Brick Campaign underway
January through May there is an opportunity to win a brick with your name on it and help bring awareness of the Clock Tower Bricks and the names that are beginning to accumulate on the bricks. The Daytona State College Alumni & Friends Association is offering this opportunity during their Clock Tower Brick Campaign.
President of the DSC Alumni & Friends
Those who stand at the Clock Tower may look around the campus, their mind going back to the days when they walked past, hurrying to class with thoughts of a final exam on their mind. They think of graduation and the many people that have touched their life while at DSC. Looking down, they may notice the bricks etched with the names of fellow classmates, a past professor/administrator or staff that touched their life, or maybe you are the professor/administrator or staff that helped the students achieve their dreams. Now is the chance to join the names on those bricks.
All administrators, faculty, staff and students are invited to click a selfie picture at the Clock Tower and post it on FACEBOOK with #DSCbrick2016. One winner will be selected on July 1. Bricks usually sell for $125 for a 4X8 brick with three lines of commemorative type. An 8×8 brick with six lines is $250.
Those who do not win a brick will be eligible to purchase one at a reduced rate during the Clock Tower Brick Campaign. All proceeds will be going to help a fellow students achieve their goals.
In other alumni news, the featured alumna of the month is Kathleen Mathen, President of the DSC Alumni & Friends Association. Mathen is a 2011 and 2013 graduate and a current DSC employee on the Palm Coast Campus with Financial Aid. She takes great pride in the Alumni & Friends Association and dedicates her volunteer service to helping move the association in the right direction to unite and engage the community. Mathen has spent time working on the Clock Towner Brick Campaign to bring more awareness to the college, the campus and to help with students scholarships.
For information on the association and its current brick campaign, call Suzette Cameron, Director of Alumni Engagement and Special Events at 386- 506-4506
Cybersecurity program gets federal thumbs-up
The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have designated Daytona State College a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education. The four-year designation is based on the college meeting stringent academic criteria and distinguishing its strengths in cybersecurity and cyberforensics training.
“DSC is the first state college in Florida to receive the four-year designation for its combined AS- and BS-level cybersecurity curriculum,” said Dr. Philip Craiger, a professor with the College’s School of Engineering Technology. “This validates the strength of our AS and BS cyber programs, and students enrolled in our courses can be assured they are getting a solid education.”
In addition to an Advanced Technical Certificate in Cybersecurity and Cyberforensics, the College also offers a cybersecurity component in its Associate of Science in Network Systems Technology degree, as well as a cybersecurity and cyberforensics specialization in its Bachelor of Science in Information Technology degree.
According to the NSA, demand for public and private sector cybersecurity positions is rapidly expanding, but the talent pool of cybersecurity workers is not yet able to keep up.
“Your ability to meet the increasing demands of the program criteria will serve the nation well in contributing to the protection of the national information infrastructure,” said NSA National CAE Program Manager Karen Leuschner in notifying DSC of the designation. “The critical shortage of professionals with these skills highlights the importance of higher education as a solution to defending America’s cyberspace.”
Adding to the college’s cyber credentials, DSC last year was designated a National Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence by the Defense Cyber Crime Center, a unit of the U.S. Department of Defense. Similar to the NSA-CDE designation, this credential is only bestowed upon schools that have demonstrated its cyberforensics curriculum is rigorous and comprehensive.