The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) has approved the Joint School of Public Health (JSPH), offered by Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University, the schools announced on Thursday.
Council members approved the school at a Sept. 17 meeting, according to a SHEV spokesperson.
“We have a real opportunity to create and sustain transformational change in Virginia’s communities where, for too long, we have seen serious health inequities,” ODU President Brian O. Hemphill stated in a release. “The formation of the Joint School of Public Health, in partnership with Norfolk State University, will serve Hampton Roads well as we provide a growing pipeline of health care leaders who are fully dedicated to building and maintaining healthy communities.”
The Joint School of Public Health (JSPH) is part of Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at ODU, an academic health sciences center. Classes will be held at NSU, ODU and Eastern Virginia Medical School at ODU.
NSU is only the second historically Black college or university to offer a public health program.
“This is a unique partnership between our two institutions that in time will show the power of regionalism … and how collaboration can be used to find solutions to improve wellness and health outcomes for everyone, especially in underserved communities,” NSU President Javaune Adams-Gaston said in the release.
Diabetes and heart disease mortality rates across Hampton Roads are higher than other areas of Virginia, according to the Bon Secours 2023 Community Health Needs Assessment Implementation Plan. Officials leading the JSPH want to improve health equity for the region.
“The Joint School of Public Health is an opportunity for some of the best and the brightest students, faculty and staff in our region to come together to address our most pressing needs around public health and health equity in Hampton Roads,” Dr. Alfred Abuhamad, executive vice president of Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at ODU and dean of the Eastern Virginia Medical School at ODU, stated in a news release.
The JSPH will offer two departments: the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Environmental Health, and the Department of Health Behavior, Policy and Management. Students can earn bachelor of science degrees in public health; public health with a major in health services administration; and environmental health. Master’s degrees in public health and health care administration and a doctorate in health services research will also be offered.
Next, the JSPH will seek accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health, a national accreditation body that requires a site visit and curriculum review.
RICHMOND, Va. — Students, lawmakers and free-speech activists question if updated university policies that regulate student demonstrations violate First Amendment rights.
After campus protests that led to some clashes with police, institutions such as Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University, University of Virginia and Virginia Tech adopted similar policies.
The new rules ban encampments, require masked individuals to show identification if asked, limit where students can hold events and implement stricter rules on chalking, a popular form of peaceful protest.
College students across Virginia have protested in response to the Israel-Hamas war, through marches and gatherings in solidarity with Palestine. The movement peaked before the end of spring semester, when Virginia students erected encampments on campuses that led to police response and 125 arrests, according to the Virginia Mercury.
Demonstrations erupted around the world after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people, according to the Associated Press. About 250 hostages were seized in the attack.
A war ensued in the region that has led to the death of at least 41,000 Palestinians, as of October.
State Attorney General Jason Miyares denounced student demonstrations last November, and stated Jewish students felt unsafe and threatened by certain chants and slogans that called for a free Palestine. Miyares concluded some of the speech is antisemitic and might not be protected by the First Amendment, because it could incite “imminent lawless action.”
Miyares recommended Virginia colleges implement policy changes to foster safer campuses and avoid disruptions of the educational environment, according to communications director Shaun Kenney.
State Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera in August urged governing board members of Virginia universities to update their codes of conduct, according to an email statement.
“Considering the challenges faced on college and university campuses last academic year and reports that the fall will be even more chaotic, we have asked each institution take proactive steps to update policies,” Guidera stated.
The Students for Justice in Palestine has chapters across Virginia that organize campus demonstrations.
State leaders, in multiple statements and most recently at a legislative hearing, highlight the SJP as a source of antisemitism and disruption on campuses.
Last academic year, an anti-abortion campus event at VCU also ended in disruption, when abortion-rights protesters interrupted a meeting because they did not want people “spewing hate on our campus,” according to the Commonwealth Times.
Student protestors at Virginia Commonwealth encampments on April 30. Photo by Summer DeCiucis, Capital News Service
The new policies will impact how and where student organizations meet moving forward.
Sereen Haddad is a Palestinian student and organizer for the SJP chapter at VCU since October 2023. Haddad has regularly helped host peaceful protests in support of Palestine.
Haddad is concerned the policies intended to protect free speech, actually infringe on free speech rights. The new policies limit outlets for peaceful protests, she said. Students can only display posters the size of a letter-size piece of paper and assemble in designated areas.
