Background
Petit Jean College is located in the rural Arkansas County of Conway or City of Morrilton, a primarily agrarian community of about 12,000 with a large manufacturing sector. In February 1999 two factories closed, leaving hundreds of workers unemployed - many of whom were middle-aged females, without high school diplomas or any other type of work experience. Most had worked for twenty years in the factories, making less than $20,000 per year.

The Numbers
By fall 1999 many of those laid-off factory workers were successful Networking Academy program students at Petit Jean. The first class - a combined semester one and two - had 30 students, two-thirds were female and 29 of 30 completed the semester. In one year, four sections of the Networking Academy program have had an average of 59% female students, with a 94% retention rate in the Networking Academy program semesters one through four. The male retention was nearly as high - 86%.

How did the Petit Jean College Networking Academy program successfully recruit and retain female students, many of whom were laid-off factory workers with no computer experience and limited math and reading skills?

Recruitment
Petit Jean College proactively recruited for its new Networking Academy program by:

• making presentations to soon to be laid off factory workers;
• hanging posters in local shops;
• running ads on local radio stations;
• advertising in the local newspaper;
• giving tours of the Cisco lab to potential applicants;
• working collaboratively and seeking referrals from the local Private Industry Council and Department of Human Services.

Pre-Technology Classes
Petit Jean and the factory workers were in agreement that the soon-to-be-new students needed to upgrade their skills in math and English and learn the basics of computing. To accomplish this, Petit Jean:

• Developed a computer literacy curriculum. This four-week course ran three days per week, two hours per day. Computer skills included keyboarding, Windows, Word, Excel, Access and Survival DOS;
• Developed a math for technology curriculum that covered elementary math through pre-algebra. The math course was taught four hours per day for five weeks;
• Provided an adult education and GED (General Equivalency Diploma) course for students needing remedial math and English assistance.

Over 500 students were served in three months time across each of these classes, each classroom had 18 to 20 students.

These classes were a joint effort of the Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Council and the Private Industry Council who funded it with dislocated worker funds.

Prerequisites
Petit Jean College had no prerequisites for its Networking Academy program students but all are required to take one semester of math beyond college algebra to graduate with an Associate's degree. They can either take calculus or discrete math, which is the math inside a computer.

Success in the Classroom

Sam Justus, the Networking Academy program instructor for Petit Jean, doesn't see any real differences between his female and male students, except maybe experience and technique. During the first three weeks of the Networking Academy program, he spends time on the basics, such as finding IP addresses and identification and use of tools. He points out that most of the women are not tool savvy because they haven't spent time working on their cars or fixing things. He also noticed that some women didn't have the hand strength needed to squeeze the crimpers used for crossover cables, so he substituted ratchet crimpers that could be operated with two hands. While that worked for most of the women, some still could not manage it, so he instructed them to use their feet for leverage - a technique that worked.

Job Placement
Petit Jean is near to graduating its first class of Networking Academy program students. While many will have to leave their community to find employment, Mr. Justus believes others will find jobs close by in related industries, such as telecommunications. For most of the students, it will be their first opportunity to earn a salary that is higher than the minimum wage.

Contact
Sam Justus
Cisco Networking Academy Program
Petit Jean College
Morrilton, Arkansas
Justus@petit-jean.pjtc.tec.ar.us 
501-977-2034

School Web site
http://www.state.ar.us/pjc/