On September 16th, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis presented Daytona State College’s School of Workforce with a grant totaling 3.9 million dollars.
The money is part of multiple grants awarded to the school by the Florida government, this grant being the most prominent one presented by Governor DeSantis himself.
In a recent post on the school’s Instagram, Governor DeSantis is pictured handing the check to DSC president, Thomas LoBasso, during a private event on the main campus.
Shrie Allen, the director of the School of Workforce, will be the main person responsible for distributing the grant to the various programs. She stated her passion for expanding programs such as HVAC, welding, machining, and numerous other workforce programs.
Allen also said the grant will allow dual enrollment programs to be expanded, an exciting prospect for the school. “This past year has been our best year for dual enrollment,” Allen said.
Programs in the School of Workforce slated to receive portions of the grant include automotive, auto body, construction, cyber security, and many more. Apprenticeship programs will also receive a percentage of the grant as well.
One of the people excited about the implications of the grant is former student-turned-instructor, Stephen Grau, who is now Assistant Chair of Welding Technology. The experienced welder hopes to expand the Advanced Welding program in multiple ways, one of which is buying new equipment such as new Tick Welders. Grau intends to develop the whole welding program while enrollment is strong.
One of the critical programs receiving a portion of the grant is Cyber Security. Ronald Eaglin, the chair of the Department of Engineering and Information Technology and a teacher in the Cyber Security program, said the grant is exciting news.
Unfortunately, plans for Cyber Security’s portion of the grant have been slowed, due to unforeseen circumstances. “We got money to specifically help students in Cyber Security,” said Eaglin. “The plan was to buy Cyberbit, but the licensing will not work.” They know they will be purchasing software, they are just unsure of which they will be purchasing at this time. Regardless, the Cyber Security program will “give students the best experience they can,” according to Patrick Vilkiofsky, another professor in the program.
A student of the Cyber Security program Shawn Lee plans to set up a cyber security competition team with a part of the grant. This team will be able to compete with other schools such as the University of Central Florida (UCF). The Cyber Security program will set up a specific classroom on the Advanced Technology College at DSC campus for the proper systems needed to make the team a reality. This room will be labeled the bunker. “The bunker will allow students to practice their cyber security skills,” which will benefit all students in the program, Lee said. Professors will guide students through these competitions as well. The bunker will be built sometime in the spring, with no completion date.
Steven Wease is a staff writer.