Jefferson City

Congressmen and school leaders across the U.S. are spearheading cybersecurity degree offerings to meet the industry’s growing workforce demands.

Jobs in cybersecurity are projected to grow 35% over the next 10 years, far exceeding the nation’s average job growth rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s around 19,500 job openings each year until 2031. The median salary of an information security analyst is $102,600, which is a handsome incentive to draw a new generation of students.

The Biden administration, however, believes students should pursue the field as a means to protect national security. Last month, one community college in Michigan was forced to close down for a day due to a data breach—all the more reason the Biden-Harris administration released a national cybersecurity strategy last month to curb such threats.

The country’s leaders made it clear at a panel this past Tuesday that there are federal dollars available to bolster the country’s cyber community and to meet its booming workforce demands. States have already begun to respond by either creating new programs for this upcoming academic year at their colleges and universities or strengthening their existing ones.

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Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee announced last week he is filing a $4 million budget amendment to fund the “Institute of Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies” at Rhode Island College, which will provide bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field beginning this fall. Former U.S. congressman Jim Langevin will be running the initiative, creating a home base for the institute and finding talented professors.

Lincoln University is building a pipeline of high school students eager to pursue a postsecondary education and future career in cybersecurity through their Project Reach initiative, funded by the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. Beginning this fall, high school students at Jefferson City and Capital City High schools in Missouri will work their way toward a certificate from the Computing Technology and Industry Association while simultaneously exposing them to Lincoln University’s computer science program, and hopefully, incentivizing them to enroll. Lincoln, an HBCU, aims to close the diversity gap in cybersecurity with Project Reach.

To strengthen the existing workforce’s skills in healthcare-related cybersecurity, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is granting the University of Louisville’s Cybersecurity Workforce Certificate program a $20 million boost in federal funding. This muscle-up is on top of a $6.2 million grant the NSA had already recently provided.

Miami University (Ohio) and St. Michael’s College (Vt.) will also begin offering a bachelor’s degree in the emerging field this fall. One school neighboring St. Michael’s that implemented a similar program in 2015 has seen its number of graduates more than triple.

A pair of community colleges are also getting on board. Williston State College will be offering an associate degree in the fall, while Tulsa Community College now offers a free six-month cybersecurity apprenticeship for its students. One student has claimed the Tulsa program already helped her land a job.

“For me, it’s exciting just because so far in my work history, I haven’t done anything technical,” the student said, according to News on 6. “This is totally new and I’m just excited to get to use these skills I’ve learned.”

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While she was appointed Harris-Stowe State University’s 21st president on March 1, 2022, LaTonia Collins-Smith’s investiture and inauguration will be held at 10 a.m. Friday April 14, 2023, in the Henry Givens, Jr. Administration Building, Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack Auditorium on the campus.

She is the university’s first African American woman to serve as president, following Ruth Harris, the first Black woman to serve as Stowe Teachers College president in 1940.

Collins-Smith’s path to the presidency began unexpectedly when then HSSU President Corey Bradford left the post abruptly in June 2021. She began her career in higher education at HSSU in 2010 and has served the University in several leadership roles.

She was tabbed as interim president, and immediately found herself “in a time of discovery,” she said.

“We had three different presidents in a short period of time, and there was a global pandemic. It was truly of time of learning during a very difficult time for all institutions of higher learning.”

Harris-Stowe learned that it had fallen out of compliance with key requirements. In its review, the Higher Learning Commission informed the university that it was “on notice” because of a delayed financial audit, unclear metrics for student academic performance outcomes and graduation rates and concerns over the university’s academic program review system.

Smith Collins wants to be perfectly clear about one thing:

HSSU is not on probation and has not been on probation. The school has its accreditation review in 10-year increments. It was set for review in 2021, regardless of the administrative turnover and COVID-19.

“From the standpoint of compliance, COVID-19 exposed a lot of challenges,” she said.

“The university was put “on notice,” but was never on probation or at risk of losing accreditation.”

In fact, the school was already addressing some of the challenges that were found during the review.

“We have reorganized priorities, and we are now in a good place. Harris-Stowe has moved positively forward in a brief period of time. We are very confident that when [HLC] returns in 2024, we will be fully accredited.”

