Carbondale Reporter

With cybersecurity front and center, nine Illinois college students will be launching their career paths with scholarships of $1,000 apiece — thanks to a National Security Agency grant via the Southern Illinois Collegiate Cyber Co-op.

 

The cooperative alliance includes SIU’s School of Information Systems and Applied Technologies, plus seven regional community colleges. Associate professor Tom Imboden, who also helps with the program, said the initiative motivates students both to study cybersecurity and enter their career paths.

 

Students who apply for the scholarships undergo a series of security exercises as part of eligibility requirements, thereby picking up valuable entry-level security skills and gaining a jumpstart in their field.

 

Community colleges participating in the program are: John A. Logan College, Carterville; Kaskaskia College, Centralia; Lake Land College, Mattoon; Rend Lake College, Ina; Shawnee Community College, Ullin; Southeastern Illinois College, Harrisburg; and Southwestern Illinois College, Belleville.

 

The nine recipients represent five of Illinois’ community colleges: Jonathon Farmer and Hallie Martin from SIU-Carbondale; Quinten Bowen and Zachary Scanlon from John A. Logan College; Corey Carsrud and Marvin Lindsay from Kaskaskia College; Cathy Sowa of Lake Land College; and Robert Butler and Bobby Steward of Southeastern Illinois College.

 

SIU’s School of Information Systems and Applied Technologies became a designated National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the Department of Homeland Security and the NSA in 2011.