October 5/98

Wi many of us were
either mowing the

backyard lawn, sawing
ZZz’s on the couch, or
catching up on the latest
ER or Bugs Bunny
episodes, three Computer
Support Services
employees were busy
advancing their careers.

It didn’t take much —
just six hours every
Saturday and three hours
every Thursday evening
over one full year — for
Darren E. Broder, Tony
Kwok and Curt Watts to
complete the demanding
and difficult Network
Specialist Program (NSP).

“It was great, if not time
consuming,” says Tony, 25,
a PC support analyst. “Now
that we’ve completed it, we have
Saturdays we don’t know what to do
with.”

Okay, so I didn’t mention the beach,
the ski slopes, the numerous golf
courses, or the couch, but it wouldn’t
have mattered anyway. It appears that
the course is starting to pay off.

“This program has helped me with
my new position,” says Darren, 26,
who graduated from the College’s
Business Computing Co-op Program
with Tony in 1994. “I started in this
department as a tech support and five
months ago, I became a network
analyst.

“T took the program for personal
advancement,” he adds. It’s stuff I need
to know and it’s good to have someone
on staff who is familiar with it.”

The third technical wizard with
extra time on his hands these days is
20-year-old Curt Watts. However, that
time may be rather limited now that he
has returned to Simon Fraser
University to take his third year of
Computer Science.

“The Network Specialist Program
was a one-year course that ran from
September 8, 1997 to August 16,
1998,” Curt says. “It was very helpful.
It exposed us to a lot of different
networking situations and Ron

Jacques, the instructor, added a history
element that was really interesting.”

The NSP was launched at the College
in 1997. It is designed to train its
students in cross-platform networking.
It’s offered through the College’s
Business Administration Department
and leads to several designations,
including Microsoft Certified
Professional (MCP), MCP Plus Internet,
Certified Novell Administrator (CNA),
Capilano College Network Specialists
Professional (NSP), and Microsoft
Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE).

“It’s the highest level of certification
Microsoft offers,” says Business
Administration instructor, Dave
O’Leary, describing the NSP
Certificate Program. “The fact that three
of our employees completed it while
working full-time says a lot about our
Computer Support Services staff and the
quality of services they offer the
College community.”

Another Capilano College employee
(who also knows the value of a good
education) added her comments about
her colleagues’ major accomplishment.

“This is a real feat for these guys,”
says Curt’s proud mom, Katrina Watts,
Computer Services office manager.
“Apparently the exams are so tough that
many people have to retake them two or

These fine young
wizards work their
magic in Computer
Support Services.
They are, from left,
Tony Kwok, Curt
Watts and Darren E.
Broder. (Photo by
Edna Sakata.)

Employees master a grind
tougher than Grouse

three times. But Darren, Curt and Tony
passed them the first time around.”

Now that they have this under their
belts, what could be next?

“There’s one more step above the
MCSE, which is the MCSE Plus
Internet,’ Tony explains. “It requires
three more courses and exams which
are not offered at Capilano College
right now. It would be great if
Business Administration picked them
up in the future. I’d definitely like to
take them.”

But for the moment, it’s time to
restring the tennis racquet, dust off the
motorcycle and, well, sorry Curt, hit
the books. A hearty congratulations to
all three and a good luck wish to
Computer Services employees Medi
Ranjbary and Dan Victor. They’ll be
setting the timer on the VCR for the
next year as they follow their
colleagues’ footsteps into the NSP
grind.

Submitted by Shelley Kean

@nformer