All posts by Kimberly Gaskin

CCIT welcomes Alvin Sheriff

Faculty
Alvin Sheriff
Adjunct Instructor

Alvin “Al” Sheriff General Manager, Nethix, LLC, has extensive and wide-ranging business acumen, experience, and training.  Al has over 15 years of experience in the areas of telecommunications and aviation.  He has brokered over $15 million in commerce.  Al held several key management positions with Verizon Communications, a Fortune 100 company. This experience along with other well established and diversified professional endeavors has cemented his expertise in New Ventures/Launches, Business Development, Sales and Marketing, and Multi-Site Management in both domestic and international environments.  Al has been the recipient of several awards such as the Minority Business Recognition Award and the Opportunity Funding Corporation Business (OFC) Competition Award.

 Al is actively involved in numerous community service organizations. He has served on the Boards of ZCD Foundation, and D.R.U.M. (Development Roundtable for Upward Mobility, Inc) Foundation. Al received his Undergraduate degree in Aerospace Studies with minors in Psychology, Humanities, and Air Traffic Control from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  He further holds a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Information Technologies from Morgan State University.  Additionally, Al has a Masters Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University and a Six Sigma Greenbelt Certificate from Villanova University. 

 

CCIT welcomes Timothy Maynes

Faculty
Timothy Maynes
Adjunct Instructor

Tim Maynes is a graduate of Strayer University. He earned a Master’s in Business Administration, with a specialization in Project Management. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems.  He is also a graduate of St. Petersburg Junior College with an Associate in Arts in Computer Engineering.  With over 20 years of IT experience, Tim has been working for Microsoft for the last 12 years.  Currently, he is a Senior Consultant for the National Security Group within the Microsoft Consulting Services practice.  Tim has been teaching for various institutions for the past 15 years specializing in many types of IT software. 

 Tim was born in Orlando currently lives in the Spring Hill area with his wife and two children. 

 

HITT Grant Program returns in 2013

Certifications

The Tampa Bay Hi-Tech Training Program (HITT) offers free technology training to local unemployed workers. The program covers the costs of tuition, books and fees and is made possible through a $3.8 million grant from the Department of Labor. We are officially accepting applications for the HITT Certificate Grant Program at St. Petersburg College. For more information, please send an e-mail to tbhitech@worknetpinellas.org  or call 727 608-2479.

CCIT welcomes Ryan Irving

Faculty
Ryan Irving

My career in Information Technology really started excelling when I started working for Hillsborough County Public Schools in 2007. Hillsborough County Public Schools gave me several opportunities for advancement. I worked as a hardware technician, a field support technician, and a systems analyst. I left Hillsborough County Public Schools in 2011 to where I am currently employed which is Hillsborough County Government. I currently work there as an IT security analyst.

I received my AS in Computer Information Administration from Hillsborough Community College. I then received my BAS from St. Petersburg College in Technology Management. I furthered my education where I received my MS from the University of Central Florida (GO KNIGHTS!!!) in Digital Forensics. I also hold CompTIA’s A+ and Security+ certifications.

On a personal side I am a big hockey fan. Go Bolts! I also try to actively research topics in digital forensics.

CCIT welcomes Shemika Howard

Faculty
Shamika Howard
Adjunct Instructor

I am originally from Fort Myers, FL. I moved to Orlando in 1999 to attend college at the University of Central Florida. I was a member of Lead Scholars for my freshman and sophomore year. I received my B.S.B.A. in Management with a specialization in MIS. I also received a minor in legal studies. I graduated from the University of Phoenix with a Masters in Information Systems in 2007. I am currently attending Walden University pursuing a post-graduate certificate in Project Management. I have worked in the IT field for more than 6 years. Prior to that, I worked as a child Protective Investigator in the State of Florida. I currently work as a Quality Assurance Engineer. I am also a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. I live in St. Petersburg, FL with my 4 year old son.

William Prast discusses his passion for IT Security

computer programs

William Prast developed a fondness for engineering at a very early age. His father was a renowned electrical engineer whom Prast said, had the “uncanny ability to explain engineering in a way that makes you fall in love with the lifestyle.” This made an indelible impression upon Prast and thus motivated him to work for his father’s company at the age of 17.

