Cybersecurity
Building an Academic Pathway to Cybersecurity
Addressing the industry need for qualified Cybersecurity professionals by creating a curriculum pathway leading to an A.A.S. degree and stackable certifications.
Columbus State, in collaboration with Franklin University, NSF ATE National CyberWatch Center (Prince George’s Community College), Columbus Downtown High School, Reynoldsburg City Schools, and key industry partners (E&Y, Abercrombie & Fitch, Alliance Data, Ohio Health, Nationwide, The Columbus Collaboratory, and TechColumbus – now Rev1Ventures) are researching and developing an academic and career pathway in Cybersecurity education. Instructional and student support systems are being developed to help establish the optimal environment for student success. The overall project goal is to create a career pathway for cybersecurity professionals with subject matter knowledge to support the increasingly complex technology needs within security while providing program graduates opportunities in a variety of industry and government entities.
Project Deliverables:
- Occupation Job Skills Analysis: In November 2015, a group of key central Ohio companies were gathered to conduct an all-day Industry Job Skills Analysis for the Cybersecurity Technician role using Compression Planning with Storyboarding®. The compression planning session led to the creation of a detailed occupation chart that was used as the foundation for instructional program planning and curriculum development.
- Integrated 2+2+2 Career Pathway: Columbus State Cybersecurity grant project will leverage relationships with South-Western City Schools, Gahanna City Schools, and Eastland-Fairfield Career Center to create a dual enrollment program that will directly articulate to the Associate’s degree at Columbus State. Additionally, Columbus State is partnering with Franklin University’s Computer Science faculty to finalize an articulation agreement to a baccalaureate degree.
- Pre-College Initiative: The pre-college initiative targets high school students, educators, and counselors. A key component of this initiative is the coordination and implementation of cybersecurity summer camps for high school students and high school educators, designed to inspire a future in cybersecurity careers and promote a general awareness on the topic. Future efforts will focus on expanding the summer camp initiatives and providing educational briefing sessions for high school parents, advisors, and guidance counselors.
Learn more about the Cybersecurity program at Columbus State by viewing our
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WHAT IS ATE?
The Ohio Region Cybersecurity project is being funded by a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Grant (DUE 1501194). With an emphasis on two-year colleges, Advanced Technological Education program focuses on the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation's economy. The program involves partnerships between academic institutions and industry to promote improvement in the education of science and engineering technicians at the undergraduate and secondary school levels. The ATE program supports curriculum development; professional development of college faculty and secondary school teachers; career pathways to two-year colleges from secondary schools and from two-year colleges to four-year institutions; and other activities.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 14000452