In fact, the school has made an impressive series of hires, and its STEM programs continue to grow.

Last fall, the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) www.acbsp.org Baccalaureate/Graduate Degree Board of Commissioners reaffirmed accreditation of the business programs at HSSU.

The business programs at Harris-Stowe State University were first accredited by ACBSP in 2012. The institution is required to go through the reaffirmation process every 10 years to maintain ACBSP accreditation.

“Harris-Stowe State University has shown its commitment to teaching excellence and the process of quality improvement by participating in the accreditation process,” ACBSP Chief Accreditation Officer Dr. Steve Parscale said.

“This reaffirmation of accreditation is evidence that they are committed to maintaining the highest quality business education for their students for the next ten years, just as they have done since 2012.”

The school recently announced the creation of a new academic college focused on science, technology, engineering, and math [STEM]. The new College of STEM essentially institutionalizes the St. Louis-based university’s efforts over the last decade to develop a diverse pool of talent in Missouri’s STEM workforce.

Leading the effort is Harvey R. Fields, Jr., who most recently served as the Associate Dean for Student Success at Washington University in St. Louis. Fields’ academic career is steeped in STEM education. Fields has dedicated his career to advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice while focusing on maximizing student academic success, particularly in STEM areas.

Dr. Marrix Seymore was appointed the dean of the University’s College of Education. Dr. Seymore joined HSSU in early January. Seymore will lead all functions of planning, directing, and executing programs provided by the College. He will also assist the Office of Academic Affairs recruiting faculty and staff. He oversees and evaluates the ​​academic proficiency of students pursuing education degrees. Seymore most recently served as the Dean of the Division of Education at Rust College in Mississippi. He also previously served as Dean of the School of Education at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. 

After officially retiring on Dec. 31, 2022, as St. Louis Public Schools superintendent, Kelvin Adams was named HSSU Associate Dean and Regents’ Distinguished Professor for the College of Education at Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU). In his tenure at SLPS, Adams was instrumental in guiding the district from one of the state’s most underachieving to full state accreditation.

“We have been very transparent with our faculty, staff, and students. We were willing to roll up our sleeves and do whatever it takes to remain a viable institution in this community.

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Emily Manley and Kayla Shepperd

55 mins ago

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The biggest project in Gov. Mike Parson’s budget request to lawmakers this year was to widen parts of Interstate 70, but that funding could be at risk. 

The governor wants to spend nearly $900 million to add an extra lane on I-70 in the suburban areas of Kansas City, St. Louis and Columbia, but some representatives have other plans, like diverting that money to improve Interstate 44. 

Back in January during his annual State of the State Address, Parson revealed his support of a major project, that comes with a hefty price tag. 

“For years, congestion, traffic accidents and delays have become serious issues for commuters on I-70,” Parson said during his address. “We are requesting $859 million, the largest investment in decades, to wide and rebuild the I-70 corridor and take the first steps in adding a third lane across our state.”

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Many lawmakers, on both sides of the aisle, followed that statement with a standing ovation, but last week, the House passed the $45.6 billion operating budget for next fiscal year without any money for the improvement. 

“The chairman says he intends to address I-70 in House Bill 19, to answer your question, do we trust that? No, I don’t,” House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, said. 

House Budget Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, said he wants to address funding for the project when representatives discuss other major construction projects. During a committee hearing Monday, not much was said about adding the funding into the budget bill until Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, asked the Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) Director Patrick McKenna for an update. 

“We’re still working off the basic construct that the governor placed in the budget which is the three-segment improvement for $859 million,” McKenna said. “We understand there are discussions in the House with regard to other regional priorities that have been identified through the unfunded needs process that the commission has in place for the department.”

McKenna was talking about how during a subcommittee for the budget, some members asked why the state isn’t focusing on I-44. Some representatives on the subcommittee wanted to take millions away from the I-70 project to be used to widen I-44 in Springfield and pay for an environmental study for the entire corridor. 

“We can’t address I-44 until I-70 is addressed,” Quade said. “All of this is connected and so we should be making this a priority but yet again we are not doing it now and bucking it to the Senate for this conversation instead of doing our jobs.”

The spending plan for next year is now in the hands of the Senate, where appropriations chair Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, said he is working to add the funding back into the budget for the I-70 project, along with adding money for an environmental study for future improvements for I-44. 

