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New Continuing Ed classes for cybersecurity, veterans

Tahlequah Daily Press - 7/7/2022

Jul. 6—The course catalog at Northeastern State University Continuing Education continues to grow, and this week, Program Coordinator Anthony McCarty provided an update.

"As far as an update goes, we have added an Introduction to Cyber Security Course," said McCarty. "The price of this course will apply to our Cyber Security Bootcamp if the student decides to progress further."

This new intro course covers topics including types of attacks, social engineering, malware, ethical hacking, risk management and cybersecurity career paths, as published on the NSU website. McCarty said the Cyber Security Bootcamp has been offered for few months now.

"The bootcamp is a six-month online program designed to take someone from being interested in cyber security to being career ready," said McCarty. "Unlike most of our programs, this one is not self-paced. Classes are twice a week for four hours each of those two nights. The course is a mix of lecture and hands-on learning."

NSU Continuing Ed now offers a no-cost course for veterans.

"We also have a free course that we just added to assist veterans with transitioning into the workforce after their time in the military," said McCarty. "That course was added just a couple of weeks ago."

This course is called Veterans Career Advantage. On its webpage, Continuing Ed describes the course as focusing on career planning and skills development for veterans seeking employment. This includes resume writing and improving interviewing skills.

McCarty said Continuing Ed is constantly adding and looking for new opportunities to help the community learn new skills or refresh old ones.

There are other ways to learn that don't require a four-year degree. NSU is also working on offering micro-credentials, as Dr. Kimberly Williams, dean of NSU Muskogee, explained.

"Micro-credentials are short-term, post-secondary credentials comprised of a coherent set of measurable non-credit-bearing activities or projects, and/or up to nine hours of credit-bearing courses that provide specific career critical skills, competencies, and knowledge that can be readily transferred to the workplace," said Williams. "In simpler terms, micro-credentials offer individuals the avenue for pursuing a set of skills or the ability to upskill in a shorter amount of time than a degree would require. Every college at the university is currently researching the possibilities for us to create micro-credentials that are valuable to our students and to the employers who seek professional development, education, and/or training for their employees."

Reasons for earning micro-credentials differ, she said.

"Students and employees who are seeking micro-credentials typically use them to add to their knowledge base," said Williams. "This may sometimes lead to a promotion, salary increase, etc. For others, the micro-credential is their foot in the door to a new career path."

The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education has published information about micro-credentials on its website, citing a Hart Research survey that found 95 percent of employers indicated they gave hiring preference to college graduates with beyond-major skills. The organization states that Oklahoma colleges and universities can either offer micro-credentials independently or have them endorsed by the OSRHE.

Check it out

More information about NSU Continuing Education can be found on its website at: https://academics.nsuok.edu/continuingeducation/.

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