PHASE III: UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF PHASE II, THE SED RETURNS TO AN EDS ACCOUNT. THE III SED COMBINES THE BUSINESS SKILLS ACHIEVED DURING PHASE I WITH THE TECHNICAL SKILLS ACHIEVED DURING PHASE II, AND FUNCTIONS AS A NOVICE SYSTEMS ENGINEER. INITIALLY, THIS INVOLVES EXTENSIVE PROGRAMMING; EITHER MAINTAINING EXISTING PROGRAMS OR WRITING NEW ONES. IN TIME, BASED ON DEMONSTRATED PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING AND PRODUCTIVITY, THE SED PROCEEDS TO MORE TECHNICALLY SOPHISTICATED SYSTEM DESIGN AND PROGRAMMING RESPONSIBILITIES.

AN SED NORMALLY COMPLETES THE ENTIRE PROGRAM WITHIN AN 18 TO 24 MONTH TIME FRAME. TO BE CONSIDERED A QUALIFIED SYSTEMS ENGINEER, THE SED MUST HAVE A THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF EDS' CONCEPT OF DOING BUSINESS, BE THOROUGHLY FAMILIAR WITH A CUSTOMER'S BUSINESS, AND HAVE ACHIEVED MEASURED RESULTS IN A TECHNICAL AREA.

THE SED PROGRAM, AS I HAVE OUTLINED FOR YOU, AND OUR SIMILAR MANAGERIAL AND COMPUTER OPERATOR PROGRAMS, WORK VERY WELL FOR US. THE PROBLEM, AND THE KEY POINT OF MY TESTIMONY, IS THE QUALITY AND PREPAREDNESS OF YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN TO ENTER A TECHNICAL CAREER OF THIS TYPE.

THE PROFILE OF AN AVERAGE SUCCESSFUL SED CANDIDATE WOULD BE A COLLEGE GRADUATE WHO HAS A TECHNICALLY-RELATED DEGREE IN MATHEMATICS, ENGINEERING, ONE OF THE HARD SCIENCES,

OR A BUSINESS-RELATED DEGREE SUCH AS ACCOUNTING OR BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION.

THE CANDIDATE WILL HAVE AT LEAST A 3.2

GRADE POINT AVERAGE, ALONG WITH A PERSONAL HISTORY WHICH
WILL INCLUDE INDICATIONS OF LEADERSHIP, AGGRESSIVENESS IN
THE PURSUIT OF PERSONAL GOALS, AND THE ABILITY TO THINK
THROUGH INTRICATE PROBLEMS. ANOTHER IMPORTANT INGREDIENT
WILL BE AN INDICATION OF GOOD ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
SKILLS.

WHILE THIS PROFILE MAY APPEAR TO BE OPTIMISTIC TO YOU,
OUR EXPERIENCE IS THAT THESE ARE GENERALLY THE MINIMAL RE-
QUIREMENTS TO SUCCEED IN OUR INDUSTRY. UNFORTUNATELY,
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS SIMPLY DO NOT PRODUCE GRADUATES WITH
THESE SKILLS IN THE QUANTITIES NECESSARY TO STAFF OUR INDUSTRY.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN MY OWN EDS GROUP THERE ARE OVER 140 TECHNICAL
POSITIONS OPEN. OUR ACTIVE APPLICANT FILES NUMBER APPROXIMATELY
1,500 AND OF THAT NUMBER ONLY 75 ARE CLEARLY QUALIFIED FOR ́.
ONE OF OUR POSITIONS. THERE IS NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT

THIS SITUATION WILL IMPROVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. PERHAPS THE
OVERALL MAGNITUDE OF THIS PROBLEM WITHIN THE ENTIRE DATA
PROCESSING INDUSTRY IS BEST REVEALED BY THE PROJECTION OF
THE OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK SECTION OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
LABOR WHICH REPORTS THAT THERE WILL BE AN AVERAGE ADDITIONAL
NEED FOR 36,000 TO 40,000 COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS EACH YEAR

BETWEEN NOW AND 1990. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PROJECTION

APPLIES ONLY TO COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS AND DOES NOT INCLUDE

ANY OF THE OTHER TECHNICAL JOB CATEGORIES NORMALLY CONSIDERED PART OF THE DATA PROCESSING INDUSTRY SUCH AS COMPUTER OPERATORS, SYSTEMS ANALYSTS, ETC.

