Matthew Will
Lantern Staff
On Tuesday, Feb. 20, Friends University president Amy Bragg Carey and Butler Community College (BCC) President Kimberly Krull signed an agreement linking the Cyber Security programs at both institutions to simplify the transferring and graduation process.
“The need for trained cyber security professionals is ever growing, and we look forward to taking students who have completed their two year degrees with Butler and helping them expand their knowledge of the field,” Justin Eichorn, an assistant professor of Cyber Defense at Friends University, said.
Students who have completed 66 credit hours at Butler and have completed an associate of Applied Science in Cyber Security degree will be accepted at Friends as a junior. After transferring all credits to Friends, students will complete the remaining 58 credit hours at Friends. Friends does require students to have 43 credit hours of general education studies including at least one course in religion to be awarded a bachelor’s degree.
After students have completed their bachelor’s degree, they are encouraged to return to work towards their master’s degrees.
“Students will be able to complete a majority of their general education and elective requirements over at Butler, then come over and take our cyber courses to complete their bachelor’s degree,” Eichorn said. “They can also take up to 18 master’s level courses in place of bachelor courses to accelerate their path to an advanced degree.”
Friends also has a new, state-of-the art cyber lab, with only one other like it in the United States. The INTRUST Bank Cyber Security Laboratory was named after the overwhelming support in funding and underwriting by INTRUST Bank. According to Friends University, the new cyber lab provides students with “the most comprehensive cyber defense training platform available.”
“Now we have opened a door that should be beneficial to not only Butler Community College and Friends University, but especially to our students and the community as a whole,” Eichorn said.
