Palm Beach State College was awarded more than $1 million by the state of Florida as part of a $15.6 million initiative to prepare students and mid-career professionals for jobs in the burgeoning fields of cybersecurity and information technology.
In total, four South Florida universities including Florida Atlantic University, Miami Dade College, Florida International University, and Palm Beach State College received $6.2M in state funding through the Cyber/IT Pathways Grant program.
Cybersecurity jobs are expected to grow by a faster-than-average 33 percent over the next 10 years, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report cited by the governor’s office. In addition, cybersecurity-related job postings have increased by 43 percent in the past year, as reported by the CyberSeek website.
Dozens of leaders in attendance.
The Palm Beach Collaborative Cyber Pathway Project is one of 24 funded through a joint endeavor of the FLDOE and the Florida Center for Cybersecurity, housed at the University of South Florida. It was selected from 67 proposals vying for a piece of $15.6 million allocated by the Florida Legislature this year to prepare more students to pursue careers in cybersecurity and address state and national workforce needs.
With dozens in attendance, college and school district officials formally announced the Palm Beach Collaborative Cyber Pathway Project at a kickoff event in the Center for Bachelor’s Programs on the Lake Worth campus Aug. 25.
The celebration included remarks from Don Gladney, Interim Dean of Bachelor’s Degree Programs, Dr, Ava Parker, President of Palm Beach State College, Mike Burke, Superintendent for The School District of Palm Beach County, Deana Pizzo, CEO at I.T. Solutions South Florida, Henry Mack, Senior Chancellor at Florida Department of Education, Julia Dattolo, CEO of CareerSource Palm Beach County, and Nikki Cabus, CEO at South Florida Tech Hub.
Henry Mack addresses audience.
“We owe an immense amount of gratitude to the governor and the Legislature for appropriating these funds,” said Henry Mack, Ed.D., senior chancellor for the Florida Department of Education where he oversees the Divisions of Career and Adult Education, Florida Colleges, Blind Services, Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Commission for Independent Education.
“The most exciting thing is the alignment of the curriculums across the sectors to ensure seamless transfer and provide an accelerated pathway into the workforce for the students in Palm Beach County.”
Engineering Technology lab tour.
During the one-year project, the school district’s curriculum for cybersecurity and information technology will be aligned with that of Palm Beach State College’s to provide students with the appropriate training programs, certifications, degree programs, and education pathways to acquire cybersecurity skills to work at all levels from entry-level technical positions to high level security leadership and management positions.
The project will enhance technology in some high schools and provide professional development and resources for K-12 teachers and PBSC professors.
The projects four objectives are:
- Increase the number of students enrolled in SDPBC and PBSC Cyber/IT Pathway programs by 5% in August 2023 compared to August 2022;
- Increase the number of industry certifications and degrees earned by SDPBC and PBSC students programs by 5% in August 2023 compared to 2022;
- Create articulated curriculum that aligns instruction at SDPBC with course objectives at PBSC programs by August 2023; and
- Increase student job readiness through participation in experimental learning programs by 95% or targeted students by August 2023.
Mike Burke speaks to the audience.
Mike Burke, superintendent of Palm Beach County schools, spoke about his excitement for the grant because it will help students stay up to date on cybersecurity/IT issues and solutions. Before becoming superintendent, he was responsible for the district’s information technology division as its CFO.
“As the former CFO, I recognize the value and importance of cybersecurity/IT,” said Burke. “We are heavily dependent on all of our IT systems. We really can’t operate our schools without them. In cybersecurity, the work is never done. You have to continually invest and reinvest to make sure you’ve got the right staff and the right hardware and software, and I appreciate the state making this type of investment.”
Palm Beach County remains a major cybersecurity IT center and a cluster of more than 600 technology and support businesses employing more than 15,000 workers. Employment outlook data from EMSI indicates that Palm Beach County will have over 2,500 job openings over the next three years in IT fields with wages averaging $52.80 per hour, or over $100k in a full-time salary role. In Florida, a 12.9% increase is expected as almost one-fifth of the workforce are at or near retirement age.
Julia Dattalo and Deana Pizzo.
As the president and CEO of CareerSource, Julia Dattalo knows the dire need to get workers into the pipeline for these critical fields. “When we get a job order at CareerSource now even in the agriculture industry every job order asks for knowledge in computer software,” Dattalo said.
“There are so many apps out there. We are shopping on apps, we are working on apps. We’ve gone from an eight-hour day in the workplace to a remote workforce and that means technology has to follow us. With that technology comes problems like malware and cybersecurity attacks. We have to protect our information, and we need people to help us do that.”
Deana Pizzo, PBSC alumna, CEO of I.T. Solutions, Board Member for South Florida Tech Hub, and member of the PBSC Bachelor of Applied Science Degree Programs Advisory Board, brought two of her interns, Collin Passmore and Gavin Pizzo, to the celebration. The project will help her hire more interns like Passmore, a junior network engineer at I.T. Solutions for the past two and a half year, and get them into the workforce.
“I could not be prouder to be the voice and represent our local business community and work with the College to figure out what we need,” she said. “It’s a fast-growing community, and I’m happy to be here representing that.”
Passmore, who graduated from PBSC with an Associate in Arts degree this year, took speech and computer technology classes at PBSC and says what he is learning in the classroom helps on the job.
“Those classes were great because the things I was learning such as how to install desktop software and how to better speak to clients, I was able to directly apply to my job at I.T. Solutions.”
Nikki Cabus, PBSC alumna and CEO of South Florida Tech Hub, a nonprofit organization that provides resources for tech development, lauded the partnership. South Florida Tech Hub supported the grant application. One component of the grant was regional coordination between higher education and the school districts which Tech Hub highly supports.
Nikki Cabus speaks to the audience.
“Every single company that comes to us is asking for talent and how they can educate that talent and find their students opportunities for internships and apprenticeship programs, which is why it is so important for us to support this grant that will help us provide them that,” said Cabus.
“The only way we are going to truly move the needle in regards to tech talent is through collaboration. This is not a city or county issue, but an issue for the entire state,” stated Tech Hub CEO, Nikki Cabus.
The SDPBC’s six Cybersecurity Academies are located at Palm Beach Central High School, Wellington High School, West Boca Raton High School, Santaluces High School, John I. Leanard High School, and Jupiter High School, and they are housed in seven under-resourced classrooms with outdated computers. The focus will be on these schools, as well as students and instructors at other schools in the county.
To learn more on PBSC’s STEM Career Pathways, visit https://www.palmbeachstate.edu/career-pathways/pathway-stem/
See more photos from the event here. 📸