business backgrounder | education & workforce
Teaching Cybersecurity
Bellingham is a West Coast hub of cybersecurity training, thanks to
CyberWatch West and the computer information systems program
headquartered at Whatcom Community College.
Brian Mittge
The National Science Foundation has four centers for
cybersecurity education. For the West Coast, that hub
is in Bellingham, where students learn the important
skills necessary to protect America’s electronic infrastructure from hackers. Whatcom’s program is so
successful that many students have job offers before
they graduate from the two-year program or connect
with a related four-year degree at nearby Western
Washington University.
“CyberWatch West has been a huge leadership role
for WCC, and I think it’s made a big difference in
the community as well. We’re all behind it here.”
— Mark Knittel, former chairman, Technology Alliance Group for
Northwest Washington
In our increasingly online and networked world, the need
for cybersecurity has never been higher. As employers
look for highly skilled workers, their gaze is increasingly
turning to Washington state.
Whatcom Community College (WCC), despite being
on the far northwest corner of the United States, is on the
cutting edge of protecting our nation from cybersecurity
threats. The college is the center of efforts to ensure that
the entire West Coast has a strong pipeline of well-trained
cybersecurity workers.
The program is called CyberWatch West, and it’s
located in Bellingham, Washington.
a need for security
I n 2 0 14, Bu r n i n g G l a s s Te c h n o l o g i e s, a B o st o n based employment analysis firm, identified 238,158
cybersecurity-related jobs posted nationally, and as
wireless connectivity expands, big gaps are projected in
qualified applicants.
Foreseeing that need, the computer program at WCC has
turned from network support to cybersecurity. Its work has
gained the attention of the National Science Foundation,
the FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA).
Corrinne Sande is WCC’s director of computer science
and information systems. She is also CyberWatch West’s
principal investigator (PI) and director.
Sande arrived at WCC in 1999 to find a computer
support specialist program in need of upgrades. She added a network security course in 2000, and after the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11, 2001, she saw a growing need for people who understood security.
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