EducationNSA/DHS endorse DCC cybersecurity program

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe on last week praised Danville Community College for becoming the “first rural community college in Virginia” to earn a prestigious cybersecurity designation from the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“When you graduate from DCC now, you will have a cyber degree that is the best in the entire globe,” McAuliffe said during a ceremony on campus recognizing DCC’s designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Two-Year Education (CAE2Y). DCC is now one of just four community colleges in Virginia to achieve this milestone, which the governor called “a very big deal” for both attracting new industry and securing digital information.

“I want to thank Danville, because they have gone out and taken the lead on this,” McAuliffe said in his remarks, thanking DCC Cybercenter Director and Associate Professor Steven Carrigan by name for his year and a half of work spearheading the project. “It is not easy to get this designation.”

DCC says that the NSA/DHS designation enhances DCC’s existing Third Year Advanced Studies Cybersecurity Certificate program while promoting higher education in cyber defense, preparing a workforce pipeline of cybersecurity professionals, and reducing vulnerabilities in United States networks.

“Through foresight and innovation on the part of our faculty, DCC’s program will become a model for other community colleges in cybersecurity,” DCC President Dr. Bruce Scism said. “Professor Steve Carrigan and the team he assembled will help not only our local community and state, but our nation to stay safe both in the real world and in the virtual world. We have built both introductory and advanced certificates in cybersecurity and there are tremendous, exciting, high-paying employment opportunities waiting for graduates.”

DCC’s cybersecurity programs provide curricula that are mapped to DHS and NSA Cybersecurity Education Standards.

“Not only will this give DCC students access to important scholarship opportunities, internships, and employment recognition, it will also open doors for collaboration with industry and other institutions in this field of study including high school students looking towards a future career in cybersecurity,” said Cybersecurity Academic Program Director Steve Carrigan. “I also want to give special thanks and recognition to James Adkins, Rick Riddle, and John Wilt who all worked hard for over a year to help me successfully complete one of the biggest projects I have ever attempted.  I truly appreciate all their hard work.”