HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Wallace State’s Computer Science Department has received designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense.
Terry Ayers, Wallace State’s Computer Science chairperson, and program instructor Gregory Knight accepted the award recently on the department’s behalf at the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) annual conference in Atlanta.
The certificate is presented in recognition of earning designation as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) by the National Security Agency. The NSA awards CAE designations to institutions that commit to producing cybersecurity professionals that will reduce vulnerabilities in our national infrastructure.
“The process to earn this designation was very rigorous, lasting nearly a year and a half. We had to achieve different milestones and reporting mechanisms were required, showing evidence of our efforts to reach out to schools and others to educate them about cyber security education and defense,” Ayers said. “We’ve got several workshops planned to help support this initiative and we’re working on forming potential partnerships. We want to help educate people outside of the college, teaching them practices like how to secure your logins and passwords and not clicking on emails from a prince who wants to send you thousands of dollars. It’s a continual effort.”
Wallace State’s Computer Science Department, which will maintain the Cyber Defense designation through 2027, offers an AS and short-term certificate in CyberSecurity and an AAS and short-term certificate in CyberSecurity and Networking Technology, among other degree plans.
Fall 2022 registration is underway for all Computer Science course options. Fall classes begin Thursday, Aug. 18.
For more information about Wallace State’s Computer Science program, contact Rachel Kreps at 256-352-8131 or rachel.kreps@wallacestate.edu.
