Cybersecurity Education, Research & Outreach Center

C3E: Community College Cybersecurity Enrichment Project

The Department of Defense (DoD) funded Community College Cyber Enrichment (C3E) Program (Award# H98230-20-1-0321) provides opportunities and knowledge about cybersecurity to students currently enrolled in community colleges across the state.

The primary goal of C3E is to grow the pipeline of community college students in Tennessee to join the cybersecurity workforce with baccalaureate degrees at the least.

The C3E project is undertaking multiple initiatives to foster an interest in cybersecurity and provide community college students exposure to careers available in this field, which are.

Informational Seminars: To provide students and advising coordinators at community colleges information about the C3E program and its upcoming activities.
Funded Opportunity to Participate in C3E Workshop: Cyber Discovery Workshop for Community College Students and Advisors were invited to attend a 1.5-day cyber discovery workshop in October 2020. The event featured a guest keynote speaker focusing on the need and demand for cybersecurity professionals. The students experienced hands-on active learning exercises related to defensive and offensive cyber topics. Additionally, the students learned about two-year vs. four-year career pathways in cyber and cyber opportunities and resources, and gain experience through a gamified cybersecurity platform. The students also learned about follow-up activities (described below) such as the National Cyber League, Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) conference, Community College Cyber Summit (3CS), the Summer Bridge Program and the DoD Scholarship program.
Funded Opportunity to Participate in NCL: The National Cyber League offers gamified learning experiences for students and enables students to prepare and test themselves against practical cybersecurity challenges. Sponsored by the project, students will have opportunity to participate in the NCL spring season and their performance will be taken into consideration heavily for follow up activities below.

APPLY HERE for NCL code!

Funded Opportunity to Attend a Cybersecurity Conference: Selected students will be provided with scholarships to attend one of the following conferences below to gain further professional development opportunities, meet future employers and network with role model, mentors and professionals in the cybersecurity community.
- WiCyS Conference

Summer Bridge Program: The Summer Bridge program at Tennessee Tech during Summer of 2021 will provide selected students with an opportunity to enroll in Tech courses over the summer that will fulfill their degree requirements. It will allow students to more effectively transfer to a four-year university by offering courses and experiences that are often not provided in a community college setting. They will also have an opportunity to apply for CEROC internships during summer to get involved in its education, research and/or outreach activities. The Summer Bridge program at Tennessee Tech during Summer of 2021 will provide selected students with an opportunity to enroll in Tech courses over the summer that will fulfill their degree requirements. It will allow students to more effectively transfer to a four-year university by offering courses and experiences that are often not provided in a community college setting. They will also have an opportunity to apply for CEROC internships during summer to get involved in its education, research and/or outreach activities.

Interested community college students who successfully complete the above-mentioned programs will be eligible to apply for the DoD CySP and NSF SFS scholarships offered at Tennessee Tech.