“It’s very clear that quite frankly all these policies that are being put in place are no way promoting safety, instead they do promote fear and they promote silence,” Haddad said.
The 25-year-old Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization that defends free speech.
FIRE rates and tracks the policies that regulate student expression at almost 500 colleges and universities. It works to ensure students are able to lawfully protest, and reaches out to universities whose policies violate the First Amendment.
Laura Beltz, director of policy reform at FIRE, has seen the impact of increased policies regarding student demonstrations.
“We’ve seen a lot of policy changes happening this academic year,” Beltz said. “An unprecedented number of new restrictions on the way students can get out and express themselves on campus.”
No Virginia universities are in direct violation of the First Amendment, yet these institutions have taken a heavy hand through new restrictive policies, according to Beltz.
“I’m concerned that students will see these new regulations when they come back to campus and the message they will receive is that it’s either too onerous to get out and express themselves or that there’s really no reasonable opportunity to do so,” Beltz said.
FIRE ranked UVA. No. 1 in advertised commitments to free expression, on a list last updated in November 2023. The annual list is set to be updated this fall, and will take into consideration the actions of universities over the past academic year.
The Senate Education and Health Committee met Sept. 17 to hear directly from those who were involved in student-led actions, as well as eyewitnesses, and to learn about the new policies.
Numerous speakers from Virginia colleges offered testimony at the two-hour long hearing, including teachers and students arrested in the spring. Jewish students and people affiliated with universities offered perspectives that the demonstrations were important to address injustice. Representatives also said certain SJP chants are offensive.
Committee chair Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, a former college professor, encouraged universities to think about uniform policies to approach student activism and faculty rights when it comes to protest.
Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, teaches high school government classes. He questioned if the Senate should be doing anything legislatively concerning college policies.
Colleges have two conflicting responsibilities: to uphold free speech and to uphold anti-discrimination, according to VanValkenburg. Colleges need to make sure all kids have a voice and are safe, he said.
“At the end of the day this comes down to clear boundaries, clear rules, clarity and objective standards that are followed, no matter what,” VanValkenburg said. “I might like some of those rules, I might not like some of those rules, but they’re the rules.”
Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.
Turns out, Charlie King isn’t a gone fishin’ sort of retiree.
Back in 2021, King retired after serving as James Madison University’s chief financial officer and senior vice president of administration and finance for 25 years.
King and his wife, Sherry, knew they wanted to stay in the area after retirement. Their son Garrett works for the JMU Foundation and their daughter-in-law Lindsay works at the university’s College of Business, so the elder Kings decided to build a house about 20 minutes from campus.
For two years after retiring, King worked part-time for JMU in government relations, which meant traveling to Richmond to talk up JMU and higher education to lawmakers.
“I was really out of work with not anything to do for a year,” he says. “And quite frankly, I wasn’t enjoying retirement. I had worked my whole life, and I went from going 100 miles an hour to about 10 miles an hour, and I didn’t adjust real well to that.”
In March, Jonathan Alger, who’d served as JMU’s president for a dozen years, announced he would step down over the summer to lead American University in Washington, D.C.
Sherry King asked her husband if he had any interest in the job.
“I’ve been retired for three years,” King, 72, recalls saying. “I just don’t think that’s a possibility.”
But it didn’t take long for King to hear from a waterfall of alumni, former board members and Virginia lawmakers, all of whom encouraged him to lead the college through the transition.
King put his name into the hat.
“There was immediate coalescing around Charlie from all the various sectors,” says Kay Coles James, who sits on JMU’s board of visitors.
King, who started as interim president on July 1, says he’s found his primary role is to “keep the trains on schedule — and there’s a lot of trains on a college campus, particularly one the size of this university,” he adds.
On a typical morning, King might have a phone call with the state secretary of education’s office or sit in on a Zoom call with other public college and university presidents. During a break, he might walk over to the dining halls to see how long students were waiting in line.
The amount of time he spends meeting with other people, even as interim president, caught King by surprise. “I thought I was going to be able to come in here and put my head down and go to work,” he says.
In his last stint working at JMU, King oversaw the construction of numerous buildings — so many that the board of visitors elected in 2021 to rename the Integrated Science and Technology building King Hall. As interim president, King continues to keep a close eye on capital projects, including the renovation and expansion of Carrier Library, which opened in 1939. That reopening is tentatively slated for 2026.
