HAMILTON — Since they opened in the late 1960s, Miami University's Hamilton and Middletown campuses have offered traditional higher education to students who might not otherwise find it.

        But now the schools will offer something more: a two-year associate degree for careers in computer programming, network support and Web administration.

        Last month, Miami University's board of trustees in Oxford approved a new academic department to help meet the need for information technology programs on the Hamilton and Middletown campuses.

        The department will be formed July 1, but classes likely won't start until fall 2002, said Jan Toennisson, spokeswoman for Miami Middletown.

        Miami Middletown has 2,800 students; Hamilton, 3,000.

        “We are thrilled,” said Carol Johnson, spokeswoman for Miami Hamilton. “With the way the world of business is going these days, information technology is the key. It will be a big help to our students.”

        The Commerce Department estimates that more than 50,000 information technology jobs will be created in Ohio in the next decade, said Miami provost Ronald Crutcher.

        “Unfortunately, more than 50 percent of these jobs will remain vacant — and excellent career opportunities may be lost — because of a shortage of skilled workers,” he said. “Our goal for Miami's regional campuses is to help Ohio residents move into high-paying tech jobs.”

        The campuses offer an associate degree program through the computer science and systems analysis department. But the new department will concentrate on a two-year technical education, with flexibility in responding to staffing needs of area employers, said Doug Troy, chair of the computer science and systems analysis department in Oxford.

        “The program will help people in the community,” said Holly Wissing, a Miami spokeswoman.

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