A little networking goes a long way

 It will be a hectic couple of weeks for Hunter Crace, a recent UAA A.A.S. computer and networking technology graduate. The Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) recently received a shipment of 800 boxes of around 5,600 iPads and laptops to be distributed to students throughout the communities it serves. Crace and his coworker are tasked with the  unpacking, setup and installation of software and the distribution of devices to students in the 23 or so communities the LKSD serves

Crace was hired by LKSD earlier this summer and feels fortunate for the opportunity to not only land a job in his field but to start his professional career in his hometown. Growing up in Napiak, a village of about 350 people 10 miles southwest of Bethel, Crace was not used to big crowds, but his family moved to Bethel in eighth grade. Going from a small village with his classmates totaling 10 to a group of nearly 30 teens his same age was a bit of a shock, but it prepared him for leaving Bethel and heading to Anchorage to attend UAA.

“It was a bit of a shock for me,” said Crace. “I didn’t realize how small things were for me when I was a kid.”

Crace spent his first year-and-a-half at UAA taking general courses while trying to pinpoint what he wanted to focus his studies on. While he’d always had an interest in information technology (IT), he was also considering learning how to be a chiropractor. What ultimately tipped the scale in his decision? His grandma.

“I was just trying things out, I was like maybe I'd like this, or maybe I'd like that,” said Crace. “I was going back and forth between technology and maybe being a chiropractor, but my grandma had always been telling me I should go into technology. I thought, ‘All right, I should probably listen to you; you know more than I do!’”

Although networking and technology were something he’d always been interested in, he discovered a whole new field of interest once beginning his program. His classes and professors were engaging, and he was excited to dive further into his studies. 

“Our program is designed with the idea of getting students with little to no experience into the IT field into entry-level positions, like a help desk position,” said Christian Foster, assistant professor in computer systems and networking technology in UAA’s Community and Technical College. “But we're also trying to prepare students for the jobs beyond that. Next level jobs in terms of networking computer networking, computer hardware, servers, operating systems, that kind of stuff, to provide the foundation for a career.”

One of the biggest challenges Foster and other IT educators and professionals face is trying to anticipate the technology needs and issues for five, 10, 20 years down the road and training the current generation of programmers, networkers and engineers with a basic understanding that will allow them to continue in a constantly evolving field.

In Alaska, the challenges stack up. Not only are educators like Foster teaching in an evolving field, but they’re also contending with teaching distance learning, which in Alaska presents its own unique obstacles of vast and variable terrain and access to internet systems with enough bandwidth to support an online program.

But despite the hurdles, Foster says that many of the fundamentals of teaching basic networking and technology skills are the same and surprisingly hands-on. He said you’d expect a technology class to be all online, but in-person labs are a huge part of the program. Students need to learn how to troubleshoot issues on a computer or hook up an entire network for an organization.

For Crace, he is thrilled he found a job in his field after graduating. He loved his UAA program so much that he is currently pursuing his bachelor's in network operations and security through an online program. He’s proud of the education and work he did at UAA and is grateful for the opportunity that helped lay the foundation for his career.