King also puts out fires. Typically, JMU has about 4,800 freshmen students. This year, the university had more than 5,000. “We got a large freshman class, and we had some housing issues we need to resolve,” King says.
He also spends time addressing workforce issues. Like universities across the country, JMU is struggling to fill openings in its nursing department. Jobs that are lower paid — but still essential to the university’s operations — are also a challenge to fill, he notes.
Then, there are loftier matters that require a university president’s attention, like considering the impact artificial intelligence will have on JMU now and in the future.
“There’s always things for me to interject myself into or to help, hopefully, move forward,” he says. Convincing the board members to let him keep the job permanently isn’t one of King’s concerns, however.
“I’m finding out every day this is a young person’s job, not an old man’s job,” King says.
King definitely has energy to champion JMU’s successes, however.
The university had more than 37,000 applications from potential first-year students hoping to snag one of 5,000 slots in the 2024-25 school year.About 29% of this year’s freshman class is from out of state, according to King. “That’s up for us,” he says. “We’ve been down around 25% or less for a couple years.”
The school is especially popular in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic, according to the interim president.
“We’re identified by a lot of people as a school that you can come and have a really good experience,” King brags, “And you’re going to graduate on time, and you’re going to get a job and do well.”
Cultivating innovation
The JMU Laboratory School for Innovation & Career Exploration also provides King with a reason to cheer.
A priority of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration, state-designated lab schools, which partner with colleges and universities, are designed to spur innovative education programs from preschool through 12th grade. As of September, the state Board of Education has approved 15 lab schools. In 2022, the General Assembly appropriated $100 million to the Virginia College Partnership Laboratory fund to launch and support the schools.
JMU’s lab school launched in August when educators welcomed 100 ninth graders from East Rockingham and Broadway high schools. A partnership between JMU, Blue Ridge Community College and Rockingham County Public Schools, the lab school offers an interdisciplinary and project-based approach to learning, according to Donica Hadley, its executive director.
It’s had a gradual rollout. Next year, ninth graders at two of the county’s other high schools will be invited to join the lab school. “We will be up and running in all four schools, ninth through 12th grade, hopefully, in the next five years,” Hadley says.
As juniors, students at the Lab School for Innovation & Career Exploration can elect to return to their home schools or attend JMU or BRCC, she explains. “Students have the potential to walk out … with their high school diploma and also college credits on the dime of this initiative.”
Champions of JMU’s lab school tend to stress the importance of giving back to the community surrounding the university. When pressed, they will acknowledge how the lab school benefits the Dukes.
“We are known for producing schoolteachers,” King says. “The school was founded as a teacher’s college, and we produce the second largest number of schoolteachers in the commonwealth now as far as public universities.”
Undergraduate and graduate students in JMU’s College of Education can take advantage of the lab school to see what they’re learning applied in the real world, according to King.
For his work as a graduate assistant, Kevin Wheedleton, a JMU grad who is currently working toward his master’s degree in teacher leadership at his alma mater, assists students and educators at the lab school.
JMU graduate assistant Kevin Wheedleton, who earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education, says working with Rockingham County students at the lab school provides “an opportunity for me to get to see school education at all levels.” Photo by Norm Shafer
“I am kind of the connection point between …Rockingham County and JMU,” says Wheedleton, who earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education in May. “Since it’s a brand-new program this year, there’s a lot of moving parts and a lot of uncertainty and questions.”
Wheedleton says he’s “ecstatic” about having the opportunity to work at the lab school in its first semester.
“Not just because it’s a great thing to have on my résumé, but it’s an opportunity for me to get to see school education at all levels,” he says. “It’s been very insightful to be able to work with Donica Hadley [and] the whole lab school staff on the introduction of this great curriculum and schooling opportunity.”
Being able to take teaching candidates on tours of the lab school will likely make recruiting education professors easier too, adds Kristina Doubet, a professor in JMU’s education department.
Doubet predicts that as education students have the opportunity to work in the lab school, JMU will develop a reputation for training teachers who are open to innovation. “This is a feather in JMU’s cap.”
‘One of the greatest jobs’
Only six presidents have led JMU since its 1908 founding.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand why university presidents tend to hang around, according to board of visitors member Kay Coles James. A former secretary of the commonwealth, she was appointed to the board by Youngkin and chairs the presidential search committee that will choose King’s successor.
