DUNNING — Wright City College has been designated by officials as a Center of Excellence for information technology, giving students at the Dunning community college access to internships at consulting firm Accenture, city officials said.
Part of the City Colleges of Chicago's effort to train its students for jobs in fields experts say will be in high demand in the coming years, the program at Wright City College, 4300 N. Narragansett Ave., will give students who complete their classes the opportunity to earn internships — and perhaps eventually a job in the hot field, officials said.
Jim Coleman, the managing director of Accenture's Chicago office, said his firm was responding to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's challenge for Chicago firms to engage directly in the civic life of the city, and provide opportunities for Chicagoans.
"We, as a company, are deeply committed to trying to help people from all walks of life," Coleman said.
But the firm's motives aren't entirely altruistic, Coleman said.
"This is not just do-gooder thing," Coleman said. "We are filling a mutual need."
More than 24,000 jobs in information technology are expected to be available in the Chicago region in the next decade, and students who graduate from the City Colleges of Chicago should be ready to snap them up, Chancellor Cheryl Hyman said.
"We want to give our students an extra edge in this competitive industry," Hyman said. "Our students should have the opportunity and skills to seize those jobs."
Students from all over the city interested in studying web and software developers, network and computer systems and programming will take advanced classes at Wright, officials said.
The first interns from Wright are expected to start this spring at Accenture, where they will have "real responsibility" managing the 5,000-employee office's computer network and systems, Coleman said.
"They will be treated just like any other full-time employee," Coleman said, while getting hands-on training and mentoring.
The Center of Excellence at Wright will offer several new associate's degree and certificate programs in computer science, networking systems and technology, web development and other areas, officials said.
"We hope this is the first step in something that will grow, and perhaps expand into other parts of the firm," Coleman said. "We are committed to helping people who are working hard to help themselves."
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