By Emma Hoyt

Wendell Bias Jr., a junior criminal justice major and Quincy native, has always dreamed of becoming a Quincy Police Officer and fighting crime in his hometown.

Crime means a lot more than it used to when Bias Jr. was envisioning catching the ‘bad guys’ as a young child.

“Crime doesn’t only happen on the streets, it happens online too,” Bias Jr. said. “Technology is always changing and becoming better, so who knows what we’ll be looking at in 10 years.”

Quincy University received a $2.25 million Title III grant from the the U.S. Department of Education to focusing on expanding student access to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Over the next five years the grant will allow QU to introduce two new majors: cybersecurity and business analytics.

The admissions department is excited and ready to help current and new students, as well as their families and educators, get ready for these upcoming options.

“We want to make sure that we arm those people with the right materials, let them know we’re here and that we have great programs as well,” Director of Admissions, Brittany Ellerman said.

Cybersecurity and business analytic centered careers are experiencing strong demand for well-trained employees right now, meaning, that this grant came at the right time.

Assistant Professor of Business Dana Walker, PhD, agrees that the grant will truly benefit QU and employers in the Gem City.

“It’s very timely, these are the jobs that need to be filled,” Walker said.

Post graduation employment at QU is 92 percent, because of instructors like Walker, who state upfront that students will have many job opportunities with these majors.

“Logistics coordinator, pricing and operations manager will be the some of the job titles students will be taking,” Walker said.

Students interested in business analytics can graduate with a business analytics degree in 2023. QU will begin offering courses like risk analytics, marketing analysis and advanced predictive analysis modeling to juniors starting in the Fall of 2021.

In the meantime, students at QU will start seeing Cybersecurity construction begin now in FRH 246 with courses beginning Fall 2019, since a career focus in computer science has such a strong demand that is predicted to grow rapidly.

Students enrolled in cybersecurity will be looking at courses such as fundamentals of network security, codes and ciphers, applied networks and security. 

“Cybersecurity is wonderful. It’s becoming one of the most popular majors ever. It’s nice to say that we offer that,” Ellerman said.

“It’s great that QU is getting these new majors, it’ll bring a lot of new students and jobs to Quincy,” Bias Jr. said.

While he prepares for graduation next spring, Bias Jr. is excited for the opportunity that students will be given.

“When it comes to adding these two majors to QU’s course catalog, it’s going to benefit everyone. These students will have first access to topics that are becoming so important in our world,” Bias Jr. said.

Quincy University will continue to update information about Title III through newsletters, the website and social media.