....all the way to federal prison. So I work in Clear Lake in the ITT building on Bay Area and I arrive to work today and it appears to be a normal everyday arrival at work. I park the car, get out and head toward the door. When I get there, there's a guy who obviously some sort of law enforcement agent and he's asking if I'm a student or do I work upstairs. This was a bit shocking as I usually just walk into the building and go to my office without anyone bothering me. I tell him who I am and show him my ID and he verifies that I am supposed to be in the building. I walk into the building and there are federal officers spaced out every twenty feet. At this point, I'm floored. The first officer tells me to walk directly to the elevator where another officer will ensure that I make it up to the second floor. So I start heading that direction but stop to ask what is going on and am told that it has nothing to do with my company and to go ahead and go to my office. WOW! WTF! So I make my way to my office, passing a dozen or so different federal officials, some from the FBI, postal service, HPD and local building security. When I make it up to my office, my coworkers and I start trying to figure out what in the world is going on. It was somewhat odd of the locale of this raid, as there is an Ashley's Donuts right next door to us...but we figure that wasn't the reason for the day's events. So we talk with some of the VP's of the company who had been talking with some of the agents and it appears that some sort of federal warrant was being executed against ITT. They have agents all over the building and you cannot get near any of the ITT offices. Apparently they are turning the students away and requiring the staff to come inside for whatever reason (my guess is interviewing). We started looking around the net for any news stories regarding ITT and couldn't find any, but did find that their stock (symbol:ESI) is not trading today. All-in-all, it's been a very interesting start to my Wednesday morning. Probably won't get a lot of work done today. Oh well...thought I'd share that with you guys. Pretty wild stuff.
Ahhhhh.....the answer....... ITT Educational Services, Inc. Reports that It Has Been Served with A Search Warrant and Related Subpoenas from the U.S. District Court in Texas INDIANAPOLIS, Feb 25, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- ITT Educational Services, Inc. ( NYSE:ESI) reported today that federal agents are executing a search warrant at the company's corporate offices in Indianapolis and at several ITT Technical Institutes. The search warrant was issued by the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, located in Houston, Texas. The search warrant and related grand jury subpoenas relate to information and documentation regarding placement figures and rates, retention figures and rates, graduation figures and rates, attendance figures and rates, recruitment and admissions materials, student grades, graduate salaries and transferability of credits to other institutions. Rene R. Champagne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ITT/ESI said, "Federal agents are executing the search warrant this morning and we are fully cooperating with the agents with regard to the requests identified in the warrant and related subpoenas. We have not been informed of any specific allegations or charges at this time."
this in no way is meant as a swipe at you boomer....I really hope that the news you posted doesnt adversly affect your job security..... but I have a little rant about ITT and NIT and the tech schools like them that advertise on TV all the time /rant begins heh...you know...ITT and NIT and the others like them crack me up. You see their commercials all the time...and they are going on and on about how they will train and place you in all these hot IT jobs... umm.. WHAT IT JOBS???? good lord...the IT industry is on life support right now..just where are all these hotshot IT grads gonna go to work? Deceptive advertising. another funny thing... When I was in school getting my training to be a mechanic...we had a couple of guys came into the program after being at ITT for a while...and they didnt know jack crap.. Now..this was in the early 80s..so maybe they have gotten better...but that forever tarnished their image in my eyes. /rant ends
boomboom, you should've had a more captivating title for this thread like "Wow...", "Should I...", "This is weird...", etc... They usually get lots of hits. (sigh...) When I saw the title, I thought it was a thread about furthering one's own education, almost didn't click on it and missed out on an interesting event. Rockets2K, to be fair, I've known quite a few people with Masters' degree in my field who don't know jack. So, I think it's more of an individual thing more than a school thing. I still don't understand the logic behind why moving IT jobs to other countries is good for US.
This is absolutely true! I think in a lot of these cases, people are really "book smart" but have not clue on applying their knowledge. And others are total opposite....failures in school, but complete geniuses in the workplace. I've worked with both types. As for the federal raid today...they're still here...and we're finally allowed to use "the other bathroom" on the other side of the building...the one where you go to think things out for awhile. Fortunately my company has nothing to do with ITT...we just happen to be in the same office building.
Agreed. The IT field has been hell lately, but things are finally showing a small sign of picking up. In this industry more than most others, experience matters more than education.
I worked for a short time as a 3rd party IT recruiter. I can tell you that if we saw someone with ITT Tech on their resume, you could pretty much guarantee they would not get placed. Not even help desk work. I've always been skeptical about that place. I feel sorry for the people who fork over all that cash to them and get nothing in return.
Well, there's a reason ITT Tech does most of their advertising during the daytime. Their core demographic is unemployed slobs and housewives that don't have any real job skills or work experience...
Try a community college. Most CCs offer the same type of education that ITT Tech offers at a much cheaper price with more flexible class schedules...
None of them are worth a crap. They are instructed by a bunch of people that wish they had real world experience. If they were any good they would be in the real work force because you can make a lot more money in a real job. Your best bet is OTJ.
I agree that you can get the basics just as good in a CC with a cheaper cost and more flexible schedule.
It's funny that there was a guy from ITT came over to our high school and try to get us to that school just today
well, thats basically what a CC is best at...providing the basics at a cheaper price so youcan move on to a real college and be able to concentrate on the more advanced subjects for your degree. it should be noted however...that anyone going this route should make sure they contact the college they plan on transferring to and getting a course outline for their degree plan so they know which basic classes at the CC will transfer.
USA Today has this story. It could be an investigation of how they are using federal funds as students at ITT are eligible for loans I believe.
I just think that spending money for a college degree in the IT field is a waste. I say do what you have to do to get into the field and then get experience. My experience will beat out someone elses degree any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
