iQ4, Clark University, and PCG Corporation Partner on Free Cyber Training to 4,000+ Military and Vets
Background
Clark University received grant funding of 10M$ in January 2021 and $12 million in August 2019 from the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) for workforce training in information technology and cybersecurity. Clark University School of Professional Studies and PCG Corporation administer the grants through the TechBoost Internship and TechQuest Pre-Apprenticeship training programs. The TechBoost program calls for placing 550+ students into internships. The TechQuest program calls for placing 900+ students into pre-apprenticeships.
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts. For both DoL grants, they work with the Public Consulting Group (PCG) and a national consortium of workforce development boards and higher education institutions to provide veterans, unemployed, underemployed, and incumbent workers with training courses.
The Need
“Clark University is very excited about the opportunities being generated for veterans transitioning to private
sector Cybersecurity jobs through the partnership between iQ4 and Clark’s DOL funded, TechBoost, and TechQuest grants. We are positioned to fund over 1,450 students into these excellent programs”. Additionally, the iQ4 Wallet is an asset that helps non-traditional students document their skill sets and credentials to employers.”
Clark University wanted to provide Information Technology and Cybersecurity internships and pre-apprenticeships with career pathways that lead to great jobs to meet goals and metrics outlined in the U.S. Department of Labor grants they were awarded.
The Solution
iQ4 is a national sponsor of the U.S. Department of Labor apprenticeship program and prepares project content through its 3,200+ member Cybersecurity Workforce Alliance division. Content is developed by industry and employer subject matter experts resulting in 6 and 12-week internship and pre-apprenticeship projects. These programs equate to up to 1 year of on-the-job experience, resulting in students identifying career pathways leading to great jobs in cybersecurity.
The Macro-Credential: Related Technical Instruction (RTI) and On-the-Job Training (OJT)
RTI: Students/learners acquire RTI by taking courses from their University and/or technical training courses from professional organizations and earning certificates.
OJT: Student/learners become interns and pre-apprentices and acquire OJT by taking courses through iQ4’s Cybersecurity Assessment program. The OJT acquired results in earning a Macro-Credential.
The Use-Case
Clark University needed to provide information technology and cybersecurity training to meet the goals and metrics outlined in its U.S. DoL Grants. Clark University partnered with iQ4, which started offering projects in April 2022. There were three iQ4 projects offered – Cybersecurity Practitioner Fundamentals, The Threat Within and NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and Cloud Technology.
These projects were provided to students that met the eligibility criteria in an application submission: 17 years of age or older and not attending secondary school; U.S. citizen or legally authorized to work in U.S.; Unemployed or underemployed (across all diversity, equity, and inclusion communities); Veterans and those in transition from the military, and their spouse and dependents.
Each iQ4 project is offered and run monthly, with mentors and employers joining the weekly sessions at a pre-determined time. The projects consist of a max of 60 students with teams of 6 students. Each student takes on a cybersecurity job role. Students have lessons to read, work on use cases and project challenges prepared by employers, take assessments, and prepare deliverables that are presented to the mentors for critique and assessment. Students acquire 350+ hours of on-the-job training as a result of the knowledge, skills, and abilities they acquired by completing the iQ4 project, leading to great jobs.
Results
iQ4 overall results over the past four years across all academic institutions and organizations:
6,000+ students completed program
62% of students obtained an internship
25% of students are women
25% of students have full-time cybersecurity jobs
“For the last seven years, I have been an instructor and facilitator for Cybersecurity and Cloud Technology projects through the iQ4 experiential learning platform. In early April 2022, I began working with my first cohort of veteran students for the Clark University TechBoost initiative. After spending only a month with these students, I must say that I have never encountered such high quality deliverables, professionalism, and work ethic. I am profoundly moved by the talent and mutual respect displayed by our veteran students!”