Revived Big Bend program graduates first students

MOSES LAKE - The patient simulators owned by the Big Bend Community College nursing program are marvels of technology. They can be programmed to simulate just about any kind of medical situation.

The problem was the programming part.

So administrators in the nursing program called on the computer science department. Tabatha DeLong is in the second year of the program, and was working as a computer science intern. She got the simulator family up and running in no time.

DeLong will be one of the first graduates of the revived computer science program, which was reborn in 2012. Administrator Mary Shannon said the program has grown to the point where a full-time instructor will be hired for 2014-15.

The program was shut down in 2009 following state budget cuts to the community college budget that in turn forced cuts at individual colleges statewide. State and federal grants paid for revival of the program, administrator Mary Shannon said. Both grants will expire by the end of the 2014-15 academic year, but the program is meeting the goal of being self-sustaining, she said.

"When we started this going, there was no money for an instructor," Shannon said. The college hired a part-time teacher, who will remain with the program in a part-time role. Jimmy Wanner, a former BBCC graduate, will take the full-time position, Shannon said.

Spring quarter enrollment was 46 students, 34 of them enrolled in continuing classes, Shannon said. The college offers an associate of applied science degree for students who complete the program, she said. The BBCC program does align with degree programs offered by four-year colleges. Students should consult with a counselor to make sure their classes match with the four-year college they plan to attend, Shannon said.

The program started with a focus on the systems administration degree, Shannon said, which provided training in operating systems and hardware and computer maintenance. Last fall the college added a software and web design program, which concentrated on programming software and web development, web application design and development, web architecture and client services.

The majority of the students so far are working toward the systems administration degree, Shannon said.

The program also offers internships at the college, and with businesses throughout Grant County, she said. "We've had some great industry partnerships."

Students have worked for the Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata, the Quincy School District, at the Confluence Health clinic in Moses Lake and Moses Lake Industries, among other places, she said. The experience gained through internships helps students when they apply for jobs, she said.

Most people who use computers don't really know how they operate, Shannon said. "We rely on IT people to make all that magic work," she said. As a result, computer science is still a fast-growing field with a lot of job opportunities, she said.