Prast’s motivation to pursue a degree stemmed from his existing passion for IT. His joy further increased when he enrolled in CTS 1120. He especially enjoyed a wide range of topics that were covered in the class. “The class portrayed the reader as the “IT Administrator” in charge of procedures at a company and depicted a realistic role,” he said.

Prast primarily acquired his security skills in incident response disaster planning, security policy and redundancy planning. Though he has been working with General Telecom, LLC for two years, he has been involved with the company since 2002, when it was formerly known as Webnet, Inc. As a general managing partner, Prast’s duties include maintaining continuity of service for clients, planning, billing, marketing and sales, and purchasing.

Since the company provides network service for data and voice, Prast said that they “pride themselves in supporting a myriad of services and have strong skills in network infrastructure.”

HITT Program classes to be offered spring 2013

Certifications

If you are unemployed and you are interested in a career in the Information Technology field, the Tampa Bay Hi-tech program (HITT) may be the right choice for you. By means of a grant, students are provided tuition for books and fees for certification training. For the purposes of St. Petersburg College, students can earn certifications in the following areas: Cisco Certified Network Associate, Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator, and Java Programming. With the exception of CCNA, the Microsoft and Java are 18 credit hour programs, whereas CCNA is a 12 credit hour program. With each certification, job related opportunities include: Network Administrator Engineer or Specialist, Project Support Engineer, Systems Architect and Web Programmer.  For additional information about enrollment and eligibility, please send an email to tbhitech@worknetpinellas.org  or call 727 608-2479.

CISCO Networking Academy awards St. Pete College for active participation

CISCO
CISCO Academy Instructors Mike Gordon (left) and Cedric Way.

Recently, the Cisco Networking Academy awarded St. Petersburg College (SPC) for 10 years of active participation in the academy. According to CISCO academy instructor Mike Gordon, the CISCO program is “bigger now than it has ever been in terms of enrollment. We have one of the biggest CISCO academy programs in the state of Florida,” he said.

There were a total of seven people who took the exam; five students and two instructors for the CISCO Academy, Cedric Way and Mike Gordon.  Everyone passed across the board! Gordon further stated that since this was the first time through, it was a great achievement to have everyone successfully pass.

Gordon said that the CCNA Security class will be offered again in March, and the study group will begin in May.

“Since it was the first time offering the CCNA Security course, it was important that we had a high success rate. I look forward to working more years with the CISCO Academy.

Youth Connect offers incentive programs to young adults

College of Computer and Information Technology

As part of an initiative to assist young adults in securing employment, the Pinellas Education Foundation joined forces with Worknet Pinellas. In an effort to effectively assist participants, two Employer incentive programs were established. In order to be eligible for the program, Alisa Lorello of Youth Connect said that participants must be between the ages of 16 and 21, live in Pinellas County, and they must fall within the required income bracket or if they are receiving government assistance. She further stated that students must qualify for the Youth Connect program in order to be able to use the employment incentive programs.

For more information, please contact Alisa Lorello at pcs.lorelloa@pcsb.org .

Kristopher Prusac serves Internship at eMason

internships

After serving in the Army for six-and-a-half years, Kristopher Prusac enrolled in St. Petersburg College (SPC) in August 2010 where he is currently pursuing a BAS degree in Technology Management. Before he came to SPC, Prusac worked in the medical records department at Suncoast Medical Clinic in St. Petersburg, FL. Thereafter, he was hired to work for a dermatologist; it was at that time he began working with computers. At the start, Prusac had little knowledge about Information Technology (IT). Since he has been attending SPC, the experience has “helped him get a better understanding of the IT field.”  Due to his love of computers, he is grateful to be working for eMason since it allows him to utilize his skills.

Prusac heard about the internship opportunity through a classmate. It has been a month-and-a-half since he’s been on the job and he is enjoying the experience. Regarding his education, Prusac is grateful for the VA’s assistance with tuition and book payments. He is currently part of the Vocational Rehab program that helps veterans with disabilities. Prusac advises students who have a desire to intern at SPC “to go for it. Make sure that you show up ready to work hard and take in every bit of knowledge and training that the company you work for can give you. You never know, you might just get a job out of it.”

Prusac is grateful to SPC and especially Ms. Susan Biszewski-Eber, College-wide Internship Coordinator, for setting him up with such a great opportunity.