“When people come, they enjoy the culture, the people, the work itself, the university, and so we tend to have longevity,” she says.
Other Youngkin-appointed board members who are serving on the search committee are Republican former state Del. Richard “Dickie” Bell; retired Marine Lt. Col. Jeff Bolander; Teresa Edwards, a regional president for Sentara Health; Food City President and CEO Steve Smith; and Nicole P. Wood, a lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
James, who was appointed by then- President George W. Bush to be director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in 2001, is also a former president of Washington, D.C., conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation and is an adviser to Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC. She doesn’t hesitate when asked whether she views her role as carrying out the Republican governor’s vision for the commonwealth’s universities.
“The governor does have an agenda,” she says, “and his agenda is to have one of the best quality higher ed systems in the country.”
Critics have said, though, that Youngkin is trying to exercise too much control over curriculum, whether in K-12 schools or colleges. Earlier this year, at Youngkin’s request, his education secretary’s office requested syllabi from George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University for courses about race, diversity, equity and inclusion. Ultimately, the two universities canceled the classes. The governor also issued an executive order in 2022 as one of his first acts in office, forbidding the teaching of “inherently divisive concepts, including critical race theory,” in Virginia K-12 public schools. As of July, the governor’s appointees make up the majority of state universities’ board members.
In addition to members pulled from the board of visitors, JMU’s presidential search committee also includes Mike Busing, dean of JMU’s College of Business; Warren Coleman, president and CEO of the JMU Foundation; Maribeth Herod, a former rector; Roger Soenksen, a professor in JMU’s School of Media Arts and Design; and Sydney Stafford, a JMU junior hailing from Bristow.
As of late August, the committee was in the exploratory phase of the search.
“We have done listening tours all across the state, listening to alumni talk about … where we are as a university right now and what are the skill sets that we need,” says James.
At the listening sessions, James has found, speakers often address similar hopes and concerns.
In 2022, the Carnegie Commission awarded JMU with a R-2 distinction, which recognizes doctoral universities with “high” research activity. Speakers at the meetings have wanted the university to continue to embrace research, James says, but to be careful not to sacrifice the university’s tradition of giving undergrads individualized attention.
At a time when higher education enrollment generally is on the decline, stakeholders have stressed it’s important for JMU’s next leader to have bold ideas about how to present the university “to not just Virginians, but to the country, as the school of choice,” she notes.
Additionally, multiple speakers have noted the next president will need to be skilled at fundraising — a necessity for presidents at nearly every university. “You cannot count on the General Assembly to produce your entire budget,” James says.
For the presidential search, JMU is working with Russell Reynolds Associates. The New York global leadership advisory firm will compile feedback from the JMU community to create a profile of what the university wants in its next president.
After that, the search committee, working with the university’s marketing and branding office, will produce a document, James explains, “that’s sort of our pitch piece, that tells why this is one of the greatest jobs in America, that tells about the opportunities that the next president of JMU will have, that will talk about the skill sets that we think we need right now and what the profile of the next president will look like.”
The search committee then will recommend a small pool of candidates, who will be interviewed by members of the board of visitors, who will offer the job to one fortunate candidate.
“It’s a great opportunity,” James says, “and a great place to work.”
JMU at a glance
Founded
A public research university in Harrisonburg, James Madison University was founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women. It was renamed Madison College in 1938 in honor of President James Madison and became James Madison University in 1977. JMU’s 728-acre campus is known for its distinctive bluestone buildings, as well as Newman Lake and the university’s 125-acre Edith J. Carrier Arboretum, which has numerous gardens and wooded areas with oak and hickory trees over 100 years old. Harrisonburg, which has a population of 53,000-plus residents, is located in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, about 120 miles from Washington, D.C., and Richmond.
Enrollment*
Undergraduate: 21,006
Graduate: 1,752
Student profile*
Male | female: 42% | 58%
International students: 1%
Students of color: 23%
Academic Programs*
JMU offers more than 70 undergraduate programs and 30 master’s degrees, an educational specialist degree and nine doctoral degrees. Fields range from accounting and computer science to international business, psychology and nursing.
Faculty*
Full-time: 1,046
Part-time: 359
Tuition, fees, housing and dining**
$27,158 is approximate annual in-state undergraduate residential cost, including tuition, mandatory fees, housing and meal plan.