This conversation comes as McKenna said the department is more than 25% over its construction program budget due to inflation. 

“We are working through right now, updates to that entire plan on a project-by-project basis based on inflation and inflation, as we all know, has been severe,” McKenna said. 

Under the constitution, General Assembly has until the end of the day on May 5 to get the budget to the governor’s desk 

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The North County R-1 School District, at its board meeting March 9, acknowledged with evident disappointment the previous day’s Missouri House of Representatives vote to move ahead with open enrollment.

North County was one of 175 Missouri school districts that formally passed resolutions in recent weeks opposing students’ ability to choose non-resident school districts. They say losing students would likely equal losing funding, and many in rural and inner-city areas are already financially pressed to serve the students they have.

At last Thursday’s board meeting, member David Bahr asked Superintendent Katie Bockman where the initiative goes from here.

“Is there an idea of the temperature in the Senate, what the Senate’s going to do on this bill?” he asked.

“They will pass it,” Bockman replied in no uncertain tones.

“They’re going to get some opposition, though. I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be a slam-dunk,” Bahr said. “I’d just like to note, they didn’t listen to their constituents, all our local legislators voted for it.”

“Yes, they did,” Bockman acknowledged.

Local representatives Dale Wright, Chris Dinkins and Mike Henderson—a retired North County school administrator —  were three of the 85 voting “yes” on the bill, which saw 24 Republicans joining 45 Democrats to vote “no.”

In his weekly Capitol Report on March 3, amid review of more than a dozen bills, Henderson omitted any reference to House Bill 253. In his report on March 10, Henderson said only that he had helped pass “a measure to give parents and students more educational opportunities.”

Since Wright and Henderson share a secretary, they put out identical weekly reports on March 3, omitting mention of HB 253. In his March 10 report, Wright indicated he voted in favor of open enrollment “to improve quality instruction and increase parental involvement, provide access to programs and classes, and offer opportunity by allowing students to attend a public school in a nonresident district. The bill will allow districts to opt in as a receiving district and cap the number of students who may transfer out of a district at 3% of the previous year’s enrollment.”

Wright indicated House members framed the question as, “Should your address be the main determination as to what public school your children attend or should the child and family be the center of educational focus?”

“Open enrollment is a step in the right direction for educational reform, for offering choices and accountability within the public school system,” he said in his report.

The legislation creates an $80 million “Parent Public School Choice Fund” to cover special education and transportation costs, but the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, in debating the bill, Rep. Sarah Unsicker, D-Shrewsbury, questioned whether it would be enough.

“Basically they’d be taking students at a loss,” she said of receiving districts. “That would automatically put a cap on the number of students they can take. And if one of those children had extraordinary needs … they would either reject that student or reject other students because of that child’s needs.”

At last Thursday’s school board meeting, Bockman and board members moved on.

The board approved health care for the next academic year, approving a base PPO insurance plan for all full-time employees and fully covering full-time employees with health insurance at the cost of $598.16 per employee, per month. They will stay with the same insurance company, which raised the prices by $25.73 per employee, per month over last year’s rates. Buy-up plans are included, as are health savings account options.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Brandon Gregory gave his report, while Bockman began a report provided by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Lori Lamb, who was unavoidably absent from the board meeting.

Bockman, bunting for Lamb, reported North County Primary was very appreciative of all the community members who came in to read to students in observance of Read Across America Week.

A book fair, “Read Around the World Night”, was held for families, and the $14,000 in sales broke previous book-fair records. Primary was able to break in their new, mobile kitchens — students are learning to cook– with “giraffe soup with whale garnish, and the next day, the mobile kitchen was used to whip up green eggs and ham for a pre-K class. The mobile kitchens will be used again when students in first grade harvest vegetables from their tower gardens.

Primary put on a pre-K and kindergarten screening and registration night, combining the two activities so parents wouldn’t have to make two trips.

Members of Bonne Terre Police Department stopped by to have pizza with the class that raised the most money, helping to send the officers to Washington D.C. for the police memorial, in honor of slain officer Lane Burns.

NC Parkside expressed thanks to the Board of Education for all they do to serve students, staff, families, and community. The school held its Glow Dance on Tuesday, and enjoyed a performance of the Army Band on Wednesday.

