In April 1997, President Curtis McCray hired Bertauski executive director and the Institute was formed. A building project was already underway with an office planned on the West Wood site so a second story was added to give the Institute offices and meeting rooms. Now area and statewide corporations can tap into an institute nearby that will save traveling costs and time away from work. As of April 1998, the Microcomputer Training Division has conducted private tailor-made training classes for many Decatur companies, as well as offered open enrollment courses available to the general public. To accommodate individuals that cannot come to the Institute to take classes, the division offers on-line courses.
Online instructors interact with the students by downloading lessons and assignments via e-mail.
Future plans of the division include offering more technically oriented classes with such offerings as Novell and Windows NT Network training, and intensive website design and development workshops. This area covers continuing education for nurses and caregivers. Seminars are highly diverse and cover topics from caring for Alzheimer patients to ethics of being a caregiver. Once a seminar is over, each participant is asked to evaluate the seminar and oneself to give the Institute wanted feedback. In this way, future seminars can be planned around what health caregivers need and want.