THE PRINCIPAL ACADEMIC REASONS MOST APPLICANTS FAIL TO MEET OUR EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS FOR ENTRY-LEVEL TECHNICAL POSITIONS ARE LOW GRADES, A WEAK BACKGROUND IN THE BASICS OF MATHEMATICS AND GENERAL SCIENCE, AND LITTLE, IF ANY, DATA PROCESSING RELATED COURSE WORK. EVEN AFTER WE HAVE HIRED CANDIDATES WHO APPEAR TO MEET OUR STANDARDS, WE ARE OFTEN DISAPPOINTED BY THEIR INABILITY TO APPLY SIMPLE LOGIC AND REASONING TO THE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS AND, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, THEY HAVE POOR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION SKILLS. OTHER AREAS THAT CONCERN US DEEPLY ARE THE NUMBER OF TIMES COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES PERMIT A STUDENT TO RETAKE OR WITHDRAW FROM TRADITIONAL MATH AND SCIENCE COURSES IN WHICH THEY ARE DOING POORLY, AND THE APPARENTLY UNINFORMED ADVICE THAT SCHOOL COUNSELORS PROVIDE STUDENTS REGARDING THE DATA PROCESSING INDUSTRY.

IN OUR OPINION, IT MAY VERY WELL BE THAT LACK OF COMPUTER LITERACY, ESPECIALLY IN ACADEMIA, IS AN OVERALL FACTOR IN

THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEMS WE EXPERIENCE WITH RECENT GRADUATES. MICROCOMPUTERS ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE COMMON IN GRAMMAR,

JUNIOR HIGH AND HIGH SCHOOLS, YET APPARENTLY FEW OF THE
TEACHERS WHO INSTRUCT STUDENTS IN THE USE OF THESE TOOLS
AND THE THEORIES BEHIND THEM HAVE RECEIVED ANYTHING BEYOND
FAMILIARITY TRAINING IN THE OPERATION OF THE EQUIPMENT;
FEWER STILL HAVE EVER USED THEM TO PERFORM ANY PRACTICAL
TASKS. ALMOST EVERY COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY IN THE UNITED
STATES OWNS, OR HAS ACCESS TO, LARGE MAIN FRAMES AND SYSTEMS
WHICH ARE USED IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE INSTITUTION AS
WELL AS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL PURPOSES IN DATA PROCESSING OR

COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENTS, HOWEVER, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE,

IT APPEARS THAT A LARGE NUMBER OF THE INSTRUCTORS AND PROFESSORS WHO TEACH IN THESE DEPARTMENTS HAVE LITTLE PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE IN THE TOPICS THEY TEACH. AS A RESULT, GRADUATES HAVE ONLY CONCEPTUAL OR THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDS WHEN THEY COME TO INDUSTRY AND FEW HAVE ANY SKILLS THAT THEY CAN IMMEDIATELY APPLY. TO EMPHASIZE THIS POINT, GENERALLY SOMEONE WHO HAS THE PROFILE I OUTLINED PREVIOUSLY BUT WHO HAS ALSO ATTENDED A COURSE AT ONE OF THE DATA PROCESSING TECHNICAL INSTITUTES IS A MUCH MORE ACCEPTABLE APPLICANT SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE MORE PRAGMATIC SKILL APPROACH TAKEN BY THE TECHNICAL INSTITUTES.

IN MY OPINION, ANY SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS I HAVE TOUCHED ON TODAY MUST CLEARLY RECOGNIZE THREE FACTORS.

FIRST, WE ARE IN THE AGE OF THE COMPUTER. NOTHING IS so

PERVASIVE IN OUR SOCIETY TODAY, OR IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES,

AS THE COMPUTER.

IT IMPACTS VIRTUALLY EVERYONE OF US NO MATTER WHAT OUR STATION MAY BE. SECOND, ACADEMIA MUST REMAIN ABREAST OF COMPUTER AND RELATED TECHNOLOGY. IN PREVIOUS ERAS OUR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES WERE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN, IF NOT THE SOURCE OF, MUCH OF OUR TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT; HOWEVER, IN THE FIELD OF COMPUTER SCIENCE THAT ADVANCEMENT IS NOW CLEARLY DRIVEN BY INDUSTRY. AS A RESULT, OUR ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS ARE OUT OF STEP WITH THE REAL WORLD FOR WHICH THEY ARE ATTEMPTING TO PREPARE THEIR STUDENTS. THIRD, THE COMPUTER INDUSTRY IN GENERAL MUST BE WILLING AND AVAILABLE TO CLOSE THE TECHNOLOGY LOOP BETWEEN ITSELF AND ACADEMIA. WHEN APPLIED TO THE PROBLEM AT HAND, THESE FACTORS WOULD SUGGEST ACTION IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:

2

(1) ACADEMIA MUST REAFFIRM AND REEMPHASIZE BASIC
MATHEMATIC AND SCIENTIFIC SKILLS AT ALL LEVELS.
VIRTUALLY NO HIGH SCHOOL OR COLLEGE CURRICULUM
SHOULD PERMIT STUDENTS TO "OPT OUT" OF THIS

INSTRUCTION.

(2) ACADEMIA SHOULD AGGRESSIVELY PURSUE THE ACTIVE

PARTICIPATION OF INDUSTRY IN DETERMINING CUR

RICULUM CONTENT FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE/DATA

PROCESSING PROGRAMS.

(3) ACADEMIA SHOULD REQUIRE COMPUTER LITERACY

INSTRUCTION IN ALL CURRICULA TO THE EXTENT