Student Resources

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Here you can find information on tutoring services, soft skills enhancement, certification readiness, and transferring between institutions. Use the links below to learn more about the PC4A project.

Tutoring Services at Partner Schools

Bucks County Community College

The Academic Success Center provides a place for all students to get assistance. Visit the center's website to schedule an appointment, get test help, find writing resources, and attend workshops.

Butler County Community College

BC3 offers tutoring for all students remotely and in person. Visit the BC3 Tutoring website to sign up for a session, find test prep assistance, or explore academic success resources.

Montgomery County Community College

MC3 offers online tutoring 24/7 and in-person tutoring by appointment. Visit the MC3 Tutoring website to sign-up for an in-person or online appointment, find an open tutoring session, or get writing support through the MC3 Writing Room.

Northampton Community College

The Northampton Learning Center offers tutoring services on a variety of subjects. Visit the center's website to view covered subjects, make an appointment, and explore student resources.

Penn Highlands Community College

Penn Highlands offers a wide range of tutoring services through the Student Support Department. Visit the Penn Highlands Tutoring website to find a tutor, obtain personal counseling, review disability services, or access their online tutoring service.

Westmoreland County Community College

WCCC's Tutoring and Learning Services offer tutoring in all general courses and other subjects as available. Visit the WCCC Tutoring website to view hours of operation, find testing services, or find online tutoring services offered through Brainfuse. 

Soft Skills Enhancement

As the Lead Organization, IUP is providing soft skill enhancement activities for all community college partners and their students.  Visit the soft skills enhancement page for more information.

Spring 2023 Activities provided by the IUP Kathleen Jones White Writing Center include:

• Soft Skills Tutoring 
• Business Writing and Communication Workshops

Transferring Credits

All 14 universities within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education along with many community colleges in Pennsylvania participate in the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Center (PA TRAC). Visit the PA TRAC website* or our partner's transfer pages for more information. *The PA TRAC tool should be used as a reference only.  Contact your current or desired institution for transfer assistance.

Bucks | Butler | Montgomery | Northampton  | Penn Highlands | Westmoreland

Certification Information

One of the main objectives of PC4A is to increase certification rates among students. The DoD has approved the following certifications for a number of available career paths. Visit each certification page for more information. This list of approved certifications is provided by DoD Cyber Exchange.

CertNexus:

• CFR -  comprehensive, in-demand certification designed to validate the knowledge and skills required to protect these critical information systems before, during, and after an incident.

Cisco:

• CCNA - Designed for agility and versatility, CCNA validates that you have the skills required to manage and optimize today's most advanced networks.
• CCNP-Security - When you earn your CCNP Security certification, you prove that you can step into the cybersecurity environment and protect the networks and data that clients rely on.
• CCNS Cyber Ops - The Cisco Certified CyberOps training and certification program prepares you with the knowledge, skills, and hands-on practice you need to safeguard your organization’s digital assets.

CompTIA:

• A+ - the industry standard for establishing a career in IT.
• Network+ - develop a career in IT infrastructure covering troubleshooting, configuring, and managing networks.
• Security+ - global certification that validates the baseline skills necessary to perform core security functions and pursue an IT security career.
• CySA+ - an IT workforce certification that applies behavioral analytics to networks and devices to prevent, detect and combat cybersecurity threats through continuous security monitoring.
• CASP+ - an advanced-level cybersecurity certification for security architects and senior security engineers charged with leading and improving an enterprise's cybersecurity readiness.
• Cloud+ - shows that you have the expertise needed for data center jobs.
• Pentest+ - for cybersecurity professionals' tasks with penetration testing and vulnerability management.

EC-Council:

• CCISO - The CCISO Certification is an industry-leading program that recognizes the real-world experience necessary to succeed at the highest executive levels of information security.
• CEH - Build Your Career With the Most In-Demand Ethical Hacking Certification in the World, Certified Ethical Hacker
• CHFI - CHFI provides its attendees with a firm grasp of digital forensics, presenting a detailed and methodological approach to digital forensics and evidence analysis that also pivots around Dark Web, IoT, and Cloud Forensics.
• CND - EC-Council’s vendor-neutral network security certifications provide an unbiased approach to learning secure networking practices, as well as how to analyze and harden computing systems prevalent in the current IT infrastructure.

GIAC:

• GCED - The GCED builds on the security skills measured by the GIAC Security Essentials certification. It assesses more advanced, technical skills that are needed to defend the enterprise environment and protect an organization as a whole.
• GCFA - The GCFA certification focuses on core skills required to collect and analyze data from Windows and Linux computer systems.
• GCIA - The GIAC Intrusion Analyst certification validates a practitioner’s knowledge of network and host monitoring, traffic analysis, and intrusion detection.
• GCIH - The GIAC Incident Handler certification validates a practitioner’s ability to detect, respond, and resolve computer security incidents using a wide range of essential security skills.
• GICSP - The GICSP bridges together IT, engineering, and cyber security to achieve security for industrial control systems from design through retirement.
• GSEC - The GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC) certification validates a practitioner's knowledge of information security beyond simple terminology and concepts.
• GSLC - The GIAC Security Leadership (GSLC) certification validates a practitioner’s understanding of governance and technical controls focused on protecting, detecting, and responding to security issues.
• GSNA - The GIAC Systems and Network Auditor (GSNA) certification validates a practitioner’s ability to apply basic risk analysis techniques and to conduct technical audits of essential information systems.

ISACA

• CISA - The CISA certification is world-renowned as the standard of achievement for those who audit, control, monitor, and assess an organization’s information technology and business systems.
• CISM - ISACA’s Certified Information Security Manager^® (CISM^®) certification indicates expertise in information security governance, program development and management, incident management, and risk management.

(ISC)2

• CAP - Earning the CAP certification is a proven way to build your career and demonstrate your expertise within various risk management frameworks.
• CCSP - Earning the globally recognized CCSP cloud security certification is a proven way to build your career and better secure critical assets in the cloud.
• CISSP - Earning the CISSP proves you have what it takes to effectively design, implement and manage a best-in-class cybersecurity program. 
• CISSP Concentrations - Challenge yourself with a CISSP Concentration! These specialized credentials build upon the CISSP - ISSAP, ISSEP, ISSMP.  
• CSSLP - Earning the globally recognized CSSLP secure software development certification is a proven way to build your career and better incorporate security practices into each phase of the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
• HCIPP - Earning the HCISPP healthcare cybersecurity certification is a proven way to build your career and show employers you’re on the forefront of protecting patient health information and navigating a complex regulatory environment.
• SSCP - Earning a globally recognized advanced security administration and operations certification like the SSCP is a great way to grow your career and better secure your organization’s critical assets.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Naval Research.