Middlesex CC Debuts New IT Learn & Earn Experience for Students

Middlesex Community College is focused on getting students trained and in the workforce as soon as possible. This focus on career-connected learning is the reason MCC designed the IT (Information Technology) Learn and Earn Experience. Through this work-based learning experience, students enrolled in MCC’s IT programs can now combine their classroom learning with a part-time job working for the college’s IT security desks.

In continuing to expand its Learn and Earn Experiences, Middlesex President Phil Sisson sees the program as one of the most effective ways to set up future generations for stable employment and career paths. While these types of opportunities improve the lives of students, they also strengthen the Massachusetts workforce with knowledgeable and skilled employees.

“In addition to equipping students with skills they need to succeed in high-demand fields across the state, we are getting them into paid positions to experience real work and gain meaningful experience,” President Sisson said. “In their first few years of college, students are networking, learning about career paths, realizing if this work is what they want to do, and launching their careers at the same time they are earning their degree. For students’ time and investment, Learn and Earn is an invaluable asset and game-changer for their lives.”

The IT Learn and Earn Experience is a follow-up to MCC’s successful Biotechnology Learn and Earn Experience. Students work for 18.5 hours a week with competitive pay to support the fully functioning walk-in service desks on both MCC’s Bedford and Lowell campuses.

“It was new for the college because the program involves hiring students but not into student positions,” said Kathleen Sweeney, MCC’s Dean of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). “It’s into a career position part-time but not in a superfluous role. It’s taking key jobs that Middlesex needs and filling it with Middlesex students.”

Students in the IT Learn and Earn Experience are gaining a wide-range of skills through hands-on work and mentoring from full-time staff in the department. They help answer questions, fix technical issues in real-time, set-up and inventory new technology, and make sure classrooms have what they need. Students also have a chance to go through the ticketing system of past issues and read documentation to learn more about how to troubleshoot particular situations.

“These students are our first responders at the service desks,” said Joseph Patuto, MCC’s Chief Information Officer. “They’re the first point of contact for faculty, staff and students seeking IT support. They have to have the communication, decision-making, customer service and soft skills behind their technical skills. It’s a great, strategic partnership, and I suspect there will be student positions that turn into full-time employment.”

A team of experts from across the college ­collaborated to find the best way to offer students relevant and hands-on learning experiences, including President Sisson, Sweeney, Patuto, Vice President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer Frank Nocella, Director of the Biotechnology Learn and Earn Experience Stefana Soitos, Services Manager Kevin Belfiore, and Associate Professor of Computing Technology Nathan Percival.

“It’s a beautiful example of bringing together a variety of different stakeholders across Middlesex,” Soitos said. “It’s helping students to work toward their career and academic goals, and it’s also helping our IT department meet their staffing goals.”

Soitos helped in recruiting students to the program, creating their resumes and cover letters, and interviewing for the role. She is also helping Middlesex provide the students with networking and professional development opportunities, including an upcoming lunch with President Sisson, Patuto and Sweeney. To Soitos, this is “a perfect example of mentorship because we are connecting them to leadership at Middlesex, not everyone gets that opportunity.”

As they were hired at the same time, the IT Learn and Earn Experience students are part of a cohort of classmates who learn together. Belfiore works with them to schedule hours that are in balance with their studies. The goal is to have them see a variety of situations in order to have a well-rounded experience. If they do not have an answer when someone comes to them with a question, he and his team help them learn so they will be prepared for the next time it comes up.

“It works out for us, it works out for them,” Belfiore said. “They know our system, Blackboard, email, the student portal. When new students come walking in having trouble, our student employees are familiar with it. They’re learning on the job.”

For Middlesex IT student Victor Hugo Almeida, from Rio De Janeiro in Brazil, the IT Learn and Earn Experience is his first opportunity to work in the field. The college made the process for starting the program easy for him, from telling him about the experience to guiding him through each stage.

“The schedule is great and really well-balanced. Mr. Belfiore is super nice and understanding with making sure we are learning,” Almeida said. “I hope that I can gain as much experience as I can and I can’t wait to help even more.”

In addition to learning more about working in IT, Belfiore wants to make sure students understand what it is like to work in a professional working environment. From the start, he set expectations for the students on how to present themselves, including being friendly and knowledgeable, wearing appropriate clothing, and not being on their phones while working.

“They are the face of the service desk and are seeing a wide-range of people, from students, faculty and staff, administrators,” he said. “I want people to walk in and feel like they know what they’re doing. The students have the experience from their classes, I feel comfortable putting them out there.”

To help students better connect their classroom learning with what they are doing in their jobs, MCC developed an IT capstone experience – led by Percival – to offer support. Both the capstone and the Learn and Earn Experience were created intentionally by identifying what skills students would need to perform their jobs well, how that aligned with the curriculum, and what courses students would have had to complete before starting.

Their employment in the program is working on many levels, according to those involved.

“Students come in bright, energized, engaged and so positive,” Patuto said. “It has an ability to lift up the full-time staff. Everyone has been so supportive of the program and we in IT are ecstatic to have these students.”

“I love that this is working,” Sweeney said. “I’m excited for the potential going forward.”

Jumpstart your education and register now for MCC’s Summer and Fall 2022 semesters, featuring flexible, affordable and accelerated courses – including on-campus, online and hybrid formats. For more information, visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/registration/ or call 1-800-818-3434.

Discover your path at Middlesex Community College. As one of the largest, most comprehensive community colleges in Massachusetts, MCC has been a proven leader in education for more than 50 years. Middlesex puts the student first. Meeting each learner where they are, MCC provides them with a safe, welcoming and engaging place to learn. Offering more than 80 degree and certificate programs – plus hundreds of noncredit courses – Middlesex features flexible course formats and a variety of award-winning student support services and resources. Student success starts at MCC!