Marilyn Kaulfuss has worked in the IT industry for 20 years. Her most rewarding experience yet has been teaching at CNC in the Post Diploma Information Technologies (PDIT) program for the last six years.
“The PDIT program has been the most wonderful experience I’ve had in my life,” she said. “I have been given an opportunity to grow as a person and to feel like I am contributing to the growth of others.”
PDIT is a two-year program offering a rounded education in one of the fastest-growing niches in the Canadian job market: Information Technology. Marilyn was the first full-time instructor for the PDIT program at CNC. The team, however, has grown significantly to include five full-time and two part-time instructors.
“Every instructor in the PDIT program is there because they love sharing their knowledge of IT,” she said. “Our team is unique, because we all come from different backgrounds. Every instructor in our program brings a level of excellence to different subjects, so our students are very well rounded. We offer real world knowledge and hands on experience. And we’ll go the extra mile because we care about our students and their success.”
“We are helping to create the IT leaders of tomorrow,” Marilyn continued. “It’s very exciting. We have only touched the surface of the internet. The future is expected to see growths that are unheard of and we need to train as many students as possible to try and keep up. The future is IT.”
While the PDIT program at CNC is relatively new, the program, its instructors and students are already being recognized by industry leaders.
Recently, the program won the CompTIA Rising Star award and Marilyn herself, three years in a row, has won the Instructor Excellence award from Cisco Networking Academy. This award is given to the top 25 per cent of instructors of CISCO certifications, out of approximately 22,000 instructors in 180 countries.
“I’m very proud of this achievement,” she said. “I would also like to mention that two graduates of our Computer Network Electronics Technician program placed 1st and 10th after competing in the prestigious North American CCENT level CISCO Academy NetRiders Skills Competition. All of this is proof that CNC’s PDIT program is one of the best.”