Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is now offering a cloud computing specialization as part of its Information Systems Technology (IST) associate of applied science degree. The specialization, which was first introduced for the 2018 fall semester, is one of the first cloud computing programs in the nation offered by a community college, according to NOVA.
“The Northern Virginia region is home to one of the largest concentrations of IT jobs in the nation, as well as one of the greatest demands for employees with cloud computing skills,” said Dr. Scott Ralls, NOVA president. “This new cloud computing program is our latest initiative to meet the highly skilled employment needs of technology employers and to offer pathways to family-supporting careers for our students.”
The 63-credit associate degree program “will build on core competencies found in the IST degree (hardware, security, programming) and develop skills in the cloud environment focused on Infrastructure-as-a-Service (virtualization, server management, storage, and networking) and Platform-as-a-Service (application deployment, capacity provisioning, load balancing and scaling),” NOVA explained.
NOVA is initially rolling out its cloud computing courses at its Alexandria, Loudoun, and Woodbridge Campuses. Additionally, NOVA noted that it will share its cloud computing curriculum with other educational institutions around the world. NOVA said its goal is to help “promote the global needs of educators and students.”
