About Cybersecurity

Student affairs professionals in higher education provide guidance, support, engagement, and co-curricular learning experiences for college students. The UCCS Master’s in Leadership with a concentration in Student Affairs in Higher Education (SAHE) program educates 40 students annually who concurrently work part-time or full-time with college students at a variety of Southern Colorado higher education institutions in areas such as academic advising, residence life and housing, leadership development, and student activities.

Integral to the work of today’s student affairs educators is digital leadership, which includes four domains: digital identity development, cybersecurity literacy, multicultural competence in technology, and online engagement and leadership. Educating current and future student affairs leaders in the Southern Colorado region about these aspects of digital leadership during their graduate curriculum will ensure they are deploying 21st-century digital leadership skills in their roles supporting students and providing co-curricular learning experiences on college campuses.

Our project is designed to enhance student affairs educators’ digital leadership, which includes four domains: digital identity development, cybersecurity literacy, multicultural competence in technology, and online engagement and leadership. The educational opportunities crafted for our participants will include content that emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, issues of inclusion and equity are central to maximizing online engagement and leadership opportunities. Additionally, multicultural competence in technology advances issues of diversity and inclusion as we grapple with implicit bias in technology as well as online harassment and discrimination. This domain also engages us in content around universal design (UD), which is meant to enhance equity and inclusion in digital spaces.

For more information about Cybersecurity in Student Affairs and Leadership, contact Dr. Patty Witkowsky: pwitkows@uccs.edu.

Campus Connections is a wellness and resiliency-oriented service-learning course that pairs UCCS students and youth from the community in mentor-mentee relationships. Youth are referred through our El Paso County Community partners and are matched with a UCCS student who provides one-on-one therapeutic mentoring throughout the semester.

The digital citizenship project includes the implementation of an innovative intervention with at-promise youth participants (ages 10-18) in the UCCS Campus Connections (CC) therapeutic youth mentoring program. The project expands upon experiential activities currently employed by CC, with the primary aim of enhancing youths' knowledge and awareness of digital use habits, and skills to participate in safe self-regulated online engagement. With support from undergraduate student mentors and CC graduate assistants, youth will engage in guided experiential activities and group discussions regarding: Digital wellness, digital accessibility, user data and securing digital devices, and personal information and the digital footprint. Youth will complete a brief survey before and after each digital citizenship activity to measure changes in the understanding of key concepts involved in cybersecurity and digital wellness. 

For more information regarding cybersecurity and campus connections, contact Molly Cammell: mcammell@uccs.edu.