Eric DePanfilis
Elk Regional Health Center, Saint Marys, PA
Network Analyst
Information Technology 2004
Technology and liberal arts do not seem to go hand-in-hand at first glance, but after graduating at Juniata with an Information Technology degree and working for almost 3 years it all makes sense now. When you enter the workforce, you will be asked to do many tasks. Many of these tasks will require a technical expertise in the IT field and many other tasks will require a more rounded approach that a Liberal Arts Degree can only give you. Juniata provides students with hands-on technical experience through their truly unique programs such as the Innovations for Industry program, in which Juniata students have to fulfill an IT project for a real-world industry. However, they also provide you with the business and communication skills that are required of you as well in today's ever-changing IT field.
In the Innovations for Industry program, students have to use their technical expertise to complete the IT portion of their project, while also using their business and communication skills to make sure the project becomes a success. During this process, students need to manage the project by setting up meetings with their clients, setting up a timeline that includes meeting certain milestones of the project and using their business sense to do it in the most cost effective and efficient way possible. After working in the healthcare environment for almost 3 years now, I truly appreciate this rounded education that I have received at Juniata College. Throughout my work experience I have been involved in many projects in which I have had to use the skills that I learned at Juniata. Some of these projects have included implementing a Storage Area Network (SAN), setting up a Picture Archiving System (PACS) to store and view Radiology images digitally with remote capability, implementing a Voice Over IP (VOIP) solution (both wired and wirelessly), setting up a Disaster Recovery (DR) Solution, adding full wireless coverage throughout our main campuses, expanding our Wide Area Network (WAN), and setting up remote capability solutions such as VPN and Citrix. If it were not for the Liberal Arts education that I received at Juniata, I truly believe that I would not be able to handle projects of this magnitude in today's IT work environment.
Matt Newman
NBC Universal, Hollywood, CA
Information Technology Management Program
Information Technology 2006
Juniata's IT/CS POE provides a unique learning opportunity for their students. Students are trained to be flexible, which is essential in today's competitive work environment. They are instructed from three separate academic disciplines, which gives them a diverse knowledge background they can pull from when completing an internship. Finally, students learn from faculty that are passionate and care about their student's success. This is why I chose Juniata.
The bottom line? Recent Juniata IT/CS graduates have proven that the program leads to internships and employment. Whether the business is in field of electronics, finance, government, or entertainment, Juniata IT/CS graduates can compete with students from across the board for the top positions.
David J. Molchaney
Fairfax County Government, Fairfax VA
Deputy County Executive
Marketing & Computer Science 1983
Attending Juniata College was a great experience. The College did more than just educate me, it taught me to think. The fact that Juniata is a Liberal Arts school allowed me to move beyond the confines of a major and explore my interests in many areas including music, history, and writing, as well as, business and computer science, which became the basis for my POE. Creating my POE was really picking two areas of interest that were not only something that I enjoyed, but which also allowed me to be creative.
The broad background and encouragement to explore that I gained at Juniata has prepared me for a career that began with 12 years working in IT for private sector companies and now 12 years in the public sector working for Fairfax County.
My job at Fairfax County is really the culmination of the Liberal Arts education that I obtained at Juniata College. I am responsible for all areas of information at the County government including the Public Library and Archives, IT, Cable Television, Consumer Protection, Document Services, Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Compliance and I work with our Public Affairs Office and our Economic Development Authority. I also speak on behalf of the County in the US and abroad, work with US and foreign governments and do many special assignments.
Juniata's broad based education gave me the start that I needed to explore all of my interests and use them to create a broad based career that fits me.
Timothy J. McMichael
Microsoft Corporation
Exchange Support Escalation Engineer, Charlotte NC
Information Technology and Systems 2001
I had the privilege of attending Juniata College from 1997 to my graduation in 2001. During this time the Information Technology program was developed. It was through this process that I saw one of Juniata's most unique traits, a true desire for student input and direction. Whether it was speaking with potential professor candidates or sitting on an IT advisory board commenting on curriculum and direction it was clear a student's opinion matters. The interdisciplinary approach to information technology allows students from all disciplines to participate while providing a core information technology POE. The POE concept is unmatched - flexibility for students , along with their advisers, to determine a customized educational experience from multiple disciplines. Although many of these concepts are institutional, the programs strength is its faculty. The faculty in the information technology program bring real world experience and advanced educational knowledge into every class they drive the success of this program and the outcomes are seen in graduates like myself.
Ron Schlecht Jr, CISSP, CCE
SunGard Availability Services Manager
Information Security Professional Services
Computer Science/Criminal Justice 2000
The education and experience I received at Juniata College has been invaluable in my career. Not only have the core competencies within my POE prepared me for my professional career, but the liberal arts focus has enabled me to grow as an individual and gain perspectives some college students never experience. Coupled with the outstanding faculty, staff and support personnel - the Juniata experience is a wise choice for solid education.