At the Intermediate School, the monthly Raider Reward was held, the rewards being a hit since the school changed the parameters and structure into a half-day per quarter. Yeti and Josie, the therapy dogs, were loaned to Potosi school district. Angela Zolman’s class has started the Friends Link Cafe and have been working with students to prepare food for the staff once a week. “The food is very delicious and the inclusion is amazing,” it was reported.

At North County Middle School, 20 members of the Honor Choir participated in the East Central All-District Honor Choir at Jefferson R-7 on Feb. 4 and were preparing for spring concerts, auditions for next year, and an Honor Choir performance at Music in the Park at Six Flags in April. Student Cole Swiney earned a spot on the 2023-2024 Family, Career & Community Leaders Association’s regional council.  On March, 7 FCCLA members attended the Missouri State FCCLA Leadership Conference. Kudos were given to Process Coordinator Ambyr Elliott for her diligent work coordinating special education classes with the NCMS master schedule. “This is an arduous process that takes dozens of hours,” it was reported.

At the high school, winter sports were wrapped up, and spring seasons just began. The Jazz Ensemble received first place at the Truman State Jazz festival, with three students receiving outstanding solo honors. Both Jazz bands will attend MAC Jazz Festival Friday. Solo and Ensemble competition for vocal and instrumental music is set for Hillsboro on Saturday.

All grades have completed course registration, and the third-quarter attendance assembly was held Wednesday, featuring a staff lip synch battle. Freshman Welcome Night was held for eighth graders, and 160 families attended.

At UniTec Career Center, the students’ spec house is almost completely under roof. The shingles were finished and they were planning to start installing doors and windows. The annex building is still under construction, and Heimburger Construction states it will be under roof by the end of the month, weather permitting.

More than 30 UniTec students qualified for state competition in Jefferson City.  They will compete March 30-April 1. The UniTec Showcase was March 7, and 275 visitors attended. UniTec Foundation Golf Tournament is set for April 15. Organizers are still taking donations, hole sponsors, and registering teams. Also, a group of students attended Legislative Day in Jefferson City on February 15.

• The board changed the date of April’s meeting from the 20th to the 13th, to comply with state statute requiring timely swearing-in of elected board members.
• The received the summer school handbooks for review.

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JEFFERSON CITY — A politically connected company that has flooded Missouri gas stations and truck stops with slot machines is facing a second federal lawsuit.

In a complaint filed Wednesday in Missouri’s Eastern District, a Sullivan-based coin-operated amusement game firm sued Wildwood-based Torch Electronics, arguing its video machines are illegal and have cut into its profits.

TNT Amusements, owned by Jim Turntine, is seeking damages equal to three times the actual damages it has suffered.

“TNT’s revenue has plummeted as a result of Torch’s illegal conduct,” the complaint notes. “The presence of the Torch devices at amusement locations directly impacts TNT’s business.”

The 56-page complaint comes a week after a similar lawsuit was filed in Missouri’s Western District court alleging that Torch violated consumer protection statutes and a federal law used to prosecute organized crime.

The latest legal action comes as Missouri lawmakers have been unable to agree on a way to crack down on the spread of unregulated slot machines in the state, allowing people to gamble without going to officially licensed and taxed casinos.

Missouri’s new attorney general, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Mike Parson, earlier said the matter is up to local county prosecutors.

TNT’s lawsuit against Torch also marks the second filed against them by Turntine’s company. In 2019, TNT asked a Crawford County judge to shut down slot machines placed by Torch in a truck stop on Interstate 44 in Cuba.

The case was transferred to St. Louis County in 2020 and appears to have languished.

The latest lawsuit accuses Torch of mail and wire fraud in its operation of thousands of video slot machines.

Under Missouri law, it says, gambling devices are permitted only in casinos, which in turn must be operated pursuant to a Missouri gaming license.

“Torch does not have a Missouri gaming license and does not operate its amusement devices in a casino,” the complaint notes.

In addition, the lawsuit disputes Torch’s claims that its games comply with Missouri law, citing numerous county-level court cases and a Missouri Gaming Commission decision that calls the machines illegal.

It says the flood of Torch machines has cut into TNT’s business.

