Roane State Community College

Dr. George Meghabghab works with students in the state-of-the-art cybersecurity lab at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus.

Sept. 27, 2018

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Roane State’s new cyber defense program, along with the college's computer programing courses, have seen enrollment explode in the past two years, said Dr. George Meghabghab, professor of computer science and director of the college’s Computer Information Technology (CITC) program.

At the same time, there’s a need for financial assistance for students who take the pricey COMPTIA Security+ certification exam and other certification tests, and Meghabghab said he’s seeking that help.

He said the cyber defense concentration was launched in the fall of 2017 with 16 students enrolled. This fall, enrollment has nearly tripled, with 46 enrollees.

Meghabghab said the college’s longstanding programming concentration enrollment grew 10 percent this fall, to 51 students. The cyber defense concentration and programming concentration are part of the overall CITC program.

The CITC program had 63 students in fall 2017 and 97 students in fall 2018, a 53 percent increase that makes it among the fastest growing Roane State programs.

“Roane State has never had that many students enrolled in the history of its IT programs,” Meghabghab said.

The professor said one student, Cory Watson, paid for the certification exam himself and passed it. As a result of passing the Security+ certification test, Cory received a scholarship toward obtaining a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity from Western Governors University, an online school based in Salt Lake City with offices in Nashville.

Meghabghab said all of Watson’s IT courses transferred “seamlessly” to WGU, and Watson will enroll there in the fall of 2019 as a junior.

“I want Cory’s story to become every cybersecurity and CITC student’s story,” the professor said.

Meghabghab said he’s submitted a proposal to the Roane State Foundation for funding various certification exams that he said are a must for meeting the CITC degree requirements and the stringent standards of the Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering.

The professor thanked Foundation Executive Director Scott Niermann, Roane State President Chris Whaley and Dr. Diane Ward, vice president for student learning, for their consideration of his proposal.

To learn more about the programming concentration, visit roanestate.edu/CITC. To learn more about the cyber defense concentration, visit roanestate.edu/cyberdefense.