classes for CCNA students
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Retention
 One on one advising with the students
 Female students are exposed to a female director, our
Dean and Department Chair are also females and all
have worked as I.T. professionals
 A work force advisor within the Dean’s office that works
closely with students
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Recruiting
CyFair Cisco Academy
 Open House is held three times per
year usually within two weeks of the
semester registration start date
 Open to the public to come and visit
the Cisco Networking Academy
 Notices are placed in the community
newspapers, College signage, flyers
posted around campus and sent to
college advisors
 Typically between 40 and 60 people
attend Open House
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Those attending receive a bag and information
on Cisco Networking Academy and jobs in I.T.
We go over what the academy is, classes
offered and a tour of the labs
Currently we see about 15% of attendees sign
up for classes. We are working to increase the
number of enrollments
This year we are raffling off T-shirts with the
Cisco Academy slogan
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 Then we provide a demonstration on the equipment.
 We set up VoIP phones and video phones that they call
each other on, configure voicemail for the phones, and
we configure a phone while they watch.
 We also configure firewalls to prevent or allow calls and
routing
 All this is to give the viewer a basic understanding of
what skills the academy can teach them
CyFair Cisco Academy
Orientation
 Currently, at the beginning of the Fall semester
orientation is held for all new CCNA students.
 Students are invited to attend where they receive
 A TSHIRT
 Orientation pack
 Consists of contact information
 Commands used in CCNA and their functions
 OSI Model
 Students get to meet their instructors and see their
rooms prior to start of class.
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Orientation
 Students are then shown how to use the equipment in
the racks
 How to use Packet Tracer software that simulates
equipment
 Gain access to Cisco Netspace the web portal that
students use to access class and materials
 Finally, the students are walked through configuring two
basic labs
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Open Lab
 On various days during the week we offer Open Lab
 This is manned by our Lab Coordinator
 The purpose is to provide lab time for students to work on their labs
or get assistance on troubling topics from the Lab Coordinator
 We typically see up to 30 students a week during this time.
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Lab Equipment available in Open LAB
 We keep current on equipment. Our labs currently have:
 Cisco 2811 & 2911 routers with
Serial and Voice T1 cards
PVDM’s
 Cisco 3560, 2960 and 2950 switches
POE on models that support this technology
Fiber gbics and patch cables
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
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Cisco ASA 5510 firewalls
Cisco WLC5504 wireless lan controllers
Cisco LWAPP AP’s
Cisco voip phones
7942 & 7962
7975
9971 with video capabilities
 Cisco Call Manager & Unity 7.0, Unified Presence 7.0, Contact Center Express 7.0 and Softphone
7.0. All copies are NFR.
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Equipment Check out
 This year we implemented a new program where students
can check out equipment for 1 week.
 This provides the student who cannot make Open Lab an
opportunity to work with real equipment at home
 The equipment used is older, but functional for the
students to practice with at home
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Graduation
 For those students that complete the CCNA program,
CCNP, CCNA Security and CCNA Voice classes they are
invited to a graduation ceremony.
 We print out certificates that Kim and I sign to give them
 They are given a bag with a whistle, Nerd candy and other
goodies.
 They wear their shirts or we give them Polo shirts
 We have a guest speaker from industry come and give a
20 min speech
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Graduation
 Then we call them up by class. The instructor of the class
calls out their names
 Kim hands them their certificates
 Once done we have cake and punch for them and their
family/friends
CyFair Cisco Academy
Donna Ivey
CCNA
Kimberly Hubbard
Dean, Art, Humanities, Media
and Tech
Donna Ivey
Director Cisco Academy
CyFair Cisco Academy
Questions?