Southeast Community College enrolls more than 500 students in its IT programs each year and graduates approximately 70. However, the demand for IT professionals in Nebraska far exceeds the workforce supply.
The existing space for the IT programs has considerable limitations with no space for expansion.
- Current total space of 11,050 sq. ft. is less than half of adequate space based on industry standards of assignable square footage.
- Inadequate HVAC, lighting, and space between computer stations.
- Insufficient lab space for modern storage, networking, and cybersecurity technology.
- Inadequate electrical wiring and power.
- Insufficient space for enrollment growth.
- Inadequate infrastructure to control the climate in lab spaces.
- No dedicated space for a data center.
- No flexible space for technology demonstration.
The new Sandhills Global Technology Center on SCC’s Lincoln campus will include specialized lab spaces, room for program growth, along with dynamic and innovative technologies.
The new Sandhills Global Technology Center will include:
- Data Center/Sandbox: This versatile and adaptable space would include cloud technologies servers, switches, wiring, and a full scale data center.
- Cyber-security Center: This datacenter would include dedicated security simulation spaces including physical and digital security.
- Cisco Networking Labs: This space will include multiple networking labs for theory and application usage. The lab will include highly flexible racks with various networking equipment.
- HelpDesk/Technical Support Lab: This simulation space will contain advanced help desk/technical support technologies.
- Hardware Labs: This space will contain two labs for hardware instruction with dedicated demonstration and storage areas.
- Flexible Labs: This area will contain four to five labs for app and software development. The labs will also be configured to support instruction related to network databases, web development, virtual machines, and other emerging computer information technologies.
- Creativity Center: This lab space will combine electronic and computer technologies to allow students from both the electronics and information technology programs to collaborate on creative projects and applications.