DuBOIS, Pa. — The Penn State DuBois Information Sciences and Technology (IST) program has significantly enhanced its technological resources through a new partnership with Penn State Information Technology (IT) leadership and IT Infrastructure. This collaboration will expand hands-on learning opportunities for students, while saving the campus tens of thousands of dollars in equipment costs.

In July, members of Penn State's senior IT leadership team, including Mark Campbell, associate vice president for IT infrastructure, and IT infrastructure managers Tom Long and Scott Fura, visited the DuBois campus to explore opportunities for resource sharing. The discussion focused on the equipment needs of the IST program, particularly the value of providing students with access to a variety of networking technologies.

"We want to broaden our students’ experience with other network device vendors, like Juniper," said Brian Tokarcik, IST technician at Penn State DuBois. "When we talked about our needs, the leadership team made us aware of equipment they were cycling out and offered to make it available to us. It was an incredible opportunity for our students."

The first batch of equipment included 12 Juniper EX3400 switches, which student interns inventoried, configured and integrated into the campus network. After recognizing the potential for even greater student involvement, Tokarcik reached out to Long again, resulting in an additional 15 switches being made available.

"These switches are now part of our general academic network, meaning every student in our program now has the chance to work with Juniper devices,” Tokarcik said. "This kind of hands-on experience is crucial for preparing our students for the workforce."

“Our primary mission in our IST programs is to equip students with the real-world experiences they will encounter in their professional careers,” said Jason Long, assistant teaching professor and program coordinator of IST at Penn State DuBois. “This means we must continually adapt and update our teaching methods and equipment to stay current in the information technology industry. The equipment we've received is instrumental in helping us achieve our mission.”

The ongoing collaboration also includes discussions about acquiring Dell virtualization hosts, which would provide an enterprise-level upgrade to the IST department’s existing infrastructure. While no longer suitable for enterprise needs, these hosts would be a significant boost to the resources available to students for virtualization projects.

"We already utilize virtualization in our curriculum, and these powerful systems would enable our students to optimize their computing resources on a much larger scale," Tokarcik said. "This partnership has not only saved the University tens of thousands of dollars, but it also opens the door to more advanced learning opportunities for our students."

Through this partnership, Penn State DuBois continues to expand its IST program capabilities while giving students access to the latest industry tools and technologies, further preparing them for successful careers in the field.

“We are thrilled to support student learning through this opportunity,” Campbell said. “Helping students is at the core of why we work at Penn State. We are also excited about our partnership with the IST program at the DuBois campus and the potential to establish internships.”

“This partnership is a true example of Penn State helping Penn State,” said Jungwoo Ryoo, chancellor and chief academic officer at Penn State DuBois. “When an opportunity like this presents itself for one campus to help another in such a spectacular way, it’s awesome for everyone involved! And to have this directly benefit our students makes it all the better. I want to express my sincere appreciation to our IST faculty and Penn State IT team for thinking outside the box.”

To learn more about the IST programs at Penn State DuBois, visit the program’s academic website.