VCU partnership gives students hands-on business experience

By Marcia Meredith

RICHMOND, Va. — A new educational partnership with IBM and Reynolds Metals Company will give Virginia Commonwealth University information technology students the chance to solve companies’ high tech business problems.

Working in a VCU lab on a donated IBM AS/400e server, students will develop a training schedule to support the roll-out of transaction-based software that supports a variety of business disciplines.

"We have a curriculum that is no longer limited to classroom academics or thinking. Business community partnerships like the one we have with IBM and Reynolds Metal Company allow us to educate and train future information technology managers," said Richard Redmond, director of technology in VCU’s Department of Information Systems.

The business community also benefits. "We want to hire information technology professionals who have an understanding of the systems we use to support our plant operations. This program enables students to offer solutions to complex problems while optimizing investments and minimizing operating costs," said John Rudin, vice president and CIO of Reynolds Metals Company.

The program also addresses the critical shortage of skilled information technology professionals across the nation. According to the United States Commerce Department, the market will need as many as 1.4 million information technology workers by 2006.

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