business backgrounder | education & workforce
to where it is today. All of the people involved with it are
really on the fast track to keeping it relevant.”
federal funding
“The unique part is people will be graduating with
a university degree but they will have applied skills.
They know how to configure a firewall, set up a
server, configure a router, things like that.”
Last August, the National Science Foundation awarded
two grants totaling $6.4 million to WCC to expand its
— Corrinne Sande, director, computer science and information
cybersecurity program. The investment reinforced the
systems at Whatcom Community College/CyberWatch West
college’s nationwide leadership in cybersecurity and its
unique role focused on expanding training on high-tech
security in the Western Region, stretching from from Hawaii to Texas.
“The grants for Whatcom Community College’s cybersecurity program will further Washington state’s role as a leader and hub for
cybersecurity,” said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. “Investing in educational opportunities nationwide is critical to developing the workforce
needed to defend our economy and our nation from increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and cyber threats.”
The first grant, for $4.2 million, is to help establish a national network of
community colleges that meet exceptionally high standards in cybersecurity
and computing education. With this grant, WCC will help mentor other colleges
CyberWatch West:
pursuing NSA and Homeland Security certification.
www.cyberwatchwest.org
The second grant, for $2.2 million, directly funds the CyberWatch
West
program,
recognizing its status as one of only four advanced cybersecurity
Whatcom Community College's
education
centers
in the nation certified by the National Science Foundation. The
Computer Information Systems program:
grant
will
also
help
CyberWatch West expand its outreach to veterans — a natural
www.whatcom.edu/cis
group because of their security background — and women.
“Funding from the National Science Foundation acknowledges the
exemplary and cutting-edge work being done by Whatcom’s faculty and
staff,” WCC President Kathi Hiyane-Brown said. “The College is proud
to be at the forefront of cybersecurity education and to be recognized for
creating meaningful advances in the cybersecurity field.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the NSA designated WCC
as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education in
2010. The designation was awarded again in 2014, following an extensive
review of Whatcom’s program by the NSA that confirms the curriculum
meets stringent new standards.
community support
Mark Knittel, a former IBM executive who now owns a technical services
company in Bellingham, said CyberWatch West and the collaborative “twofour” relationship between Whatcom Community College and Western
Washington University have helped make Bellingham a destination for
high-tech companies.
Knittel, who just ended a years-lo