The Chemours Company made a donation to West Virginia University at Parkersburg, providing upgrades to the college’s Computer Information Technology (CIT) program. The WVU at Parkersburg Foundation accepted the gift on behalf of the college as part of their mission to partner with the community and build private support for the institution.

The donation consists of practical hardware upgrades for two WVU Parkersburg CIT labs, including 30 desktop computers, 49 laptops, 58 network switches and 18 redundant power supplies. This sizable donation will allow WVU Parkersburg students to work on Cisco Certified exam objectives in the repair and the networking hardware labs on campus.

The opportunity to improve these labs at WVU Parkersburg came from students Colton Foley and Jerry McKee of the CIT Learn and Earn program with Chemours. While assisting with hardware upgrades to some of the company’s equipment, the students realized WVU Parkersburg students could benefit from using the technology Chemours was removing.

“With this donation, our students will have a more modern networking platform for learning,” said WVU Parkersburg STEM Instructor Doug Rhodes. “As an instructor, this will allow our networking curricula to include physical hardware with less being software simulation and emulation, which are sometimes limiting.”

Sponsored by the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia, the Learn and Earn program gives selected students in their second year of the CIT associate degree program a flexible work rotation at Chemours, iTech or Woodcraft.

Students receive hourly compensation for their work, and can work up to a total of 1,200 hours.

Chemours was also recognized as WVU Parkersburg’s 2018 Community Partner of the Year for its excellence in supporting student success through work and educational opportunities. Bob Fahrenbacher, Chemour’s Plant Manager, accepted the award during the college’s honors ceremony held on April 27.

To learn more about the Learn and Earn program, contact WVU Parkersburg’s Center for Student Services at admissions@wvup.edu or 304-424-8310.