Del Mar College moving forward on revitalization of former primary school, facility to be renovated into Workforce Development Center in Aransas County
10
October
2024
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00:27 AM
Europe/Amsterdam
Aransas County and surrounding community residents will benefit through partnership to bring higher education and workforce training closer to home
Article by Melinda Eddleman
The Rockport-Fulton community will soon see a chain-link fence around the perimeter of what was once the Little Bay Primary School, along with a Del Mar College (DMC) sign indicating that renovations are coming soon. The College is moving forward with repurposing the facility into the Workforce Development Center, which will serve Rockport-Fulton, Aransas County and surrounding communities with higher education and workforce training opportunities that support those economies.
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The Workforce Development Center in Aransas County will provide an excellent opportunity to the local community to earn credentials directly tied to a career or in various programs offered by Del Mar College. This Center is the result of Aransas County officials, the Aransas County Partnership Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and the College working together to support local economic and workforce development. The new center will give all Aransas County area students access to college and career-track courses close to home.
Lenora Keas, DMC Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
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These generous donations show commitment and a belief that the new Workforce Development Center will change area residents’ lives by improving their standard of living, building a workforce that serves local communities as a whole and reshaping the economy impacted by the hurricane and pandemic over the past seven years. Core educational courses and workforce training through Del Mar College will give those impacted by these events the opportunity to set a new path leading to attaining their goals.
Matthew Busby, DMC Vice President of Development and Donor Advising
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About Del Mar College
Del Mar College empowers students to achieve their dreams. We offer quality programs, individual attention, outstanding instruction through faculty with real-world experience and affordable costs to credit and noncredit students in Corpus Christi and the South Texas Coastal Bend area. Nationally recognized while locally focused, we’re ranked in the top two percent of community colleges in the country granting associate degrees to Hispanic students (Community College Week). Del Mar College focuses on offering our students programs that match current or emerging career opportunities. Whether students are interested in the fine arts, sciences, business, occupational or technical areas, students get the education they need for the future they want at Del Mar College.
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In turn, Del Mar adapted the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board-funded Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) program to expand accessibility beyond those students who originally qualified FAST to provide all regional high school students with partnering institutions tuition-free Dual Enrollment participation. 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Previously, Dr. Rivera shared data showing that among students who took DMC Dual Enrollment courses during high school, 42 percent completed a college award such as a certificate or associate degree within four years after their high school graduation. And, almost one-third of the College’s Dual Enrollment students earned a bachelor’s degree. “College degree completion rates among our Dual Enrollment students are well above those high school students who did not participate in our program,” he noted.
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- Del Mar College Cyber Center cybersecurity internship initiative announced after landing $200K grant from U.S. Commerce Department’s NISTArticle by: Richard Guerrero, Jr. Del Mar College (DMC) is the only awardee in Texas that landed a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) this year. College administrators with the Workforce Development and Corporate Services Department, along with Workforce Solutions Coastal Bend, announced on Oct. 30 details about the $200,000 NIST grant that was awarded earlier in October. Overall, 15 grants totaling $3 million were awarded among 11 states. Darcy Shaw, DMC Cyber Center Program Manager, says, “The NIST grant is creating partnerships to promote cybersecurity education and workforce development because cybersecurity professionals are attaining their education, but they are not getting hired. There’s a very large need for cybersecurity professionals not just throughout the country but in our area and across Texas.” The funds the College received will support NIST’s Regional Alliances and Multistakeholder Partnerships to Stimulate (RAMPS) initiative in South Texas. NIST seeks to build multistakeholder workforce partnerships among employers, schools and higher education institutions, and other community organizations through its Cybersecurity Education and Workforce Development Program through the funding awarding as part of the RAMPS initiative. The two key objectives of the DMC Cyber Center are: · Increase cybersecurity planning, awareness, and compliance · Add skills to cybersecurity students To that end, the DMC Cyber Center RAMPS initiative will utilize paid cybersecurity interns (students from DMC and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) to provide planning and training for business owners in the Coastal Bend starting in January. Small and mid-sized businesses are typically more vulnerable to cyber threats due to fewer resources, Shaw says. Shaw notes that the Cyber Center will host clinics for small and mid-sized businesses that utilize undergraduate students from the DMC Department of Computer Science, along with undergraduate and graduate students with TAMU-CC’s Computer Science and Networking and Information Security programs with the College of Engineering and Computer Science, to provide the following services: · Network mapping · Review and guidance with system security plans and recovery plans · Basic cyber hygiene awareness The College’s Cyber Center will manage South Texas’ initiative, which includes partnerships with Workforce Solutions Coastal Bend, the Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center, QuickStart Business Services, DMC academic programs as well as TAMU-CC. Additionally, partnership also includes the City of Corpus Christi and the Corpus Christi B Corporation (Type B Board). Recently, the Corpus Christi City Council approved a $140,000 grant that also provides funding support for the Cyber Center. Ken Treviño, Workforce Solutions Coastal Bend CEO, says Workforce Solutions Coastal Bend is honored to partner with Del Mar College Cyber Center to open new doors for individuals pursuing cybersecurity careers. “By expanding access to critical training and connecting businesses with skilled professionals, we’re advancing workforce development across the Coastal Bend and supporting the security needs of industries vital to our region,” Treviño says. The DMC Cyber Center RAMPS initiative will allow the Cyber Center to serve Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Live Oak, Refugio, and San Patricio counties. Employees looking to expand their skills set will also have the opportunity to pursue “Grow Your Own” cybersecurity education and certification opportunities through the College’s Cisco Certification occupational track paid for by Skills for Small Business grant funds provided by the Texas Workforce Commission. “We’re uniquely positioned because of Del Mar College’s existing collaborative relationships with the business community (small and large), business resource partners, the City of Corpus Christi, Workforce Solutions Coastal Bend and University partners to foster and support cybersecurity students seeking entry into the workforce,” Shaw says. “Leveraging the Cyber Center’s role in assisting small and mid-sized businesses with cybersecurity planning, awareness and certification addresses the needs of students for applied experience and the needs of businesses for cybersecurity professionals.” NICE, previously known as the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education and overseen by NIST, funds Cyberseek, which is a tool designed for use by employers, educators and students to, provide data on the jobs outlook for the cybersecurity industry. According to Cyberseek analyzed data, only 83 cybersecurity workers were available for every 100 cybersecurity jobs demanded by U.S. employers between September 2023 and August 2024, and there were 457,433 openings that requested cybersecurity-related skills this year (2024). In Texas, the supply/demand ratio of available cybersecurity jobs relative to employer demand in a particular location is 85%, or 2% more than the national average (83%). The Lone Star State has nearly 37,000 job openings this year according to Cyberseek. “The need for a skilled cybersecurity workforce continues to grow,” says Shaw. “That’s our mission by offering the new Cyber Center here at Del Mar College: Addressing area employers’ needs while giving students pursuing the field the opportunity to find local employment as cybersecurity professionals.” Editor's Note: In the banner photo, Dr. David Ma (from left), Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Ken Treviño, Workforce Solutions Coastal Bend CEO; Dan Korus, Dean of Workforce Development and Corporate Services at Del Mar College (DMC), DMC Computer Science major Noah Cantu; and Darcy Shaw, Cyber Center Program Manager with the DMC Small Business Development Center, attended the Cyber Center announcement at the DMC Center for Economic Development on Oct. 30.
