NOTICE: Classes canceled today due to weather conditions. Check Blackboard for communication from your instructors.
SBU is one of eight universities in the country to earn prestigious ABET accreditation
BOLIVAR, Mo. – Southwest Baptist University received national recognition for its cybersecurity degree as one of the first colleges in the nation to receive the prestigious accreditation from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), which extends retroactively from Oct. 1, 2019.
“This is a great feat for SBU and our quest to produce top-notch cybersecurity professionals,” said Dr. Amos Gichamba, head of the Division of Computing and Mathematics at SBU. “This accreditation is real evidence that our program is of high quality and achieves what the industry wants from a cybersecurity professional.”
This accreditation makes SBU one of eight universities in the United States with an ABET-accredited cybersecurity degree, one of two Evangelical Christian universities and the only Evangelical Christian university within 800 miles of Bolivar to offer this accredited degree. ABET is an ISO 9001:2015 certified organization and accredits college and university programs in the disciplines of applied natural science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology at the associate, bachelor’s and master’s degree levels.
SBU also is the most affordable Christian university with the ABET accreditation for the bachelor of science cybersecurity degree, or similarly named program.
“For many years, SBU has earned a reputation of having strong, well-developed computing programs,” said Dr. Troy Bethards, dean of the College of Professional Programs at SBU. “Receiving ABET accreditation for the cybersecurity program is a testament that this is a program of distinction. It is the result of the amazing computing faculty that the computing programs are held in such high regard.”
The Division of Computing and Mathematics also offers undergraduate programs in Computer Science, Computer Information Science, Computer Science Education, Web Systems and Design, Mathematics and Mathematics Education. ABET also accredits the SBU Computer Science program. Students pursuing any computing or mathematics degrees at SBU can earn a minor in cybersecurity.
Beginning in the Fall 2021 semester, the Division of Business in collaboration with the Division of Computing and Mathematics is offering a cybersecurity management degree. This degree, which brings conceptual and administrative coursework in cybersecurity together with the business discipline of management, will prepare students for an entry-level cybersecurity job with the preparation to advance into the management of cybersecurity.
For more information about the cybersecurity program at SBU, contact Gichamba at (417) 328-1721 or agichamba@azarnewsonline.com.
*Published: 10-5-2021
