Michael Pry is lastly seeing the end result of a aim he has labored towards for 4 years.
The College of Pittsburgh at Greensburg info expertise teacher mentioned the Hempfield campus cybersecurity program has been acknowledged by the Nationwide Safety Company and Division of Homeland Safety.
Pitt-Greensburg joins not less than 494 faculties and universities named Nationwide Facilities of Educational Excellence in Cybersecurity Schooling, in line with the Nationwide Safety Company’s website.
Employment of knowledge safety analysts is projected to develop 29% from 2024 to 2034, in line with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is “a lot quicker than the typical for all occupations,” the bureau experiences in its Occupational Outlook Handbook.
A mean of 16,000 info safety analyst jobs are anticipated to open annually via 2034, in line with the bureau — a lot of that are projected to consequence from retirements and occupation modifications.
That’s a part of the rationale Pitt-Greensburg junior Alec Rhoades was drawn to pursue a cybersecurity diploma.
“It’s a very fascinating and tactical discipline and it’s in all probability going to be — over the following few years — some of the in-demand fields, particularly with AI applied sciences,” mentioned Rhoades, 20, of Latrobe.
Cybersecurity employment is just anticipated to develop statewide, because the Trump administration touted this 12 months greater than $70 billion in investments in Pennsylvania’s vitality and synthetic intelligence sectors.
Homer Metropolis Technology LP has proposed a pure gas-fired energy plant that may assist run data processing centers — which might require the experience of cybersecurity professionals, Pry mentioned.
“That’s a variety of jobs being added,” Pry mentioned, “however the fascinating factor is these jobs aren’t on the entry degree. They’re extra within the center degree, the place you will have extra expertise.”
There are not less than seven different Western Pennsylvania faculties with this accreditation — together with Slippery Rock, Saint Vincent, Robert Morris, Indiana College of Pennsylvania, Neighborhood School of Allegheny County and Carnegie Mellon College.
Pry, who has labored full-time at Pitt-Greensburg since 2020, advocated for the college to accumulate the accreditation he realized about whereas pursuing a grasp’s diploma on the College of Maryland.
To obtain the popularity, the college tailored its info expertise curriculum in 2021 right into a cybersecurity program. It restructured lessons, created new programs and added hands-on studying experiences to the curriculum to fulfill the Nationwide Safety Company’s academic requirements.
Pry additionally led the creation of an info expertise membership and honors society, the place college students study from visitor audio system, attend info safety symposiums and tour native employers.
College students are also required to finish a 150-hour internship and have the chance to earn as much as six certificates — protecting subjects reminiscent of working techniques, pc networking and moral hacking.
“We expect that’s actually robust,” Pry mentioned.
For the previous three years, Pry has gathered knowledge on his college students’ efficiency and profession outcomes to assist the college apply for the nationwide recognition.
“It’s so rewarding,” Pry mentioned. “It truly is incredible to have the ability to see the place these alternatives lead our college students.”
Pry is assured in Pitt-Greensburg’s capability to organize college students for mid-level jobs upon commencement — significantly via the cybersecurity internship program.
“It will get their foot within the door and it offers them that chance to begin studying the instruments of cybersecurity, completely different software program merchandise that corporations use for cybersecurity,” he mentioned.
“They’re not simply studying foundational gadgets. They’re studying the precise technical (expertise).”
Program ‘empowers them to develop their profession’
Arms-on studying via digital labs is what junior JJ McNamara most appreciates concerning the college’s cybersecurity program.
“I’ve loved it,” she mentioned. “A variety of it’s hands-on labs, digital labs, so you’ll be able to expertise establishing protections on completely different computer systems — Linux, Home windows.”
McNamara, 25, of Greensburg, has realized the best way to rewire a pc, enact incidence response plans and arrange servers for organizations reminiscent of college districts and monetary corporations.
Junior Jack Weinhofer mentioned he was drawn to the cybersecurity program for the array of careers it may very well be utilized to.
“I simply discovered expertise fascinating and I figured this can be a actually broad diploma,” mentioned Weinhofer, 20, of Madison. “It may possibly match into most locations fairly simply.”
Pry’s college students have gone on to fill cybersecurity roles in native hospitals and faculty districts, the navy, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service. He takes pleasure in watching their careers unfold on networking platform LinkedIn.
“You get to look at their profession develop as time goes on,” he mentioned. “What they’ve realized right here empowers them to develop their profession. It will get them prepared to maneuver into no matter function.”
Quincey Reese is a TribLive reporter protecting the Greensburg and Hempfield areas. She additionally does reporting for the Penn-Trafford Star. A Penn Township native, she joined the Trib in 2023 after working as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern on the firm for 2 summers. She will be reached at qreese@triblive.com.
