Advanced Certificate

What is the goal of this Database Administration Certificate?

The Advanced Certificate in Database Administration, offered by the Information Technology department at the Rochester Institute of Technology, provides an opportunity for individuals with computing background to gain a solid foundation in database theory along with the in-depth, hands-on experience necessary to begin or advance a career in database administration.

Database administration is the technical process of maintaining and protecting important data — such as lists of customers, a history of purchasing transactions, etc — using a database management system (DBMS), which is specialized computer software designed to ensure data integrity, recoverability, and security.

Databases can vary in size from a few hundred records on a single-user system to multiple petabytes of data distributed multi-nationally. One of the primary benefits of database systems is that even when large amounts of data are stored remotely, the end-user can access information for timely decision making from his or her desktop.

This advanced certificate is composed of four (4) graduate courses (16 quarter-credits) that provide the knowledge necessary to successfully create, deploy, and manage corporate databases using a major commercial database management system. It is available in part-time, on-campus format. The courses in this certificate can also be used towards the MS in Information Technology degree which is also offered by the Information Technology department at RIT.

What skills will I learn?

This certificate program is designed to educate database administration professionals who can:

• Define and model user requirements, translate requirement specifications into a well-designed database, and effectively employ the SQL language to retrieve information.
• Handle the operating system concepts relevant to database administration, including issues that impact connectivity, security, and capacity planning.
• Implement and maintain multi-user database systems using an industry standard DBMS.
• Analyze and resolve the performance problems typical in today’s database systems.

The certificate includes the following four (4) 4-credit graduate courses:

• 4002-720 Data Object Development
• 4055-744 *NIX Fundamentals (for the Database Domain)
• 4002-785 Fundamentals of DBMS Architecture & Implementation
• 4002-787 Database Performance & Tuning
  
  

What makes this certificate program different?

The Advanced Certificate in Database Administration at RIT features:

• A solid grounding in the fundamental relational theory necessary for successful database administration.
• Hands-on development of database systems with current commercial DBMS software.
• Best practices in database security, privacy, and data integrity.
• Current technologies and discussions of real-world issues.
  
  

What about jobs in this field?

There are careers in this field across all segments of the economy: in business and industry, academic institutions, and governmental agencies. A search of job listings on the Web will turned up thousands job opportunities in database administration. Jobs are available in all geographic areas with titles such as: Database Developer, Database Engineer, Database Administrator, Senior Database Administrator, Engineering Services Technical Specialist, Database Administration Specialist, or Database Administration Manager.

For More Information

Download the DBA Certificate Handbook.

RIT DBA Certificate site.

Contact us at:
(585) 475-6179 or through email at ITGradCoord@it.rit.edu