The University of Central Arkansas announces 20 new Java developers completed the most recent Arkansas Coding Academy boot camp and part-time classes.
As part of their training program, the participants debuted their final projects and portfolios to local employers and the community during Demo Day on the campus of UCA.
The Arkansas Coding Academy, which is part of the UCA Division of Outreach and Community Engagement, provides education and training to individuals seeking new careers in programming and information technology.
“With the success of the first class, we were able to build and improve on that experience for subsequent courses,” Shelley Mehl associate vice president for Outreach said. “Twelve of the 15 participants from the first class have received job offers.”
One of the student teams from this class built a secure personal medical data management suite, called Serenity Med, which offers a prescription reminder service via text messaging and contains lab charting and multiple features related medical data management.
Arkansas Coding Academy Program Director Mary Dunlap touted the accomplishments of the two courses, “We completed our first part-time class in partnership with Philander Smith College in Little Rock and the Department of Workforce Services. It gave our participants the opportunity to continue working during the day while attending classes at night. We chose to train in Java given the broad industry need.”
Metova, a major app development company with offices in Conway, played a major role in facilitating the establishment of the Arkansas Coding Academy and hired four individuals from the inaugural boot camp.
Training efforts will continue April 17 at UCA with new boot camp and part-time classes in Java and .net development. Interested individuals should apply online at arkansascodingacademy.com.
UCA launched Arkansas Coding Academy last July to meet the state’s growing demand for well-trained developers and was made possible by the support and partnerships of several tech companies and other organizations.
The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services, in conjunction with the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, is an integral partner in recruiting and providing funds for dislocated workers and individuals from underserved populations to complete the program.
Other partners include but are not limited to Acxiom, Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, JB Hunt, First Orion and Rock Fish.
