Cybersecurity Program Development

To respond to the needs of both private sector employers and the U.S. government, this project is designed to develop a program to educate highly skilled and effective cybersecurity technicians. Not only is there a shortage of qualified workers in the field, but there is also a lack of skills among many of those already in the workforce.

The overarching goal of the project is to increase the quantity and capacity of qualified cybersecurity technicians in the workforce. The college is accomplishing this by:

1. Expanding the cybersecurity curriculum offered by the Networking Services Technology program at the college to include an 18 credit hour cybersecurity certificate and an introductory cyber awareness and cyber safety module which is being taught in all entry-level information technology courses both at the college level and at the secondary level.

2. Increasing the diversity of the Networking Services Technology (NST) student population by significantly escalating the recruitment and retention of female students into these programs.

3. Developing and strengthening career pathways from local secondary and rural vocational schools to the cybersecurity curriculum at the college.

4. Providing professional development opportunities for college faculty and collaborating secondary school teachers for building capacity and continued growth in cybersecurity education.