Fifteen Virginia schools ranked on the U.S. News and World Report’s 2025 Best National Universities list released Tuesday. Several Virginia schools were noted on other education rankings released by the media company, including 16 Virginia colleges on the best national liberal arts colleges list.
For U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges lists, researchers evaluated nearly 1,500 colleges and universities using up to 17 measures of academic quality for its national universities list and 13 indicators for the national liberal arts colleges list.
The University of Virginia was again the highest-ranking Virginia school on the list, maintaining its No. 24 ranking. It tied with Georgetown and Emory universities. Also notable: Mary Baldwin University jumped 34 spots in the ranking, to the 377th spot this year.
The 15 Virginia universities on the 2025 Best National Universities list are:
No. 24 U.Va. (tie)
No. 51 Virginia Tech (tie)
No. 54 William & Mary (tie)
No. 109 George Mason University (tie)
No. 136 Virginia Commonwealth University (tie)
No. 148 James Madison University (tie)
No. 273 Hampton University (tie)
No. 288 Marymount University (tie)
No. 296 Old Dominion University (tie)
No. 315 Radford University (tie)
No. 315 Shenandoah University (tie)
No. 329 University of Lynchburg (tie)
No. 377 Mary Baldwin University (tie)
No. 377 Regent University (tie)
No. 392-434 Liberty University
U.Va. ranked No. 4 on U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of top public schools list, up one spot from last year’s ranking.
“We’re grateful that U.S. News has once again recognized the strength of the university and especially the success of our students,” Stephen Farmer, U.Va’s vice provost for enrollment, said in a statement.
Virginia Tech ranked No. 21 (tied with Texas A&M University) in top public schools. William & Mary ranked No. 23 (a tie with Florida State University and University of Minnesota Twin Cities). George Mason ranked No. 52 (tied with eight other schools), while James Madison University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Old Dominion University and Radford University rounded out the public schools with rankings of Nos. 78 (tie), 69 (tie), 161 (tie) and 170 (tie), respectively.
Hampton University ranked No. 7 among Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Norfolk State University ranked No. 23 on that list, tying with Virginia State University as well as Prairie View A&M University in Texas and the University of the District of Columbia. Virginia Union University ranked No. 47 (tie).
On the best national liberal arts colleges list, 16 Virginia colleges made the 2025 rankings:
No. 19 Washington and Lee University (tie)
No. 22 University of Richmond (tie)
No. 59 Virginia Military Institute (tie)
No. 103 Hampden-Sydney College (tie)
No. 103 Randolph-Macon College (tie)
No. 122 Roanoke College (tie)
No. 132 University of Mary Washington (tie)
No. 136 Hollins University (tie)
No. 136 Patrick Henry College (tie)
No. 162 Randolph College (tie)
No. 165 Bridgewater College (tie)
No. 173 University of Virginia’s College at Wise (tie)
To fulfill a need for a new comprehensive conference space in Charlottesville, the University of Virginia is set to welcome the Virginia Guesthouse hotel and conference center in fall 2025.
The new facility will feature 214 guest rooms, including nine suites.
The approximately 224,000-square-foot Virginia Guesthouse will offer close to 29,000 square feet of conference and meeting space, 15,000 square feet dedicated to food and beverage services and around 12,000 square feet of public spaces, including an expansive lobby living room on the first floor and a rooftop gathering space. The ground floor will serve as an area for students to study and socialize and also will have a welcoming center.
“It’s not designed to just simply be there for the betterment of U.Va. It is designed to be for U.Va. and the surrounding region,” says J.J. Wagner Davis, U.Va. executive vice president and chief operating officer.
The UVA Foundation will operate the hotel, which U.Va. is financing and building. Foundation CEO Tim Rose says the project reflects the university’s response to a critical need identified by U.Va. President Jim Ryan’s hospitality task force.
“It was determined that there was a significant need for conference facilities that could serve the faculty, be within walking distance and offer large enough meeting rooms to host conferences right here at the university,” he says. “Additionally, that it could be done at a price point that made sense for the broader academic community.”
The project replaces the old Cavalier Inn on Emmet Street, though it’s in a different location.
Construction began in October 2022 and has faced challenges, including supply chain issues and rising construction costs, which pushed the budget from its initial estimate of $130 million to $168 million. Nevertheless, the project has progressed, with the addition of the $3 million rooftop amenity.
