Cybersecurity Guide

Dr. Gregory Laidlaw emphasizes students need a broad IT foundation (networking, systems, databases) because most entry jobs aren’t purely cybersecurity.
He explains the program aligns with national frameworks (including CAE) and industry feedback while focusing on principles over specific tools. He keeps courses like ethical hacking and forensics intentionally challenging, grading documentation, process, and ability to pivot—not just outcomes—while stressing ethics: written permission, clear scope, and leaving no trace.
His advice: stay open, try areas you think you won’t like, and use certifications to signal readiness to employers.
Find the full episode on Cybersecurity Guide.

Dr. Ayad Barsoum is the interim chair of computer science and graduate programs director for cybersecurity at St. Mary's University in San Antonio. 
In this episode, Barsoum discusses how the school’s NSA/DHS Center of Academic Excellence designation translates into real value for students, rigorous standards, shared resources, grants, and internship opportunities, while preparing graduates for both private-sector and government roles.
Barsoum describes building a comprehensive cybersecurity master’s program with a strong technical core plus business/management and law/ethics, and explains the stackable pathway: a 12-credit graduate certificate (four courses) that can be tailored to goals (e.g., cloud, wireless, cryptography, forensics, risk, policy, AI/cyber, CISSP prep) and then fully applied toward the 33-credit MS.
He also outlines prerequisites for non-tech majors, the MS capstone choice between project or research thesis (especially for PhD-bound students), and how the curriculum emphasizes hands-on competence through course projects, demos/defenses, and career supports like internships-for-credit, career fairs, and industry seminars.
More details on Cybersecurity Guide.

Douglas Rausch is and associate professor and program director of cybersecurity at Bellevue University.
Rausch shared his nontraditional path from software and military communications into Air Force cyber operations, and how that experience shapes Bellevue’s workforce-focused cybersecurity program.
He emphasizes mastering the systems you defend, prioritizing risk management and business context, and building adaptable, career-ready skills through flexible online/on-campus options, hands-on cyber range scenarios, and a curriculum aligned with national standards and continuously updated with industry input.
Find more details about this episode at Cybersecurity Guide.

Dr. Lance Fiondella is a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and the director of the UMass Dartmouth Cybersecurity Center.
Fiondella says cybersecurity is about being reliable and tough: plan, handle problems, bounce back, and adjust. It needs strong tech skills, teamwork across subjects like engineering and policy, and good talking skills. He says to do this work to help make the world safer, steadier, and more peaceful.
Learn more about this episode at Cybersecurity Guide.

Dr. Todd R. Andel is the Dean of the School of Computing at the University of South Alabama, a former U.S. Air Force officer with 23 years of service.
In this episode he explains how industry and government partnerships help keep coursework aligned with real-world threats, highlights hands-on learning through labs like digital forensics and hardware security, and shares internship pathways that connect students to regional defense and technology employers.
He closes the episode by encouraging students to see cybersecurity’s fast pace as an advantage and to stay curious, adaptable, and committed to continual learning.