HOPE, Ark. - The University of Arkansas-Hope/Texarkana has partnered with eVersity, the University of Arkansas System's online college, to offer a transition program from the associate of Applied Science in Information Technology degree at UAHT to the bachelor of Science in Information Technology degree at eVersity.
Students can take their first two years of classes at UAHT and transfer to eVersity to finish their bachelor's degree.
An information technology degree prepares students for a career as a computer programmer, information security analyst and/or computer system analyst. Employment of information security analysts is projected to grow by 31% by 2029.
"This has been in the works for probably the past six months," said Brittni Hardie, UAHT Information Technology Instructor. "We knew we wanted to expand the program, but it was just a matter of we did it, considering we only offer the two-year degree."
Hardie, who's been in IT for seven years now, went to UAHT's interim chancellor Laura Clark to see what needed to happen to offer this program. They then decided to partner with eVersity to make it happen.
"I actually got my degree in Information Technology from U of A eVersity, so I've been through the program, I know how it is and I know all of the obstacles that a student may take," she said. "So, we thought it'd be a really good idea to have an instructor to help students go through the program, who's actually been through it themselves."
Hardie said IT is a field where there is a constant need for employees due to the widespread use of technology at the vast majority of businesses nationwide.
"I always kind of knew there was a need for it because every single company is going to have an IT department," she said. "If you try to get a degree in IT, you can go so many different routes with that. So, the degree in IT that we're going to be offering is going to give them a base level of programming, admin, designing, etc., so they can kind of get their feet wet with all of the different spectrums and decide which route they want to take."
UAHT also offers a Certificate of Proficiency in Coding and a Technical Certificate in Information Technology.
(To register, contact the Purtle Advising Center at 870-722-8124 or email [email protected].)