The Virginia Guesthouse addresses the needs found by the university task force by providing an accessible and affordable option compared to other facilities such as Boar’s Head Resort, which, although also owned and operated by U.Va., is more expensive and not within walking distance of the main campus, and The Forum Hotel, which primarily serves Darden’s executive education program.
As part of the Ivy Corridor, a 14.5-acre parcel and entry point to U.Va., Virginia Guesthouse will be strategically located near other developments, including the newly opened School of Data Science and the Karsh Institute of Democracy, expected in 2026.
As Andre Marshall was speaking to a reporter about cybersecurity in late July, one of the biggest technology failures in recent memory was unfolding in real time.
A worldwide Microsoft Windows outage on July 19 brought airports, banks, subways — and even the Marshall household — to a standstill.
George Mason University’s vice president for research, innovation and economic impact, Marshall says that his wife, a trial lawyer in Washington, D.C., couldn’t access information for her cases.
“I don’t even know how she’s getting through her trials today because her computer didn’t work and everything is on the computer,” Marshall said at the time.
The massive outage, traced to a failed software update by security firm CrowdStrike, underscored the need for better cybersecurity measures for government and businesses. Simply put, the United States lacks enough skilled cybersecurity workers to protect computer systems from attacks, hacking or even simple software malfunctions.
Virginia has more than 53,000 cybersecurity job openings, the most of any state, according to industry analyst CyberSeek, and George Mason University is a key partner in the state’s efforts to fill the technology talent pipeline.
George Mason recently received nearly $200,00 from the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology for a two-year program to improve cybersecurity workforce development. Professor Nirup Menon and instructor Brian Ngac in the Costello College of Business’ information systems and operations management division will partner with Mobius Consulting and Institute for Defense Analyses to create 12-week projects that aim to give students hands-on experience as they train for cybersecurity careers.
The program is just the latest cybersecurity initiative at George Mason, which is part of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, a partnership of Virginia colleges and universities, industries, local governments, economic development offices and other organizations that operate with a shared mission of improving cybersecurity research and workforce training, with an emphasis on the maritime, defense and transportation industries. CCI divides the commonwealth into four regional nodes, with George Mason as lead institution for the Northern Virginia node, a region that has a “voracious appetite for computing talent,” Marshall says, primarily because of the large number of federal government contractors there.
Talent scouts
CCI distributes about $17 million statewide to fund cyber training and research, but that amount is hardly enough to meet the needs of an industry that has a shortfall of nearly 470,000 employees nationally, according to CyberSeek.
“$17 million a year is not enough to establish anyone as a global leader, even though that’s our goal, to help Virginia become a global leader in cybersecurity,” says Liza Wilson Durant, George Mason’s associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement and director of CCI’s Northern Virginia node.
Durant says that Virginia’s cybersecurity workforce shortfall averages between 50,000 and 60,000 openings per month, and that the need is expanding as cybersecurity measures adapt to ever-evolving technologies, with many new jobs now requiring experience with artificial intelligence.
“We don’t have enough cyber talent, and now we don’t have enough AI talent,” Durant says. “The technical needs are accelerating in new areas.”
That’s why George Mason is investing heavily in training cybersecurity workers, she says.
“When I talk to my industry partners and say, ‘How do you want me to invest my resources? Research, workforce or entrepreneurship?’ Ten out of 10 times, our industry partners will say, ‘Get me more workforce,’” Durant says, “so I’ve made some big bets on talent.”
George Mason offers 23 separate degree programs that include a cybersecurity focus, Durant says, many of them in the university’s Department of Cyber Security Engineering. Mason also helps students get practical experience by connecting them with internships at firms that have cybersecurity needs.
Dylan Knoff, a 20-year-old computer science major and junior, interned this summer with nonprofit technology research and development company Battelle, gaining experience in reverse engineering software programs to uncover vulnerabilities in security protection. Knoff is also president of the university’s Competitive Cyber club, a group of more than 500 students that competes in cyber contests, from quiz show-style games to digital capture-the-flag sports. In February, the George Mason team beat more than 20 other Virginia college teams in the Commonwealth Cyber Fusion Cup cybersecurity competition.
The games are fun, but have real-world applications, Knoff says. He began competing in cybersecurity contests as a high school student in Florida, and he says that the games’ competitive nature hones fast-paced, critical-thinking skills required in the cybersecurity workplace. Plus, industry professionals often attend the cyber games to give talks and seek talent.
