A new technology program is coming to ETSU in summer 2022. ETSU and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee have collaborated on a computing and technology program called Bluesky Tennessee Institute that enables students to obtain their bachelor’s degree in only two years. Not only are the students earning a degree in half the time, but they are guaranteed a job after graduation.
Tony Pittarese, the senior associate dean of the ETSU College of Business and Technology, discussed how ETSU became the choice of university in the state of Tennessee to begin the program.
“BlueCross BlueShield sent information packets out to eight different universities,” said Pittarese. “The reason ETSU was selected was because we have four different types of technology undergraduate majors, and we are one of the less than five universities that have those variety of majors.”
The program is competitive and intense, since the graduating time is two years instead of four. Students should expect twice the amount of coursework. The first year is estimated to only take around 15 students and will recruit mainly from Hamilton County.
“The students will take courses year-round,” said Pittarese. “The challenge with that is that it is a pretty tough program, so the students will be offered tutoring to enable them to go through the program with success.”
After the two year program is completed, students will be offered a job from BlueCross Blueshield automatically. The graduate may select between a variety of technology jobs.
“Anyone who graduates from this program will be guranteed a job offer with a starting salary of $55,000 a year. There will be jobs in cybersecurity, networking, system management, data management and science, really just anything that happens in a business setting,” said Pittarese.
For any questions or concerns about the program, contact Tony Pittarese at pittares@etsu.edu.
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