UWF Innovation Institute heralds cybersecurity, online education


  • January 30, 2015
  • /   Carlton Proctor
  • /   studer-community-institute
Looking at its list of accomplishments, you’d never guess the  University of West Florida's Innovation Institute is barely a year old. Since its launch in early January 2014 the institute, led by Executive Director Pam Northrup, has been on a roll. The charge given Northrup and her staff by UWF Provost Martha Saunders was to improve “connections” between the university and the community, and to develop commercial and academic opportunities beneficial to both the public and private sectors. “The whole concept given us was pretty loose, but with the overall goal of getting the university more connected with the community,” said Northrup. And that’s exactly what the institute has done, at near warp speed. “Pam Northrup and her team have developed significantly important programs in an astonishingly short amount of time,” Saunders said. “They set up UWF’s  Center for Cybersecurity, took on the responsibility for Complete Florida, and now have assumed responsibility of Florida Virtual Campus to name a few.” One of the first tasks handed Northrup was finding a suitable location for the Institute. With no available space on campus, Saunders asked Northrup find some space in the downtown Pensacola area. uwf-innovation sign-3“She said, ‘I want you downtown,” Northrup says. “She also said, ‘Find a place with a story. I want you somewhere downtown that will make a difference in the community.’” As Northrup began looking for suitable accommodations, Pensacola philanthropist and developer Quint Studer heard of her endeavor and picked up the phone. “Quint heard about us looking for something and called and said, ‘I know where you need to be,’” Northrup said. What Studer had in mind was the DeVilliers Square, a renovated, three-story office building he owns with architect Eddie Todd in the heart of the Belmont-DeVilliers neighborhood. “We went to visit the building with Quint, toured the space and decided this is where we need to be,” she said. The choice was enthusiastically welcomed by Saunders. “To add to the institute’s cool factor, our most innovative unit is housed in a revitalizing part of town — the DeVilliers site is amazing,” Saunders said. “The atmosphere is inspiring.” Cybersecurity focus Once settled in DeVilliers Square’s third floor the institute’s staff wasted no time getting to work. And within a few weeks Northrup’s team initiated what would become its first major success. “The first project we started was the standup of the Center for Cybersecurity at the university,” Northrup said. “We wanted the defining feature of that project to be one that was in very high demand and very visible in the community.” Retired Air Force intelligence officer Cathy Dinkler was given the task of getting that program rolling. “She went right out in the community and started building relationships that supported what we were doing in cybersecurity on campus, and also supported students in the community that were interested in cybersecurity and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).” Over the past year Dinkler has been working with local business leaders in the IT and cybersecurity field, along with personnel from the Department of Defense and the Escambia County School District. “While working on that relationships within the community we’ve also been determining what kind of projects that would get the kids excited and the faculty involved in cybersecurity,” Dinkler said. One of the first projects Dinkler helped put together is CyberThon 2015. That project literally came knocking. “Doug Underhill, who was not an Escambia County commissioner at the time, and Mike Hicks, CEO of Hixardt Technologies, came knocking on our door and asked if we would like to participate (in CyberThon), and help get the academic, private sector and entire community involved in promoting cyber security education,” Dinkler said. “The whole idea was about getting the kids excited,” she added. CyberThon took place last week at the National Flight Academy at Pensacola Naval Air Station. Interest in cybersecurity among local students and adults is on the upswing, Dinkler said. “At one of the local high schools they had more students sign up for CyberThon than we had room for,” Dinkler said. [caption id="attachment_15683" align="aligncenter" width="850"]Instructor Cassandra Pristas and David Dawson, Ed.D. film instructional videos at the University of West Florida Innovation Institute in Pensacola, Fl., Monday, January 26, 2015. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today) Instructor Cassandra Pristas and David Dawson, Ed.D. film instructional videos at the University of West Florida Innovation Institute in Pensacola, Fl., Monday, January 26, 2015. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption] Institute research scientist Dave Dawson, who helps coordinate curriculum at the National Flight Academy, said the challenge is keeping students interested in cybersecurity as a career. “The biggest knowledge gap for kids is understanding what their career path is,” he said. “They know what hackers are, and they know there are cybersecurity people, but they don't know how you become a cybersecurity specialist.” Dawson said an important message the institute is getting out to local students is they can learn about cybersecurity in high school, get an advanced degree in the field and find a job at a local federal agency in the Pensacola area. Building Complete Florida The institute also is turning its attention to another ambitious project called Complete Florida. Funded by the Florida Legislature, Complete Florida is a program run by the institute that targets the 2.2 million adult Floridians who have some college training but did not get a degree. “The Legislature has given us money to figure out how to get these adults back to college, finish their degrees and connect to careers in their chosen fields,” Northrup said. The Institute has partnered with 11 academic institutions from Miami, to St. Petersburg to Jacksonville in an effort to design and implement fully online programs that will lead to a degree from an accredited Florida college or university. One of the ways the institute has addressed this challenge is by turning its focus on developing curricula in the information technology fields. [caption id="attachment_15680" align="aligncenter" width="850"]The staff at the University of West Florida Innovation Institute in Pensacola, Fl., Monday, January 26, 2015. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today) The staff at the University of West Florida Innovation Institute in Pensacola, Fl., Monday, January 26, 2015. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Today)[/caption] “Because there is so much line opportunities, we’ve been developing competency based education program here in IT area,” Northrup said. Putting the program together has required a lot of travel and networking with other academic institutions around the country. The Institute also has engaged local business partners, including those in the IT field, with UWF faculty and brainstormed ways to improve online material, instruction and testing. Taking the institute’s lead in developing Complete Florida and competency-based education is Robin Colson. Last summer Colson and her team pulled in local business and industry leaders and asked them what kind of worker do they need in today’s economic environment, and what kind of skill sets are most desired. “We asked them, ‘What do you need for the graduates of our programs do to where the rubber hits the road,’” Colson said. “And after lots of conversations they told us they really need folks with the ability to think critically, the ability to make decisions, and the ability to communicate effectively. Designing online degree programs to meet those needs is a principle area of focus as the institute moves ahead with competency based education. “That was real eye-opening for us,” Colson said, “just how critical those core competency aspects are. One of things that distinguishes us in these competency based efforts is that we definitely know how to teach critical thinking and that’s exciting for us.” Now, the task ahead is to market Complete Florida and get the word out to those 2.2 million adults Floridians who lack a degree, and convince them this is a low-cost, flexible means to that end. “Fifty percent of the people in my classes are already working professionals,” said Dawson. “They perhaps got an associate’s degree, maybe have some training in military, have valuable certifications, but don't have a degree and can’t move up in their organization. “They are ready to occupy a leadership role, but don’t have the qualifications, so they are motivated to enroll in Complete Florida and get their degree as fast as they can.” And later this year the institute will roll out Complete Florida Military. “We’ve gotten a nice amount of funding from the Department of Defense to provide scholarships for active duty personnel, veterans and dependents,” Northrup said. “A lot of those online degree programs for veterans are fractured. “We’re going to put them together, and a significant amount of our efforts will focus on getting scholarships in the hands of active duty and retired vets.”
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