“I’m really passionate about these competitions. Employers enjoy them,” he says, adding that, “I really want to do cybersecurity. It’s not just about stopping bad guys. Cybersecurity is also about protecting confidentiality of critical systems in general. It’s not just cyber protection. It’s about [ensuring protective] redundancy and cyber resiliency. … It’s super vast and requires intimate knowledge.”
It’s also a field where Knoff is confident he will find a good-paying job. “It’s low supply and high demand,” he says.
That’s why George Mason and other CCI institutions run summer camps and hack-a-thons for public school students, as well as training programs for teachers, as part of an enormous effort to get more young people interested in cybersecurity studies.
“We know that if the kids haven’t decided to do a STEM field by middle school, they probably won’t choose it at all,” Durant says.
Many roles to fill
Because the demand for cyber workers is so high right now, the industry can’t wait for middle school students to grow up, go to college and join the workforce. George Mason is looking for more immediate results from its “traineeship” program geared toward older workers in other fields who might consider switching careers — “like a reporter who’s excited about cybersecurity who wants to change his job or an accountant or someone who studied psychology or a transitioning military person or a stay-at-home mom, who was an engineer 20 years ago and wants to come back,” Durant says, describing the types of workers who enroll in the program. It includes 19 weeks of combined training and work experience, with participants getting paid $19,200 for their work —$7,200 for seven weeks of coursework and $12,000 for a 12-week placement with an employer.
“We train them full time for seven weeks in cybersecurity,” Durant says. “At the end of that seven weeks of what you could call a ‘boot camp,’ … we place them for 12 weeks with industry partners, and they go to work.”
Last year, the program attracted more than 400 applications for just 20 positions, she says. Just under half of the participants were women, an underrepresented demographic in the cybersecurity industry. This year, about 300 people applied for 23 openings in June. In the future, more career-switching adults will need to join the ranks of cybersecurity professionals, Durant believes.
“Degrees alone will not meet the demand in the region,” Durant says. “We have to look at alternative pathways to skill people.”
The NIST grant creates a partnership with Mobius Consulting, a woman-owned, Alexandria-based defense industry consultant, and the Institute for Defense Analyses that will create a similar intensive program geared toward people who might not have previously considered cybersecurity as a career. The workshops aim to develop a more diverse workforce by including Trinity Washington University, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C., as a partner.
Menon, one of the professors who received the grant, echoed Durant’s assertion that the industry will need to look beyond computer science majors for reinforcements in the cybersecurity field. To that end, he and collaborator Ngac will host workshops for college and high school students who haven’t previously considered working in tech industries.
“We’re looking for students who are not just engineers working in areas like hardcore ethical hacking, but those who can fill all kinds of roles,” Menon said. “We need people who can be creative and who can imagine threat scenarios, so we will provide workshops for non-tech students, high school students, liberal arts students. … We want them engaged. They don’t have to be in math or science; they just need to be creative.”
Changing with the times
George Mason junior Dylan Knoff, a 20-year-old computer science major, wants to go into cybersecurity, a field that’s in short supply of skilled workers. Photo by Will Schermerhorn
A major catalyst in boosting George Mason’s cybersecurity programs was Amazon.com’s decision to locate its new HQ2 East Coast headquarters in nearby Arlington County. The state incentives that brought Amazon to Northern Virginia included $375 million to George Mason and Virginia Tech to increase the number of tech-related master’s degrees.
“That investment was a game changer,” says Marshall.
Later this year, George Mason will begin opening its new, $258 million, 345,000-square-foot Fuse at Mason Square building, which will house the university’s digital innovation institute, computer labs, high-tech classrooms and office space.
“We’re going to have companies there; we’re going to have government there,” Marshall says, adding that the university’s School of Computing will move into the building in 2025.
Creating new companies is a priority, Marshall says. His office spearheaded a cybersecurity business incubator and accelerator program that supports startup companies and entrepreneurs. The initiative, led by Gisele Stolz, director of entrepreneurship and innovation programs, earned CCI’s Impact Award and has helped launch about two dozen cybersecurity companies the past four years, Marshall says.
The George Mason-anchored Northern Virginia CCI node generated an estimated $101.6 million in economic impact in Northern Virginia for 2023, supporting an estimated 462 jobs and generating $3.3 million in state and local tax revenues, according to a report from the research institute RTI International.
