Students in South Louisiana Community College’s application software development will have a smooth transition into UL Lafayette’s informatics program, thanks to a new articulation agreement between the schools.
Dr. Natalie Harder, SLCC chancellor, and Dr. Joseph Savoie, University of Louisiana at Lafayette president, signed the agreement today at SLCC’s Lafayette Campus.
“This agreement provides a great opportunity for our application software development graduates to continue on a path to a bachelor’s degree,” said Harder. “Articulation agreements like this one are a win for both schools, our students, and our region. SLCC and UL Lafayette are preparing students to be work-ready upon graduation. This benefits Acadiana businesses and our economy.”
The agreement facilitates the transfer of a student desiring to earn a bachelor of science in informatics – individualized concentration upon completion of an associate of applied science in application software development at SLCC.
Savoie said the signing of this agreement is timely. “The demand for information technology jobs is growing internationally, nationally and locally. With the recent move of three new major information technology-related companies to Lafayette, there is increased local demand for information technology experts. This partnership with SLCC will help increase the pipeline of high-demand computer science and informatics graduates. We look forward to adding more 2+2 agreements with SLCC in the near future.”
SLCC established its application software development program in 2014. This two-year program prepares students to design, develop, test, and modify software applications. This program has a strong focus on database design and programming, web development, and programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, C++, C#, HTML, SQL and CSS.
UL Lafayette’s informatics program includes an internship for students. This provides an opportunity for students to learn business processes and procedures within a company, and many times leads to a permanent position. Many students go to work as business intelligence architects, database developers/administrators, digital media professionals, and IT business analysts.
It’s predicted that more than 1,000 jobs in the IT field will be available in the greater Lafayette area in the next five to 10 years. The demand for IT professionals is high and UL Lafayette boasts a 90 percent job placement rate for graduates.
Cutline: Dr. Joseph Savoie, UL Lafayette president, and Dr. Natalie Harder, SLCC chancellor, signed a 2+2 articulation agreement Tuesday afternoon between the two institutions.
Photo courtesy of SLCC.