NMC IT staff earn nationally-recognized network certification
Three staff members from the Northern Marianas College recently received their nationally-recognized certification for installing, configuring, and operating enterprise computer networks.

Information Technology director Adrian Atalig, system administrator Eric Abragan, and IT Computer Lab supervisor Greg Quitugua earned their certification by passing the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) exam in Guam.

“Everyone at the college is extremely proud of their accomplishment,” said NMC president Dr. Carmen Fernandez. “Their certification not only enhances the services we provide to our students, but also places the college closer to becoming the education and technology leader in the region.”

The CCNA exam tests a candidate’s knowledge and skills required to install, operate, and troubleshoot an enterprise branch network. It includes questions about implementing network security; network media; IP addressing; WAN technologies; operating and configuring IOS devices; managing IP traffic with access lists; establishing point-to-point connections; and establishing Frame Relay connections.

The industry-recognized certification ensures that the NMC IT staff members possess the requisite knowledge and skill necessary to install and configure Cisco switches and routers in local and wide-area networks using various platforms. The certification also helps validate the ability to mitigate security threats to NMC's computer network.

The certification exam was preceded by a weeklong Cisco Boot Camp training session held at the college last December.

“Expanding our administrative capacities through training opportunities and certifications like these have a direct benefit on students and NMC employees” said Atalig. “At a minimum, a new and improved network infrastructure will provide them with a reliable, secure, and robust high speed computer network.”

“The whole experience from participating in the training sessions to passing the certification exam was intense but highly rewarding,” said Abragan. “Through it all the staff and management have been highly supportive of our efforts.”
(posted at:2/22/2009 5:20:45 AM)