“Businesses have limited floor space and every spot taken up by an illegal Torch device is a spot taken away from a legal amusement device such as those offered by TNT,” the complaint says.

“This has gone on long enough,” Turntine told the Post-Dispatch Thursday. “I think it’s not legal and everybody knows it.”

The two federal lawsuits come as lawmakers are considering legislation that would legalize sports betting in Missouri.

At the same time, Illinois-based video gambling companies are pressuring the Legislature to legalize slot machines outside of casinos, which would bring a taxing structure to the business, as well as create a pool of money to combat compulsive gambling.

Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, has threatened to hold up passage of sports betting if a video gambling bill isn’t approved. Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, also has filed a bill this year that would crack down on the machines, which he says are being played by or near children at convenience stores in his district.

In the federal case filed last week, attorneys are seeking class action status on behalf of players who have lost money on the machines across the state.

Torch says its machines let players know if they will win on their next spin, thus falling outside the definition of state anti-gambling laws. But a player must still play that spin in order to unlock a new chance at winning.

Torch, which has spread more than $650,000 in campaign cash to state politicians, is represented by lobbyist Steve Tilley, a former speaker of the Missouri House and an ally of Gov. Mike Parson.

Torch spokesman Gregg Keller, a Republican Party operative, said Thursday the company does not comment on pending litigation.

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The return of the NCAA March Madness tournament inspired a little madness in Jefferson City earlier this week.

Modern Litho, a Jefferson City-based commercial printer, was awarded the contract to print tens of thousands of programs for the first two rounds of the men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments.

And it had less than 48 hours to do it.

The first round of the NCAA March Madness Tournament kicks off today with 16 games throughout the country and continues Friday with another 16 games. The first round of the women’s tournament begins Friday with 16 games and continues Saturday with another 16 games.

The second round consists of eight games on both March 18 and 19 for men’s teams and eight games on both March 19 and 20 for women’s teams. Game times and matchups are available at ncaa.com.

Cassandra Atchison, Modern Litho’s vice president of marketing, said the 144-page bound programs were shipped to arenas where first-round games will be hosted, including Sacramento, California; Dayton, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; and Kansas City, Missouri, among other locations throughout the country.

Atchison said each arena was set to receive thousands of programs. The commercial printer used approximately 29,000 pounds of paper fulfilling the order.

“It’s a large order to complete between 7 p.m. and the next morning, absolutely,” she said, “however, it is not outside of our realm of everyday production.”

The printer was under a tight timeline to produce the pages.

The Modern Litho team was waiting for the results of Selection Sunday, when the NCAA unveils its 68-team bracket lineup, and received the printing files around 7 p.m. that night, Atchison said. The printer then arranged the files to produce different versions of the program for different locations.

The press ran overnight Sunday, and Atchison said her team was printing, folding and binding the programs to have them shipped out by about 4:30 a.m. Monday. Work wrapped up and all programs were shipped out by the end of the business day Tuesday.

Atchison said the rush order required many of Modern Litho’s 170 daily employees as well as “increased management involvement” in planning and executing production.

She said the order came from Modern Litho’s long-running partnership with Learfield Communications, with whom the NCAA originally contracted.

Atchison said the contract was for only the early rounds of both the men’s and women’s tournament. The first order encapsulated everything under the contract, so she said she’s not currently expecting another frenzy.

“It definitely has been a team effort, so we’re really proud to be a part of it,” she said.

    Courtesy/Modern Litho: Modern Litho, a Jefferson City-based commercial printer, prints the NCAA March Madness tournament programs distributed to the arenas where first-round games will be played starting today and Friday. Modern Litho began producing the programs Sunday night and had tens of thousands shipped throughout the country by the end of the work day Tuesday.
      Courtesy/Modern Litho: Modern Litho, a Jefferson City-based commercial printer, prints the NCAA March Madness tournament programs distributed to the arenas where first-round games will be played starting today and Friday. Modern Litho began producing the programs Sunday night and had tens of thousands shipped throughout the country by the end of the work day Tuesday.
      Courtesy/Modern Litho: Jim Tomblinson, Modern Litho’s chief operating officer, holds a finished 144-page program for the early rounds of the NCAA March Madness tournament after the facility he manages printed it.
  

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