George Mason was founded as a branch of the University of Virginia in 1949 and became an independent university in 1972. Because it is relatively young compared with other Virginia universities, Marshall says, it has grown and modernized alongside the region, which has become a government contracting and technology hub for the nation.
“We’ve grown according to the contemporary needs of our region,” Marshall says. “That’s really important in understanding how Mason is addressing the pipeline needs in computing, in technology and in cybersecurity. We’re not stuck in traditional ways of doing things, so we have an outsized impact on computer and information science, because that’s what in the past 50 years society has needed.”
George Mason At a glance
Founded Originally formed in 1949 as an extension of the University of Virginia, George Mason University became an independent institution in 1972.
Campuses George Mason’s footprint covers 848 acres in Northern Virginia. In addition to its Fairfax campus, this includes the Mason Square campus in Arlington, the Science and Technology campus in Manassas, and the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation in Front Royal.
The Fairfax Campus, with a residential student population of about 6,000, is home to seven colleges, including the first College of Public Health in Virginia, as well as the university’s 22 men’s and women’s Division I athletics teams.
Located in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, Mason Square is home to the Antonin Scalia Law School, the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, the Schar School of Policy and Government and courses in the College of Engineering and Computing, the Donald G. Costello College of Business and the College of Visual and Performing Arts. In 2024, George Mason will open its new Fuse at Mason Square building, a collaborative hub uniting scholars, students, researchers, policymakers and business developers.
George Mason’s SciTech Campus serves more than 4,000 students in five innovative facilities specially designed for classrooms, laboratories, libraries, recreation, the arts and other uses. And the Mason Korea campus in Songdo, South Korea, celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2024.
Enrollment* 40,185
Student profile**
Female: 51%
Male: 49%
In-state: 78%
Minority: 50%
Academic programs George Mason offers more than 200 degree programs, including 69 undergraduate degree programs, 92 master’s degree programs, 39 doctoral degree programs and a juris doctorate.
Faculty 1,716 full-time
Tuition, fees, housing and dining
In-state tuition and fees: $14,220
Out-of-state tuition and fees: $38,688
Room and board: $14,090
*Includes 664 students at Mason Korea, fall 2023
**U.S. campuses only, fall 2023
Jane Batten, the matriarch of a Hampton Roads family known for philanthropy, pledged $100 million to William & Mary in July to boost coastal and marine science research toward finding global solutions for flooding and sea-level rise.
The newly named Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences will expand the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and allow it to hire more scientists whose research could have a worldwide impact, officials say.
Batten, whose late husband, Frank Batten, co-founded The Weather Channel and was chairman and CEO of Landmark Communications, set a record for the 331-year-old university’s largest donation. W&M officials also say the gift is “by a factor of four” the largest donation ever made to any research institution focused on marine and coastal science.
W&M hopes to raise $100 million more through private, state and federal sources to complement Batten’s donation, which will go toward the creation of a bachelor’s degree in coastal and marine sciences and building out the VIMS facility on the York River in Gloucester Point. President Katherine Rowe says about $50 million will go toward new learning and research spaces, although W&M is still determining whether to renovate existing structures, construct new buildings or both.
Rowe says that she and Batten have been discussing the gift for the past five years, and both women saw the possibility of expanding VIMS’ marine research to benefit coastal communities worldwide.
“There is no institution better positioned to address the environmental threats, the economic challenges that are faced in the world’s coastlines and oceans,” Rowe says. “We see the Batten School as powering at a much higher level the kinds of ‘science for solutions’ that William & Mary has been producing for decades, and to do that for Virginia, and more broadly to do that globally.”
Batten, whose family has made significant donations in the past to Old Dominion University, the University of Virginia, W&M and other institutions, said in a statement that she is “confident that this will spark significant change, building resilience in coastal communities in the commonwealth and across the globe for generations to come.”
Derek Aday, VIMS’ director and dean of the Batten School, says he hopes other philanthropists will follow Batten’s lead and contribute funding toward climate change research, coastal resilience and other environmental factors. “There will be imitators, as there should be.”
The five most popular daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from June 12 to July 12 included news of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees now holding a majority on the governing boards of Virginia’s state colleges and universities.
As 40 applicants vie for the lucrative license to be the sole pharmaceutical cannabis distributor for the Shenandoah Valley, Charlottesville and Fredericksburg, the state Cannabis Control Authority delayed the selection, saying staff need more time to review. (June 26)
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