The Computer Information Systems (CIS) Department expects stable or slightly increased enrollments over the next several years, due to the increasing demand for computer professionals, even given the current downturn in the economy.

The CIS Department expects continued steady enrollment or a slight increase in enrollment based on county demographics and trends. The county population is slowly increasing, although the average age of that population is also rising. The department should offer additional courses, in formats of interest to the older population, to attract that segment of the population to the college.

Locally, government, exclusive of active military, employs the greatest number of people (Center for Economic Research). Those employers are encouraging and often funding professional development classes for their employees. The majority of our students will continue to pursue their education in addition to full-time employment. Alternate scheduling to accommodate these part-time students would be worthwhile to investigate.

The department will continue to offer applications, programming and networking programs, certificates and courses, and among other things, we will continue to promote the following:

• Communication Requirements, such as technical writing. Computing professionals are expected to work in teams and interact directly with users, so employers want employees who are able to communicate effectively with non-technical personnel.
• Co-op Requirements. Employment prospects are enhanced by significant hands-on experience with the type of equipment and related operating systems used by the employers, in addition to formal computer-related education.
• Responsiveness to Community Needs. Because technology changes so rapidly and computing professionals must continually update their training, on-demand training must be made available to employers for their employees through the CIS Department or the Center for Professional Development.
• Technology Literacy. In addition to training all students on the current state-of-the-art technology, and because technology changes so rapidly, anyone interested in changing careers, developing a new area of expertise, or desiring personal enrichment may come to the college for training.
• Academic Rigor for Transfer Students. Cochise College enjoys a good reputation for preparing our students to pursue more advanced degrees. Increasingly, a bachelor’s degree plus experience is the minimum requirement for many jobs in the computer field.

As need arises, for example, the department could provide training for the following:

• Professional industry certifications (many areas)
• Information/computer security specialists
• Customer service/help-desk technicians
• Technical Support specialists
• Web developers/designers (expanded)
• Wireless technology
• New technologies, as they develop

These areas could supplement or replace existing curriculum, depending on demand and the needs of the community.

Nationally, employment of computing professionals is expected to increase much faster than average (increase 36 % or more) as technology becomes more sophisticated and organizations continue to adopt and integrate these technologies, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. For example, demand for computer support specialists with an associate degree is expected to increase 102% by 2008 (November 1999 Monthly Labor Review). Employment of computer programmers is expected to grow faster than average for all occupations (increase 21 to 35 %) through 2008 (Occupational Outlook Handbook).

Growth will be driven by rapid expansion in computer and data processing services, which is projected to be the fastest growing industry in the U.S. economy (Occupational Outlook Handbook). In addition, many job openings will arise annually from the need to replace workers who move into managerial positions or other occupations or who leave the labor force. And starting salaries for computer graduates can be significantly higher than starting salaries of graduates in many other fields.

As technology becomes more sophisticated and complex, employers in all areas demand a higher level of skill and expertise. We need to train our students on current, state-of-the-art technology. Our labs and classrooms require continual upgrading to integrate new technologies and to maintain a competitive edge. Even with falling prices of computer hardware and software, we need to operate more cost effectively to meet expanded demand.

The only thing we can predict, for certain, is that new technologies will continue to be developed and that people will need training in those technologies. We expect enrollments to be stable or to increase slightly.