PROVIDENCE – There could be a new cybersecurity institute established at Rhode Island College led by a former congressman who made that industry a focal point for much of his tenure in Washington, D.C.
State elected and education leaders, including Gov. Daniel J. McKee and RIC interim President Jack Warner, announced at the Statehouse on Friday that the governor is amending his proposed 2024 fiscal budget to include two key aspects in support of RIC. The first is including funding to create a new Institute for Cybersecurity & Emerging Technologies at the state-run school on Mount Pleasant Avenue. James R. Langevin, who served 11 terms in the U.S. House before retiring last year, would lead the institute.
McKee also is proposing $10.4 million into the Hope Scholarship Fund at RIC. The proposed scholarship program, funded over three years, would provide last-dollar tuition support to RIC in-state students for their junior and senior years if they meet certain eligibility requirements.
McKee said about $9.4 million from the state’s fiscal recovery funds and $1 million in the college’s institutional financial aid would support the new scholarship fund. For the cybersecurity institute, about $4 million budget would be provided over three years, with $2 million coming from state fiscal recovery funds and $2 million from existing resources at RIC. The institute would also be supported and housed in the RIC School of Business, located inside Alger Hall on campus.
The General Assembly would need to approve both amendments.
McKee said the institute, if approved, will offer certificates, bachelor’s and master’s courses. It will also plan to attract researchers and education professionals to develop policy approaches to current cybersecurity challenges.
“The Cybersecurity industry is a rapidly growing field, and it is imperative that Rhode Island be at the forefront. We want to ensure that we are focused on growing critical subject matters at Rhode Island College that will create a pipeline of talent for the jobs of tomorrow,” McKee said in a statement.
Langevin also said in his respective statement that the institute will provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills, such as techniques to protect and secure sensitive information from attacks, that required to excel in the digital age.
“Moreover, they will be trained to develop and apply machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to solve complex problems across various industries,” Langevin said. “The training needed to fill these important job needs can’t come soon enough.”
In a Providence Business News Jan. 20 cover story, some school officials blame the Rhode Island Promise program, the free-tuition program that started in 2017 for local students to attend the Community College of Rhode Island, as having lured potential students seeking an affordable education away from attending RIC. Full-time freshmen enrollment at RIC fell 19% between the fall of 2017 and 2018. Plus, applications from transferring students dropped by 17.3% in that same period.
McKee said the Hope Scholarship would be structured as a pilot. If the general assembly approves the program, it would start this fall – it is slated to sunset in May 2026. McKee also said CCRI students who received Rhode Island Promise scholarships would not be eligible for Hope Scholarships.
The institute plans to establish its first cohort of students for this coming fall at RIC if the General Assembly allows the amendment in McKee’s budget. The cohort would also culminate in an annual symposium, which will be first held in the spring of 2024, that will establish a 10-year vision for the institute.
RIC spokesperson John Taraborelli said in an email the college does not have an exact number of how many students will be part of the first institute cohort at this point. RIC, he said, does plan on marketing this widely to students and building a pipeline by working directly with the state’s high schools.
“We will be able to flex the size of the program to match the demand from the community,” Taraborelli said. RIC officials plan to testify at the Senate Finance Committee hearing on April 27 and hopes to do the same with the House Finance Committee.
McKee spokesperson Olivia DaRocha said Friday to PBN that McKee’s team plans to work closely with Langevin, RIC and the R.I. Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner to conduct outreach within the General Assembly and in the broader community “to continue building strong support.” This initiative, she said, is a “top priority” for the administration.
Among the elements of the institute’s possible strategic plan, McKee said, may include training for first responders and military veterans; developing and hosting a nationally recognized speaker series on cybersecurity featuring national leaders; establishing a cybersecurity professional fellowship at the institute to attract top academic teaching and research talent to Rhode Island; and developing cybersecurity immersion opportunities for Rhode Island middle and high school students that develops a workforce pipeline through programming across higher education.
Warner in a statement calls establishing a new cybersecurity institute at RIC as being “the right idea in the right place at the right time.”
(Update: Story recast through out)
Waste of taxpayer dollars!