Shannon Brantley of Clifton Forge is the first student to complete the Google IT (Information Technology) Professional Certificate course being hosted by Dabney S. Lancaster Community College. The new 300-hour online course, created and designed by Google, is a “good foundation for anyone who wants to go into the field of IT,” says Brantley. “It’s a very good place to start.”
Brantley says he needed one more course to finish up the DSLCC Cybersecurity and Networking Foundations Career 
Studies Certificate program, when IT Program Head Tamra Lipscomb suggested the Google course.
Brantley says he found the course to be well structured, easy to follow and thorough. “There is a good introduction to hardware and software, networking and cybersecurity,” he notes. “They break it down to an elementary level, from the ground up, so you always know what they’re talking about.” Even though he’s had many years of experience in the field, he would recommend it for beginners.
Because of his IT background, Brantley was able to complete the Google IT Professional course in about 3 weeks, but he notes that even with little experience, the course can be done in less than six months. The modules include hands-on labs, videos and quizzes
Brantley, a graduate of Virginia Western Community College, Jefferson College of Health Sciences, and Liberty University, is employed as a health care IT consultant and travels a great deal, consulting hospitals on Electronic Medical Record implementations. He sees the Google IT Professional Certificate credential as a good addition to his resume. He plans to complete another Google course on “Python,” a web/application scripting language. Google has developed a course for using Python for automation of redundant tasks in IT.
For more information about DSLCC’s Google IT Professional course, visit the website at www.dslcc.edu/programs-careers or register directly at https://bit.ly/DSLCCGoogleIT.
Enrollment is open. There is a $50 fee to hold a spot and seating is limited, but once students complete all 5 of
Google's online courses, DSLCC will refund the tuition fee in full. A mentor will be assigned to each student once accepted into the program. A limited number of scholarships are available.
For more information, call IT Program Head Tamra Lipscomb at (540) 863-2896.
More information on this and other programs is available on the DSLCC website at www.dslcc.edu.