ICT and Networking Courses Prepare and Inspire Future Innovators

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1 Corporate Social Responsibility Impact Profile Cisco Networking Academy TM ICT and Networking Courses Prepare and Inspire Future Innovators Today, 2 billion things are connected over the Internet. Experts say that by 2020 more than 37 billion organic and inorganic connections will be made. This rapid increase is called the Internet of Everything, which demands a technology-adept workforce across all fields and disciplines. Cisco Networking Academy provides information and communication technology (ICT) and networking courses to high schools, community colleges and universities globally. Students learn how to design, build and secure intelligent networks, while developing soft skills like leadership, collaboration and entrepreneurship. Classroom instruction, online learning, interactive games, simulations, and hands-on practice are continuously refreshed and aligned with U.S. STEM and education standards. More than 1 million students are enrolled in Networking Academy courses around the world, preparing to become the innovators of tomorrow. The Impact in 3,087 Students taught in ,131 Students since inception 69 Organizations offering Cisco ICT courses 72 Instructors preparing the ICT workforce 6.99 Million Estimated in-kind contribution to education you + networks = impact 2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 1 of 7

2 Innovative Technology Education for All Education Levels Cisco Networking Academy offers a comprehensive teaching and learning program licensed free to not-for-profit organizations, including course content, lab exercises, simulation software, gaming, interactive teaching guides, assessments, and grade books. All teaching materials are available online with 24-hour support. Cisco Networking Academy courses are designed for secondary, postsecondary, and professional development education programs. For secondary programs, courses are aligned chapter by chapter with STEM cluster topics, Common Core State Standards for technical subjects, and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). ICT and Networking Courses Engage Students Students acquire the basic-to-advanced ICT and networking expertise needed by every business, school, hospital, nonprofit, and other organization that relies on intelligent networks to keep them running and secure. Courses include IT Essentials, Linux Essentials, Cisco CCNA Routing and Switching, CCNA Security, and Cisco CCNP. Supplemental courses cover voice, cloud, healthcare IT, and more. "What the [technology] workforce needs now are those who can present what they are doing to people who are not in IT. Along with tech skills, they certainly need business skills as well. Networking Academy graduate The hands-on instructional approach using real-world scenarios encourages student engagement, and increases their ability to synthesize what they learn for application in other contexts. Students strengthen their understanding of technology, math, science, and engineering concepts, which improves their success in advanced studies and prepares them for globally-recognized certification exams. 21 st Century Career-Ready Skills Courses integrate skill areas identified as critical for 21st century professionals: Problem solving and decision making: Students configure and troubleshoot networks based on real-world scenarios. Creative and critical thinking: Students synthesize what they learn and apply it in other contexts. Collaboration, communication, and negotiation: Students acquire teamwork and leadership skills through group projects. Intellectual curiosity and information handling: Students develop the ability to evaluate, structure, and present information clearly. Courses prepare students to reach their full potential in new or existing careers, or to establish their own businesses. Professional and Community Development Unique to the program are support communities for both instructors and students. Instructors receive training prior to teaching their first class, and ongoing professional development opportunities. Cisco hosts peer communities that enable instructors to collaborate and share best practices in person and online. Students take part in skills competitions, and access a global network of peer mentorship for coursework and exam preparation. "Black Box Network Services partners with academy schools to provide students with internships, job shadowing, and job offers. Cisco does an exceptional job preparing students to excel in today's business environment. Our academy hires have added immediate impact to our clients' initiatives, and continue to excel by achieving advanced certifications." Talent Acquisition Manager 2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 2 of 7

3 High Demand for ICT and Networking Skills Networking is expected to be the second fastest growing ICT specialization in the United States and Canada U.S. Employment Growth Projections 1 15% 15% 7% 25% 37% 12% 11% 18% Information All Networks Systems Security Occupations Architects Analysts Analysts and Information Systems Managers Network Support Specialists Employment Growth Projections ( ) 1 Network and Systems Administrators All Occupations 15% 18% 12% 24% 39% 13% 11% 19% 1 Source: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Top Cisco Certifications by Salary 2 ICT salaries are on the rise, particularly for professionals with specialized training or certification. For example, Cisco network administration knowledge and skills result in a 9% higher salary on average. $71,482 $81,308 $90,833 Additional Cisco certifications are available, including CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CCIE, CCDA, and more. 2 Source: Global Knowledge, 15 Most Popular IT and Business Certifications for 2014, The Impact in The partnership between Cisco and education institutions has touched the lives of many students and generated a large estimated in-kind contribution towards education. Impact since program inception in ,131 $6.99M 1-9 (100%) Students Estimated In-Kind Contribution Value Congressional Districts Participating Impact over the last 12 months 3,087 19% Students Female Students Instructors Academies 2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 3 of 7

