The Next Frontier: Cybersecurity

From government employees to big box store customers, no organization’s data is safe from determined hackers. Institutions of higher education, like ours, have a responsibility to train critical thinkers in this field to navigate, anticipate and effectively manage this evolving challenge.  

This past year, we assembled faculty, industry leaders and regional economic development personnel to help us create a relevant and meaningful Professional Science Master’s degree in cybersecurity with a focus on threat prevention.  The objective: to create a degree that combines technical training and business skills with practical knowledge, positioning graduates to fill employment demand gaps in security domains such as programming, threat prevention and IT and service management.

We want our students to be on the cutting edge of cyber; able to effectively manage and anticipate potential issues.

“By focusing on cyber threat prevention and IT security management, this program focuses on the strategies and tactics to reduce or mitigate risks before they become crises,” says RADM (Ret) Ken Slaght, Co-Chair and President of the San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence and a member of the program advisory committee.

  

Our first cohort launched this fall with a group of working adults, all of whom had background in IT but none of whom had been formally educated in the field of cybersecurity. These students will work through their program part-time over five semesters, with classes held after work hours and will finish with a semester-in-residence capstone project that enables them to work on a special project in the industry.  On completion, their jobs prospects will be strong.

According to Burning Glass Technologies, “demand for cybersecurity has grown 3.5 times faster than demand for other IT jobs and 12 times faster than all other jobs.” 

“This is one field that will be rapidly gaining momentum in the years to come,” says Mark Cafferty, President and CEO, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation

ViaSat Vice President Simon Kuo notes, “this degree program combines the art and science of cybersecurity into one cohesive approach, something missing in most other Master’s programs.”

Advisory Board members, John Gormally, a major account manager with F5 Networks adds, “Information security infrastructures are the needed fabric to ensure that organizations are secure, compliant and providing protection for critical data.  CSUSM is leading the way with the launch of this program which is so closely aligned with workforce needs in the technology industry.”

If you have thoughts on other programs that we ought to be investigating or developing in order to better prepare area residents for available jobs and to meet the needs of regional employers, please contact me at eldean@csusm.edu.

What are the connections needed to move our region forward?

I've always thought of “knowledge” as an engine that drives innovation, individual and corporate successes and economic prosperity.  And, I believe that public universities like ours have a responsibility – really a mandate from taxpayers, as well as area residents and businesses -- to partner with industry to serve the educational and training needs of existing and emerging sectors and to help ensure successful career pathways.

For the past several years we have developed some great “customized training” programs for organizations such as Kaiser Permanente, Stone Brewing Company and Tri -City Medical Center  -- providing the training that helps facilitate career growth for thousands of employees and offering certificates that articulate achievement in disciplines such as Supervising Employees and Human Resource  Management (http://www.csusm.edu/el/customtraining/index.html).

We've also established Advisory Councils to offer leadership, insight and counsel as we develop programs in Cybersecurity, Water Resource Management, Business Emergency Preparedness, Environmental Leadership and Hospitality and Tourism Management. Our Advisory Council members understand their respective business sectors as only an insider could. They help us create meaningful programs, teach courses, offer internships and practicums and establish/monitor curriculum and teaching strategies to ensure our students have a competitive advantage.  

Our Hospitality and Tourism Management advisors helped us develop a unique specialization for the MBA program that launches later this year (www.csusm.edu/mba/samba/index.html) and they’re also helping us develop a “Business of Hospitality” Professional Certificate. Industry leaders in Cybersecurity have been the driving force for an emerging Professional Science Master’s degree in this field (www.csusm.edu/el/degreeprograms/psmcybersecurity/index.html) as well as stackable certificates.

We’re reaching out to elected officials, regional business leaders and existing and prospective students to ensure that we are making the connections necessary to stay on top of career opportunities and bridge the gap between the skills that area residents have today and the knowledge base that regional employers currently have and will develop in the next few years.

Do you have an idea for a new program, partnership or area of study we ought to pursue? I’d love to hear from you at eldean@csusm.edu.