Education Pathway National Center (EPNC)

The mission of the Education Pathway National Center (EPNC) is to establish an effective and sustainable national network of cybersecurity education-to-career pathways. The EPNC will promote student success, collaboration between educational institutions and sharing of instructional resources. The EPNC network will support initiatives within the CAE community to increase the capacity and diversity of students to meet the future national cybersecurity workforce needs.

The EPNC will:

  • Establish a national distribution network for the RING (Resource, Instruction, Networking, Guidance) curriculum, providing standardized and valuable educational materials.

  • Maintain and develop cybersecurity related curriculum content including instructional materials, assessment instruments, lab activities and and virtual student skills competition environments.

  • Build a national infrastructure of qualified cybersecurity educators by collaborating to support faculty development initiatives, enhancing the quality and capabilities of educators in the cybersecurity field.

  • Develop and maintain a national infrastructure remote virtualization lab environment and content

  • Promote greater equity, diversity, and success in cybersecurity education pathways, particularly focusing on underserved and underrepresented communities.

  • Create a pathway for middle and high school students to NCAE-C schools which will expand the capacity of cybersecurity talent to meet future workforce needs.

EPNC Team

John Sands

Dr. John Sands
PI –EPNC
Email: sands@morainevalley.edu
Phone: 708.955.5426

Jiri Jirik

Jiri Jirik
EPNC Director
Email: jirikj@morainevalley.edu

Dr. Kristine Christensen
Co-PI, EPNC
Faculty Development
Email: christensen@morainevalley.edu
Phone: 708.974.5512

Chuck Bales

Chuck Bales
Curriculum Developer
Email: bales@morainevalley.edu
Phone:708.974.5401

Dr. Ryen Nagle

Dr. Ryen Nagle
Dean, Science, Business and Computer Technologies
Email: nagler@morainevalley.edu

Stanley Kostka

Stanley Kostka
CAE Regional Resource Center Manager
Email: kostkas@morainevalley.edu
Phone: 708.608.4285

Ginny Swyndroski

Ginny Swyndroski
Office Manager
Email: swyndroskiv@morainevalley.edu
Phone: 708.974.5725

Mike Gonzalez

Michael Gonzalez
CSSIA Program Coordinator
Email: gonzalezm272@morainevalley.edu
Phone: 708.608.4464

Stephanie Wascher
Faculty Trainer

Kevin Vaccaro

Kevin Vaccaro
Faculty Trainer

Michael Masino
Faculty Trainer & Curriculum Developer

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Agata Rawdanik
Data Center Manager
Email: cssia@morainevalley.edu
Phone: 708.974.4075

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Jesse Varsalone
Faculty Trainer & Curriculum Developer

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Jason Zeller
Faculty Trainer & Curriculum Developer

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Jesse Hairston
Co-PI, Education Pathway National Center – RING

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Michael Qaissaunee
Co-PI, EPNC

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Kyle Jones
Co-PI, EPNC

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Eric Renegar
Faculty Trainer

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Dr. Theresa Pallanti
Grants Office

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Dr. Darren Howard
Grants Finance Office

EPI Team

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Dr. Debasis Bhattacharya
University of Hawaii – Maui College

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Dr. Kalyan Mondal
Fairleigh Dickinson University

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Dr. Alfredo Cruz
Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico

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Dr. Mark Spanier
Dakota State University

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Laura Henry
Collin College