Honolulu Community College is the site of the newest Cisco Networking Academy®, a program that provides skills and training for those interested in pursuing a career in information and communication technology.
The Networking Academy program at Honolulu Community College will teach students how to design, build, manage and secure computer networks.
Students will be prepared to assume entry-level information and communication technology jobs, pursue additional training or education and earn globally-recognized certification.
The University of Hawaiʻi will partner with Cisco by providing classroom space, computer lab equipment, and qualified instructors for the Honolulu Community College Networking Academy, and Cisco will provide free online curricula, teacher training and professional development for instructors.
Cisco Networking Academy
Since its inception in 1997, the Cisco Networking Academy program has trained more than four million students in 10,000 academies located in 165 countries. Networking Academy gives students the opportunity to become experts in current technologies such as cloud computing, and to learn though online courses and assessments, simulation-based learning, business networking scenarios and game-based learning.
“There is an unprecedented global demand for trained information and communication technology professionals, increasing job opportunities for people worldwide,” said Amy Christen, vice president of corporate affairs and Networking Academy at Cisco. “Networking Academy combines classroom instruction and online curricula with hands-on learning activities to help students develop the knowledge and skills required to succeed in a technology-driven world.”
Networking Academy is Cisco’s largest and longest-running corporate social responsibility program. It uses a public-private partnership model to create the “world’s largest classroom,” provide information and communication technology education to help people prepare to work with the networks that form the backbone of today’s—and tomorrow’s—global society.
A regional leader in Cisco training
Since 1998, Honolulu Community College has served as a leader in the Pacific Rim for Cisco Academy instructor training, and is one of only three U.S. sites to be sanctioned to train instructors on both the associate and professional levels of Cisco industry certification.
Honolulu Community College faculty have provided on-site international training for initial cohorts of Cisco Academy instructors in Italy, Mexico, Taiwan, Singapore, China and Japan. The campus has also provided distance education for instructors in Europe, Asia and North America as the role of remote lab environments and voice/video collaboration tools expands.
During this time, Honolulu Community College also became a Regional Academy and provided support services to high schools and other community colleges on Oʻahu. The partnership between Cisco and Hawaiʻi has touched the lives of 8,735 students and generated an estimated in-kind contribution value of $3.3 million.
Most recently, Honolulu Community College has been selected to serve as both a Cisco Academy Support Center and Cisco Instructor Training Center. Honolulu’s primary role will be to provide baseline support services and instructor training to Cisco Academies in Hawaiʻi, Guam, American Samoa and the Marshall Islands. This is an evolution from Honolulu’s previous role as a Cisco Academy Training Center. Under the new open model, Honolulu Community College will be free to offer its services to any Cisco Academy globally.
With strong industry partnerships with organizations such as Hawaiian Telcom and the Department of Defense, Honolulu Community College has customized technology training engagements to meet the needs of these key employers. Honolulu is currently in the midst of adding a new Cisco Networking Academy at Hickam AFB.