4 Education Levels Secondary Schools Community Colleges Universities Other 3 Students 53% 39% 0% 8% Curricula 4 Academies 64% 25% 2% 9% Students 39% 50% 8% 2% Basic ICT Basic Networking 3 Community-based organizations, middle schools, military, nontraditional educational settings, and post-graduate institutions 4 Students that enroll in more than one education level or curriculum in 12 months may be counted more than once Intermediate Networking Advanced Networking COUNTY CITY SCHOOL Barnstable Berkshire Bristol Essex Bourne Upper Cape Cod Reg Tech School Network Technology Academy Somerville Harwich Cape Cod Tech Reg Tech HS Middlesex Somerville MA High School West Barnstable Cape Cod Community College Tyngsboro GLTech North Adams McCann Voc/Tech School Canton Massasoit Community College Pittsfield Berkshire Community College Franklin Tri-County Reg Voc Tech HS Norfolk New Bedford Greater New Bedford Reg Voc Tech Wellesley Hills MassBay Community College Taunton Bristol Plymouth RVTHS Weymouth Weymouth High School Beverly North Shore Community College Abington Abington Public Schools Plymouth Hathorne Essex Technical High School Brockton Brockton High School Lynn Lynn Classical High School; Lynn English High School Benjamin Franklin Institute of Tech Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Ctr for Youth and Families Hampden Middlesex Chicopee Chicopee Comprehensive Voc Tech Bunker Hill Community College Holyoke Boston Dean Technical High School John D. O'Bryant HS of Math & Sci Holyoke Community College Suffolk University of -Boston Springfield Springfield Technical Comm College Wentworth Institute of Technology West Springfield Career and Technical Ed Center Year Up Boston Westfield Westfield Vocational HS Chelsea Centro Latino, Inc. Billerica Shawsheen Valley Voc Tech HS Madison Park Roxbury Cambridge Cambridge Rindge & Latin HS Roxbury Community College Everett Everett MA High School Fitchburg Montachusett Reg Voc Tech School Framingham Joseph P Keefe Technical School Worcester Upton Blackstone Valley Reg Tech HS Marlborough Assabet Valley Reg Tech HS Worcester Worcester Technical High School Impact Story: Cisco PACT Allows Partner Companies to Nurture and Hire Top IT Talent Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, Custom Specialists is one of the leading service providers in the Northeast. Its customers include medium to enterprise-level business, health care and educational institutions, and state and local government agencies. George Louris runs Custom s largest division, the OnSite IT Support group. Clients outsource all or part of their IT departments to augment their project teams, fill temporary gaps in staffing, or adjust for peak demands. George says, We have experience that really sets us apart in enabling companies to flexibly scale their IT capabilities with the expertise they need, without straining their budgets. Custom s client engagements are long-term at least a year and usually more with a 97% renewal rate Cisco and/or its affiliates. Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 4 of 7

5 About 70% of Custom s staffers are technician-level, working as desktop installers and the first line of support on help desks. We need entry-level people who can go onsite with the degree of competence and confidence that our clients expect, says George. Custom has a full-time recruiting person who uses just about every tool and resource to find good candidates. It s a time-consuming and expensive process. Enter Cisco PACT (Partners + Academies = Connections for Talent) The OnSite IT Support group has about 100 technical professionals, holding a wide range of industry certifications. About 50% of those are Cisco certifications, reflecting the importance of Cisco proficiency to Custom s clients. When George learned about the Cisco PACT program, which creates bridges between companies that hire IT professionals and their regional Networking Academy schools and colleges, he immediately saw the benefits for Custom: early access to developing talent. As a previous teacher, and now a staff mentor, George was keen to build relationships with nearby academy instructors and their top students. Cisco gave Custom a list of campuses offering Networking Academy courses within a 60-mile radius, and set up WebEx conference calls to make the introductions at each school. At first, I didn t feel that we were getting the kind of traction I wanted. These are the kinds of relationships that need face-to-face contact. So George began setting up lunch appointments with academy instructors, to create dialogs around what students need in the way of mentoring, what they need to learn to succeed in the marketplace, and which kinds of students will work best with different types of employers. That s why it s important for us to commit the time to working with the instructors. What does George look for in job candidates to become Custom consultants? The most important quality is a commitment to customer service. We do look for A students, and a CCNA certification is a big plus. But we also find: it s easier to enhance technical skills than it is to change attitudes. Finding people with the right mix of service-orientation, good communication skills, and technical skills is very challenging. Fortunately, academy instructors provide great insight into their students. I trust their recommendations on which students might fit a potential position at Custom. Become Part of the Learning Community Over time, George realized that he had the opportunity to facilitate information sharing that went beyond Custom s specific recruiting goals. He could give back to the Networking Academy program by strengthening its regional understanding of business needs. His team decided to offer a monthly webinar series, inviting all of the instructors he had met. The instructors are doing an amazing job, but their programs still benefit enormously from the involvement of business leaders. George treats these webinars as seriously as client meetings. He involves Custom s Director of Support Services, their Senior Cisco Engineers, Information Systems Directors, and other engineers who have successfully completed the year-long Cisco Sales Associate Training Program (CSAP). We give the instructors specific feedback on recent hires. Our engineers talk to them about the types of jobs they re working on for customers, and even technology trends, so that instructors can see if they re in synch with the practices of Cisco partner companies like Custom. We ask them what topics they d like us to cover in the next meeting, and what they d like us to cover when we visit the schools. Within a few months, instructors and engineers were so excited about the webinar series that they decided to meet in person moving forward. Six schools now attend the monthly meetings. One college typically sends four people, including the Chairman of the Information Systems Department. Custom s hosted meetings became a popular forum for academy instructors from different campuses to compare and share best practices. Now about half of the meetings are spent on peer-to-peer communications. They share problems and successes with their program network Cisco and/or its affiliates. Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 5 of 7

