Capitol Technology University held its summer 2015 residency over the weekend for the Doctor of Science (DSc) Cybersecurity program. Approximately 25 students attended the weekend residency, which focused on writing different sections of the doctoral dissertation. Since students complete the DSc primarily online, this is the first time that some of them meet each other and their faculty face to face.
As the students and faculty gathered over breakfast early on Friday morning, Dean of Academics Dr. Helen Barker greeted the eager group and regaled them with stories of past cohorts. Faculty introduced themselves, many of them revealing that they were part of one of the first two cohorts in Capitol’s doctoral program. They swapped stories about what they have done in the industry since completing their dissertations, revealing just how far their hard work has taken them.
Dr. Char Sample (‘13), who has been working as a research scientist at Carnegie Mellon University since completing her DSc, announced that she is starting a fellowship this coming week in the UK. Dr. Dan Ford (‘14) told students he took one of his papers to a professional conference and had job offers before he left the event. “When you catch any type of technology as it’s getting ready to hit its peak, it’s going to stay typically at its peak for about 5-7 years,” Ford explained. “So the research that you’re doing, when you find that gap and make it, you’re going to be an expert in it.”
Barker jested with some of the faculty, praising them for their resiliency and help refining the new program as students while joking about their resistance to APA citations and other core aspects of dissertation writing. Through a mix of practical details on the ever-changing nature of documentation and stories of solidarity about going through the dissertation process, the faculty helped the doctoral students feel confident.
While the focus of the residency was writing, student Brian Olson explained that he was also looking forward to networking during the weekend, “Getting to put faces to names of the people I’ve been working with for the last couple years, and bouncing ideas off each other.” Faculty member Dr. Ray Letteer agreed that it was helpful for both faculty and students to meet face to face as they built relationships together over the weekend. “Every time I’ve met with students here, they’re always energized and enthused when they leave,” Letteer said. “For the Residency One students, it’s the game changer,” explained Barker. “They walk out of here realizing, ‘Wow, I can do this. I’m a doctoral student. I’m going to get this DSc. This is for real.’”
Another important opportunity for students during the weekend was meeting with faculty who could serve as their dissertation chairs. “It’s an exciting opportunity to see new talent in the room that has taken on this journey to move forward with their education,” said Dr. Audrey Andrews. Dr. Ford agreed, “While they’re subject matter experts in their current career path, this is the first step in becoming experts within the field of cybersecurity.”
Many of these students are indeed already subject matter experts, like student Susan Schueller, who has been in the software field for about 30 years. “I think now is the time to get into cybersecurity and to help people approach the problems. For the younger generations, too, because I’m a woman engineer, I think it’s important to get the word out to young ladies as well that there’s a lot of opportunity out there.”
During the weekend, first-year doctoral students crafted their Problem and Purpose statements for peer and faculty critique. Second-year doctoral students on Saturday met with Dr. Sample to discuss the rules and challenges of publishing. Since different publications have different rules about how an author can use published papers, it is helpful for the students to know what their options are so they can get the most out of their hard work. “This puts us into the realm of other universities in the region and the industry, of becoming a little bit more involved in the publication process,” explained Letteer. This is especially important for an academic area like cybersecurity, which is both new as a discipline and which often deals with sensitive information. “We want this material to be usable, we want people to follow up on their research, and we want them to have a voice,” Barker emphasized. “We want Cyber to become an academic community.”
Fall classes for the doctoral program begin on Monday, August 24. Students interested in beginning the DSc Cybersecurity program or the new Doctor of Philosophy program in Management and Decision Sciences in January 2016 should apply by October 1. For more information about the DSc Cybersecurity program at Capitol Technology University, please visit our website.