Lipinski Cybersecurity Bill Leads to Half Million Dollar Grant for Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills

Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3) is announcing that Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills has been awarded a half million dollar grant through the National Science Foundation (NSF). The funds will support a partnership between Moraine Valley Community College (MVCC) and Chicago State University (CSU) that will promote the training of students in the field of cybersecurity and intelligence (CS&I).

During the last session of Congress, Rep. Lipinski's Cybersecurity Enhancement Act was passed and became law. His bill was designed to increase the security of federal networks and information systems, improve the transfer of cybersecurity technologies to the marketplace, coordinate and prioritize federal cybersecurity research and development efforts, and train a cybersecurity workforce. To help with cybersecurity training, his legislation authorized the Cyber Corps/Federal Cyber Scholarships for Service program through which the NSF is providing this funding to Moraine Valley. Lipinski mentioned the school's excellent work in cybersecurity education during floor debate on his bill.

"The first step in securing our cyber future is education, and that means everything from educating individuals, to companies, to the next generation of IT professionals," said Rep. Lipinski. "Moraine Valley has trained hundreds of teachers and college faculty in cybersecurity related areas since 2003. These individuals are now making a difference teaching at community colleges and technical training programs nationwide."

"Moraine Valley is happy to receive this new grant from the National Science Foundation," said Dr. Sylvia Jenkins, President of Moraine Valley Community College. "It will allow the college to build upon its nationally known cybersecurity program and, in collaboration with Chicago State University, create pathways for students to earn degrees in cybersecurity and intelligence. These students -- our district community members -- ultimately will become tomorrow's top scientists and engineers, and that's incredibly exciting."

The partnership between Moraine Valley and CSU addresses the need for both well-trained faculty and students to meet the growing need for CS&I professionals, and it creates pathways between undergraduate and graduate level programs. Students at Moraine Valley in existing majors like cybersecurity, geospatial information systems, management information systems, computer science, criminal justice, and other social and physical sciences programs can matriculate to undergraduate programs at CSU with an academic minor in security and intelligence. The partnership also includes a series of summer camps that expose students from two-year institutions to career opportunities in CS&I, and it includes a small-scale research program that explores the methods of teaching and learning CS&I, and strategies to develop awareness of careers in CS&I in urban and diverse secondary classrooms.

"Every day we learn of more cyber attacks in our nation and around the world," said Lipinski. "In the United States, these attacks have the potential to destroy our military and economic security, and perhaps impact the process we use to elect our leaders. American workers have lost jobs and businesses have been damaged because of cyber attacks, and that's why it will continue to be a top priority of mine to put the necessary resources in place to help our nation prepare for and combat future cyber attacks. I'm very happy to help Moraine Valley contribute even more in this critical area for our nation."

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