Southern Maryland Location Keeps Maintaining Certification, Career Advancement Affordable, Close to Home
Information assurance professionals who live or work in Calvert, Charles and St. Marys counties can stay close to home when working to maintain or advance their credentials with new cybersecurity training offered at the College of Southern Maryland this fall.
This past year, CSM formed a Cybersecurity Advisory Board comprised of representatives of Naval Air Systems Command and defense subcontractors such as SABRE Systems, SAIC, Amelex, Booz Allen, PSI Pax and others to help identify topics to meet the workforce demand for the Department of Defense (DoD), said CSM Executive Director, Workforce Development Susan Ross. When we asked what they needed, their response was that they had no idea that CSM could offer information assurance training. DoD budgets are shrinking and there are limited funds to cover travel expenses for training. Some employees who want to maintain CompTIA or ISC2 national cybersecurity certifications have to have continuing professional education (CPE) unitsyet, there few options here in Southern Maryland to earn CPEs.
Until now.
This fall, through CSMs Corporate Center, information assurance (IA) and information technology (IT) professionals can choose between Career Advancers and Career Essentials training. Advancers help students develop advanced skills and earn new credentials. Bootcamps which consist of full-day, week-long exam prep training are offered for the Security+ certification exam Sept. 24 through 28 at the Leonardtown Campus and for the CISSP certification exam Nov. 5 through 9 at the La Plata Campus. This spring, CSM will offer Certified Ethical Hacker Certification Preparation and VMWare Sphere 5.0 bootcamps.
Our instructors have several years of field experience and hold many security and technology certifications. Our exam passage rates are higher than the national average, said Ross.
For information on IT certification exam prep courses, visit http://www.csmd.edu/WorkforceDevelopment/InformationTechnology.html.
Career Essentials are for people who already have a license or certification but need continuing education in order to maintain their license or certification. CPE units for information assurance and technology certifications can be earned by attending Securing Wireless Networks, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 9 and Virtualization and Cloud Computing from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 13, both at the Leonardtown Campus.
This spring CSM will offer Securing Mobile Devises, Mobile Technology: Current Trends and Risks, Incident Response and Digital Forensics and Risk Management.
The CPE seminar topics are recommended by our Cybersecurity Advisory Board and each semester we will add new topics, said Ross. For information on CPE courses, visit http://www.corporatecenter.csmd.edu/IATech.html.
CSM is a Center for Cybersecurity Academic Excellence for Community Collegesone of only 12 nationwide to receive this recognition.
We utilize quality vendors, such as internationally recognized vendor Knowlogy, Cybervance and VMWare, who specialize in areas such as, VMWare, Cloud Computing, Microsoft, Windows 7, Cisco and Digital/Mobile Forensics, and they provide subject matter experts who are experiences and certified instructors. Our testing center on the La Plata campus is available for Pearson Vue testing with discounted vouchers, added Ross.
For information or to register for IA and IT certification prep and continuing education courses, visit www.corporatecenter.csmd.
Calendars
Securing Wireless Networks Seminar. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 9. Corporate Center at the College of Southern Maryland, Leonardtown Campus, 22950 Hollywood Road, Building C, Room 201, Leonardtown. IT Assurance professionals seeking continuing education units for their CompTIA and (ISC)2 certifications or who want to keep abreast of the latest trends will learn about the fastest growing segment of network technology. Seminar will discuss fundamental wireless technology principles and identify best practices to prevent wireless network breaches including the latest encryption techniques. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop to perform hands-on exercises. This course has been approved for eight CPEs in Group A. $295. Register by Oct. 1. http://www.corporatecenter.csmd.edu/IATech.html or contact Karen OConnor 240-725-5479 or KOconnor@csmd.edu.
Virtualization and Cloud Computing. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Nov. 13. Corporate Center at the College of Southern Maryland, Leonardtown Campus, 22950 Hollywood Road, Building C, Room 201, Leonardtown. IT Assurance professionals seeking continuing education units for their CompTIA and (ISC)2 certifications or who want to change their focus from maintenance to efficiency and innovation will learn how cloud computing and virtualization will optimize financial resources, shift workforce requirements and conserve Earths energy. Seminar attendees will examine the significant benefits of cloud computing. Students will engage in using VMWare to leverage virtualization technologies in the classroom. This course has been approved for eight CPEs in Group B. $295. Register by Nov. 5. http://www.corporatecenter.csmd.edu/IATech.html or contact Karen OConnor 240-725-5479 or KOconnor@csmd.edu.