Microsoft Learn Blog: A tale of two universities

Tech giant touts UC’s global co-op program as a key driver toward achieving ‘digital fluency’

A new Microsoft Learn blog featured an important partnership with the University of Cincinnati focused on “skilling” future generations while bolstering UC’s cooperative education efforts.

In the piece, Microsoft compared the tech giant’s partnerships with UC to that of the University of Lincoln in England, both of which are among the first educational institutions in the world to certify a group of students on Microsoft Azure fundamentals.

The author, Alex Payne, quoted David Adams, UC’s chief innovation officer.

December Roundtable speaker

David Adams, UC's chief innovation officer

“We are taking a holistic approach, viewing this as an integrated supply chain to provide students with more than just a degree,” Adams shared. “We’ve developed relationships with businesses in the region to deeply understand their current, future, and on-going ‘talent needs’ and are leveraging our university’s experienced-based and educational resources to deliver. We essentially see ourselves as a developer of talent and, as with any supply chain, are seeking to do this is the most efficient and agile manner possible to meet the needs of the market.”

According to the blog, UC is one of the first universities to successfully certify 90% of the inaugural class of students on Microsoft Azure fundamentals. UC also has partnered with 30 school districts across the state of Ohio and currently have 1300 high school students enrolled in classes through the Early College IT program. 

Adams continued by saying he looks at co-op as a foundation to make the region around Cincinnati a global technology hub.

Read the full story and learn what UC alumnus and Microsoft solutions architect Bunty Ranu envisions for the partnership.

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