Today, I want to take you on a virtual visit to Michigan Tech University. It hasn't been a great year, sportswise, for the Huskies. While the hockey team hasn't had a winning season in 13 years, and hasn't gotten to the NCAA championships for 25, its current 7-21-6 record won't get anybody's hopes up. Still, there is one bright spot on the MTU horizon, and (you were wondering if I'd get to identity, weren't you?) it's all about real-world identity management.

Too often, college classrooms are places to learn about old, outdated technologies. Computers, networks, software - they're all changing way too fast to be captured by some university's text books. That makes it even more interesting, and heartening, that MTU's program for the Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Network & System Administration (CNSA) is taking steps to see that the students are ready to hit the ground running when they leave school.

Michigan Tech recently reached an agreement to include Imprivata's OneSign Enterprise Single Sign-on (ESSO) software in the CNSA curriculum. While this is rare in most academic environments, for the three-year-old CNSA program, it's simply business as usual. Michigan Tech's refreshing approach to this engineering program incorporates real world situations - programming, security, design and business applications - to ensure future graduates suit the needs of enterprise recruiters who are seeking to save valuable time and lower the costs associated with on-the-job training.

The CNSA program integrates courses in the areas of network engineering, network security, Linux/Unix administration, storage-area networks, Microsoft system administration, directory services/architecture in an LDAP environment, wireless technologies, databases integration, Web-server administration, scripting/programming, electronics, business management, and more. In addition, the program also offers an emphasis where the student can specialize in the areas of security or business management.

Most CNSA core curriculum courses offer an associated lab. This enables the student to gain "hands-on" experience where they can solidify concepts derived from course lectures and put them into practice within an environment that replicates industry.

Dave Kearns is a consultant and editor of IdM, the Journal of Identity Management.