CIT Computer Training Celebrates 40 Years!

As the Fall/Winter 2008 Term opens, the CIT Computer Training Program is pleased to announce its 40th year of bringing high-quality computer training to the NIH community. What a time it has been!

A look back

Things were very different in the fall of 1968 when the Computer Center in DCRT began offering courses designed to assist NIH programmers, analysts, and managers to make more effective and efficient use of the NIH’s computers and software. A total of 18 different courses were offered. Elliot Alterman taught the first training session, entitled "SYSTEM/360 at NIH for Computer Operators," on September 3, 1968. Other adventurous training pioneers who volunteered their talents and expertise in that first term were: Rita Minker, Tom Tuffesing, William Speary, Frank Rosenzweig, Joseph Naughton, and Charles Bacon.

Throughout the years, the computer training program has grown and evolved. The 70’s brought courses for WYLBUR, Dec10, and the beginning of seminars, as well as audio/visual and computer-assisted courses, so individuals could benefit from the information at their own pace. To the delight of many, the training catalog added a map of the NIH Campus and pictures of the facilities, instructors, and students who attended the courses.

As the 80’s began, so did a change in the computing world with enhanced interest in using a personal computer to complete daily tasks. The necessity of courses on personal computing and PC-DOS, which brought with it the advent of PC/Mainframe communication, became evident. The Training program also recognized a need for statistical packages such as SAS and SPSS, which have become two of the longest-running training courses offered through the program.

At the 20-year mark, the 90’s pushed computer training into another dimension. While many "traditional" classes were retired, including COBOL, FORTRAN, WYLBUR, and Dec10, a wave of new topics on Unix, Helix, Internet Resources, and Microsoft Windows flooded the scene. As the Training Program developed, so did computer use at NIH, with courses geared to the scientific community becoming more prevalent. These scientific courses currently add up to 60 percent of the program.

In the first decade of the new millennium, CIT offered over 220 different courses, covering a wide variety of computing interests for NIH. In the fiscal year of 2008, CIT Training recorded over 10,000 student course completions. With seminars designed for those in the scientific community, web development, networking, computer security, and statistics, the world of personal and scientific computing has clearly advanced over the years, and CIT Training is proud to continue with this exciting endeavor.

Make new training program history—share what you know

With the ever-changing community at NIH, our courses have evolved to keep pace. One of the unique opportunities afforded through our training program allows individuals from the NIH community to share their expertise with other colleagues. Are you involved in an emerging field of interest which will benefit the mission of the NIH? Are you a project lead rolling out a new or updated program? Contact us so that we can assist you to share what you know to benefit others.

Computer courses now available for registration

Many new sessions this term are the direct result of volunteers participating in our training program. Here is a sampling of new courses:

•	Advanced QVR – CRISP/RCDC
•	AppScan Orientation for ISSOs
•	SAS Enterprise Guide & Tracking Trends in Science
•	Leopard Tips & Tricks
•	GeneSpring GX 10 & Affymetrix for GeneSpring

The popular returning topics include seminars for scientists, QVR, Blackberry, Office 2007, and Web Search: Thinking Beyond Google. You can obtain full course information, register for Fall/Winter 2008 classes, join our CIT Training Mailing list, and view your transcript or current application status at our website (http://training.cit.nih.gov).

Continuing our tradition of free classes

Change may be inevitable, yet one thing has remained the same. Whether the topic was WYLBUR, PC-DOS, Convex, Microsoft Office, computer security, or web development, most courses have always been free of charge to NIH staff! While NIH employees get first priority for classes, contractors are welcome to attend when space is available, the class is related to their NIH work, and they have approval from their NIH supervisor.

If you have any questions about the CIT Training program you may contact us by phone at 301-594-6248 or email us at CITTraining@mail.nih.gov.