Technical Support Engineer
Degree
Certificate (Federal aid eligible if certificate is combined with Associate of Science degree. Not eligible for federal aid as a standalone certificate.)
Overview
This certificate is designed to help someone get into the IT industry as quickly as possible. This certificate also prepares the student to sit for several industry certification exams. The final exam for all of these courses is an industry certification exam, which means that, if the student scores high enough on the final exams, they could receive an industry certification for each course. This could provide up to 5 different industry certification that can be added to their resume.
Career Opportunities
The most common entry level job in IT is a technical support engineer. These people need to know how to troubleshoot and resolve all sorts of technical problems. For those students wanting to get into the technology field as quickly as possible, this will be the quickest option. Many IT professionals start in some sort of technical support role before moving on to other technical departments within the company.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the certificate, successful graduates will be able to:
- Identify and configure key desktop settings
- Identify and describe the function of key hardware in a desktop or laptop computer
- Design and configure a basic corporate network, identifying the key hardware and infrastructure devices needed to connect systems together
- Identify and configure basic security settings to protect a workstation or server
- Define and configure key security policies for a corporate network
- Troubleshoot basic networking and system configuration problems
Course Requirements
Students are responsible to examine the course description of each course listed below for details of prerequisites, which must be satisfied before registering for the course.
Certificate Core Courses
| IT 100 | Introduction to Business App | 3 credits |
| IT 102 | PC Hardware Technician | 3 credits |
| IT 125 | Windows Client | 3 credits |
| IT 130 | Intro to Windows Serv Admin | 3 credits |
| IT 150 | Introduction to Networking | 3 credits |
Total Credit Hours: 15
Recommended Sequence of Courses
Depending upon preparatory courses required, additional semesters may be required to complete the program.
First Semester
| IT 100 | Introduction to Business App | 3 credits |
| IT 102 | PC Hardware Technician | 3 credits |
| Total Credit Hours: | 6 |
Second Semester
| IT 125 | Windows Client | 3 credits |
| IT 130 | Intro to Windows Serv Admin | 3 credits |
| IT 150 | Introduction to Networking | 3 credits |
| Total Credit Hours: | 9 |
Total Credit Hours: 15
Graduation Requirements
- Minimum of 15 total semester credit hours as outlined
- Grade of C or higher in all core courses
- Cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher
Note: While a student may choose to take all 5 courses at one time, caution is advised as each class does require significant amounts of study and project/assignment work. It is recommended you split this into at least 2 semesters.
The following certifications can be obtained at the completion of the corresponding course (assuming final exam scores meet the established requirements).
- Desktop Pro: Certification of proficiency in Microsoft Office Applications (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint)
- PC Pro: Certification of proficiency in PC hardware, software, and Windows
- Client Pro: Certification of proficiency in Windows Client Operating System environments
- Network Pro: Certification of proficiency in basic networking technologies and environments
- Server Pro: Install and Configure - Certification of proficiency in Windows Server environments