Thanks to a new networking lab, the School of Information Technology will be able to enhance its ability to teach concepts of how to build, troubleshoot, administer, and secure technology resources.

The significance of the new lab, unveiled April 25, is akin to "a chemistry class being enhanced with a lab to actually do experiments, or a nursing course having the capabilities to actually practice some of the concepts that they should have a deep understanding of before going out in to the workforce," said Johnathan Yerby, an IT instructor. "You would not probably want your nurse to have only read about taking your blood or temperature or some other task. It's the same with an IT professional, who is the caretaker of data and has the expertise to know how to secure your information and be able to make that information available to only the people that need it."

The lab, located in room 250 of the Professional Sciences and Conference Center, is the result of a senior capstone project for IT majors, and it also created an opportunity for Macon State to work with Central Georgia Technical College. One of the Macon State students on the project team, Tammy Hammett, works at Central Georgia Tech and was able to obtain some fairly high-end technological equipment (Cisco switches) that are being used in the lab.  Three Central Georgia Tech students - Juan Payne, Joshua Fountain and Steven Miller, who also is a Macon State graduate - completed some of the cabling tasks, server configuration, and base configuration of the Cisco switches.

This project was documented throughout the process. One of the students involved, graduating senior Jacob Morrison, will present a paper about it along with IT faculty members Yerby and Dr. Kevin Floyd at an international conference. Morrison is one of two seniors to receive this year's Presidential Scholar award, the highest given by Macon State.

Photo cutline: Macon State students Tammy Hammett and Jacob Morrison were instrumental in the development of the School of IT's new networking lab.

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