CPI Helps Local Cisco® Academy Provide Real-Life Experiences

Craven Community College, located in New Bern, North Carolina, provides a variety of degree options to over 12,000 students annually, while also serving as an accredited Cisco® Academy for students interested in advanced information technology.

The college has a training facility for their Cisco Academy and other IT training courses (Red Hat, TIA A+ Certification and Security Plus Certification) that was over crowded with a variety of racks, cabinets and cable management products from various manufacturers. Instructors felt that the data center environment, if better organized, could provide a more real-life work experience for students.

CPI became aware of the college’s desire to improve their training facility and decided to help upgrade the existing facility and better prepare students for the workplace by donating products to increase their hands-on experiences.

Craven Community College’s Jody Rouse, Networking/Security Instructor, Regional Cisco Academy Manager, and Bruce Waugh, IT Instructor of Network and Computing Hardware worked with CPI’s local IT department to obtain the products their Cisco facility needed most. The college was given multiple CPI MegaFrame® Cabinets to organize and store the training facilities routers and switches. FastTrac™ Cable Trays were received to arrange and organize cables above cabinets and throughout the data center and Fixed Wall-Mount Cabinets to increase students’ cable installation and maintenance skills. In addition CPI Patch Panels and MegaFrame Fan Kits were donated to the facility.

“Students are now extremely impressed with the training facility. Since the installation of CPI Products, they have a more professional attitude and truly value the expert environment they have to prepare in,” said Bruce. A large percentage of students studying at Craven Community College’s Cisco Academy peruse careers in network administration, therefore a real-life IT environment helps provide the ultimate learning experience.

 “The first semester of Cisco Academy deals with the theoretical data center layout, what kind of infrastructure will be deployed and how to install equipment and cabling. It really covers the basis on how to layout your infrastructure, and CPI’s Products have helped us provide students with a more effective facility to learn in and perform,” explained Jody, “We are extremely impressed with the outstanding quality of CPI Products and truly appreciate the commitment that CPI has shown to Craven Community College and the community.”  Nicole McLawhorn, Public Relations/Advertising Specialist