June 18, 2019 – WVU Parkersburg students in the Computer and Information Technology (CIT) Learn and Earn program will soon have the opportunity to gain real-world work experience while earning their degree, all in one location on campus.

The Ntiva Service Desk Academy will open in the Caperton Center for Applied Technology ahead of the fall 2019 semester, enabling students in the college’s CIT Learn and Earn program to work remotely for the D.C.-based tech company while completing their associate degree.

Through this new partnership, students in their second year of the CIT associate degree program will be provided the opportunity to work in a live, fully functional, professional IT service desk environment, working with customers on IT requests, technical issues and projects. Participants earn $16 an hour and may work up to 1,200 hours during the internship period.

“We are pleased to partner with Ntiva to offer this one-of-a-kind internship opportunity to our CIT students,” said WVU Parkersburg STEM Instructor Doug Rhodes. “It is very exciting to have the service desk located in the same building where our students are learning. It not only helps the students hired by Ntiva, but all our CIT students, to better understand what a modern service desk looks like, how it operates and the skills we are teaching in the classroom.”

Ntiva employees will work alongside the students to train and mentor those selected for the program.

“Our core mission is to grow people and we believe that technology is a key accelerator,” said Steven Freidkin, CEO of Ntiva. “By investing in the Ntiva Service Desk Academy in partnership with the CIT Learn and Earn program, we’re providing the opportunity for WVU Parkersburg students to gain valuable technical skills in a real-world environment. This in-depth training will open up more employment doors for graduating students in the CIT degree program, who were able to take advantage of this internship.”

WVU Parkersburg’s CIT Learn and Earn program started in 2016 with three local employers – Chemours, Woodcraft and iTech. Since that time, 12 students have participated in the program, and it has expanded with new employer partnerships, including Westbrook Health Services and Ntiva.

Among other recent notable accomplishments, the college’s CIT program ranked first in the state and No. 102 in the nation in the SANS Institute’s Cyber FastTrack competition, a national initiative to help identify cybersecurity talent in the U.S. and enable college students to discover their aptitude in the field. More than 13,000 students across the country started the program, and four of those were WVU Parkersburg students who qualified for the quarterfinals, earning the opportunity to compete for $2.5 million in scholarships and direct introductions to employers.

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