MOSES LAKE - Big Bend Community College reopened its computer science program with a ribbon cutting recently.

The program, which returns after a four-year hiatus, will have about 45 students, said Mary Shannon, who designed the curriculum as part of a federal grant application. The college received a five-year grant to reestablish the program; it is supposed to be self-sustaining at the end of the grant in two years, Shannon said.

The college stopped its program when the instructor retired at the same time the state made funding cuts to community colleges, Shannon said. College administrators decided on a thorough review and revamping of the curriculum before reestablishing the program, she said.

"We just started from scratch," Shannon said. The revamped program offers a two-year technical degree and classes that can be transferred to four-year colleges. Classes were designed to take local employers and local job options into account, she said.

"Employers are excited, really excited, about this. And I am too," Shannon said. Program officials hope to offer training for specific local industries eventually, she said.

The curriculum includes classes in hardware and operating systems, servers, network security, programming, network administration and databases. More will be added during winter quarter, offering instruction in web design and development and software development, she said.