In this technology-driven era, basic computer skills have become essential to our everyday lives. For this reason, in 2003 WCC instituted the Computer and Information Literacy (CIL) exam as a requirement for students to graduate with an associate in arts degree.

“It was felt that students, in order to get jobs, need basic computer skills,” said interim assistant dean of instruction Paul Field. “WCC is the only campus with a program of this kind (CIL) in the UH system.”

The CIL consists of four exams: file management and word processing, email, information literacy and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to lay out and graph information and statistics.

Recently, students may have noticed that accessibility to the CIL program has been on hold since August.

This was because WCC had to eliminate the exam and workshop coordinator position due to budget cuts. Without anyone to run CIL, Field called a group of faculty together to get the program back on its feet.

“Our first priority, since it is a graduation requirement, was to make sure that students could take it (CIL),” said Field. “We are giving priority to students who are about to graduate…don’t wait till the last minute.”

Exams are now on a walk-in basis at The Testing Center (TTC) in Hale Alaka‘i at any time during regular weekday hours. Students are encouraged to sign up online at least three days before they plan to take the exams to help TTC with scheduling.

Workshops are available again, and a schedule is available on the CIL Web site. Students are encouraged to attend and have a hands-on run-through of what is required to pass all four exams.

Also available to students is ICS 105, Computer and Information Literacy Exam Preparation (3 credits). This course is designed specifically for the CIL requirement, and students will take all four exams during the course. ICS 105 also qualifies as an elective credit.

“We are also looking into setting up an online tutorial for students,” said Field. “It’s not going to happen tomorrow, but this is one of the things we would like to have in place.”

Students should visit the CIL Web site for scheduling and information at http://www.hawaii.edu/wccil.