6 Become a Career Advisor I think most teachers have a strong desire to help people do better in life. I know how tough it can be to get into the job market, and especially to find the right job. Our CEO always talks about doing the right thing when nobody s looking. I ve been with Custom for over 16 years, and I ve grown up with that philosophy here. It s especially true of our relationship with Networking Academy and the Cisco PACT program. In my business, I really believe it s all about relationships and doing the right thing. We visit schools and talk to students about interviewing skills. We ll run practice interviews with students, to give them the chance to experience what a real interview is like. We do our best to act as an industry resource and trusted partner. Academy students are incredibly well trained in theoretical and applied networking. And we add perspective on realworld jobs in diverse work environments. It s one of the advantages of being a service provider to so many different types of companies. Each year George and his team interview hundreds of candidates for technical positions. We have a very good perspective on what makes students stand out from the crowd. We share that with academy students. These students are competitive, and they want to know how other people handle themselves in interviews so they can be better. Instructors Value Professional Development Cisco Networking Academy instructors have a very strong agenda: to see their students placed in good jobs. And good doesn t just mean salary and benefits. These instructors are taking a holistic, long-term view of their students futures. George makes a point to convey why Custom is a great choice for their students. Industry-wide, an entry-level position is a high turnover job. It can be very intense for people starting out on a help desk. We don t want to lose good hires, so we pay a lot of attention to the professional development of our entry-level employees. Once we hire the best, we strive to make them better, and help them move up to engineering level consultants within a few years. Custom pays for any academy new hire that qualifies to attend Cisco s year-long CSAP training in North Carolina. Each employee also has a personal development plan, so people can build and see their road map ahead. Technicians achieve an average of two certifications per year, and Custom provides financial rewards and incentives to employees for passing their certification tests. They also cover training materials and test fees. George tells instructors with pride that Custom has earned Cisco Customer Satisfaction Excellence, the highest distinction a partner company can achieve within the Cisco Channel Partner program. It s very important for us to be able to tell an academy instructor that their students are joining a company that has such a good reputation with its customers. More to the point, we want the instructors to know that their students, if they join our team, are going to be part of the reason that we win prestigious awards and recognition like this. And the growth of our division is directly tied to how well they perform their jobs at a customer site. In the first year, George reviewed 47 hand-picked resumes from his six participating Cisco PACT campuses. Of those 47 candidates, 9 are already working for Custom, and 27 are being considered for future jobs, for a 77% spot-on fit. The contribution that Cisco PACT makes to our business is really incalculable, says George. I think we could expend many times the effort in trying to find the right candidates, and still not find people as good as our local Networking Academy schools are turning out. But for us, it s equally important that we re an active part of the learning community. Because this is our community, as well as our business. For more information on how to participate in the Cisco PACT program in your area, visit Cisco and/or its affiliates. Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 6 of 7

7 Learn More About Cisco Networking Academy See videos and more impact stories. Learn how to get involved. Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Cisco CSR efforts are aligned with five focus areas, as illustrated. Cisco Networking Academy is a Society program and Cisco s largest in education. Cisco In-Kind Contribution Value (IKCV) comprises product donations and pro bono services. Cisco assesses IKCV at fair market value defined by the IRS as the price that inventory, products, or certain professional services would garner on the open market between a company and its direct customers/clients. All Cisco CSR IKCV United States 12 months (11/1/13-10/31/14) $63,014,402 Since 2007 $339,249,606 Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility csr.cisco.com We create opportunities to transform lives, communities, and the environment through the combined power of human collaboration and networked connections. We call this impact multiplied. Together with others, we apply technology to unlock the intelligence and fuel the innovation needed to address some of the world s most pressing problems. Our corporate social responsibility efforts focus on five areas: improving the well-being of people and communities around the world, using our technology to improve environmental sustainability, conducting our business ethically, creating a workplace where our employees thrive, and maintaining our high standards for ethics, labor rights, health, safety, and the environment throughout our supply chain Cisco and/or its affiliates. Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 7 of 7