Building a Center of Excellence for Cybersecurity

Brookdale Community College Building a Center of Excellence for Cybersecurity Offering a Great Career Path.

Brookdale is a leader in cybersecurity education and well-positioned to establish a Center of Excellence for Cybersecurity Education. They recently received the County College Career and Technical Education Program Expansion Grant for $1,937,711 from the state of New Jersey with a $645,903 College match to build a 2.5- million-dollar project that will enable the College to expand its cybersecurity and related technical education offerings and programs.

“We are excited to have a brand-new facility and upgrade equipment and infrastructure to support and grow Brookdale’s National Security Agency, NSA-designated center of academic excellence in Cyber Defense,” said Brookdale Community College President Dr. David Stout. “These efforts will grow the number of students completing associate degrees, industry certificates and new advanced cybersecurity courses. Additionally, the upgrades will support existing partnerships with academia, industry, and government and allow the College to establish new partnerships.”

Brookdale is one of New Jersey’s two community colleges to hold the NSA/Department of Homeland Security designation as a National Center of Excellence in Cyber Defense Education. This distinction demonstrates Brookdale’s rigorous academic program in cyber security and its real-world experience in preparing students for careers in a high-growth industry.

The renovation, new equipment, and technology will be implemented in three phases:

1. Increasing the capacity and capability of the virtual lab environment from 32 concurrent users to 288 concurrent users by installing new software and hardware (servers, routers, and switches) in the existing datacenter located in Gorman Hall North.

2. Renovating and upgrading the Gorman Hall South facility on Brookdale’s main campus in Lincroft, adding 50 new student seats.

3. Furnishing and equipping the interior of the renovated facility (classroom furniture, equipment, technology, and security) needed for expanded teaching space with industry-standard equipment.

This upgrade will also include networking hardware to support 16 concurrent students working to complete hands-on activities for the in-demand Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) courses.

The College plans to offer a new associate degree program that includes the existing cybersecurity offerings plus five added College certificates, including Cybersecurity Management (Industry Credential CSSIP) and Cybersecurity Auditor.

“The development of new courses and stackable credentials will provide options and access for students looking to work or advance their careers in cyber security, which is a priority for this project,” said Michael Quaisaunee, professor of Engineering and Technology at Brookdale. “The new certificates will be available for Fall Semester 2022.”

According to cyberseek.org, there are currently 11,139 cybersecurity job openings in New Jersey. Those jobs will be attainable on completing one of Brookdale’s existing or planned networking and cybersecurity degree or certificate programs.

To learn more about the Brookdale Cyber Center, go to their website, brookdalecc.edu/cyber-center.