New certificate arms leaders with strategies to fight cyber-attacks

The Board of Trustees has formed a Presidential Search Committee, chaired by Trustee Randy Becker ’83 MBA ’96, and selected Isaacson, Miller in Boston to guide the national search for Nichols College’s eighth president. The committee comprises a diverse and representative group of college stakeholders:

Trustees

Carolyn Burke MBA ’92, AVP, Talent Acquisition, MAPFRE Insurance

James Coghlin Sr. ’67, Chairman and Coach, Coghlin Companies, Inc.

Chair John Davis ’72 (ex-officio), Chairman & CEO, VIMCO Corporation

Vice Chair Thomas Hall ’69, Managing Director-Investments, TowerMark Wealth Management

Treasurer Thomas Lodge ’79, Retired Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Stefany Mendez ’13 MBA ’16, Procurement Category Lead, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

Faculty

Jean Beaupre, Associate Professor of Communication and Marketing

Allison McDowell-Smith, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice

Alumni

Christopher McCarthy ’92 MBA ’97, President, Chief Operating Officer, Fidelity Bank

Staff-Administration

PJ Boggio, Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students

Students

Darrien Waugh ’21, Men of Distinction/ President of Community Outreach

For more information and updates on the presidential search, visit presidential-search.nichols.edu.

Graduate and Professional Studies has announced a new master’s certificate program, Cybersecurity for the Global Environment, to help public, private and government leaders protect their organizations from cyber-threats. The non-technical certificate is designed for municipal administrators, business managers, and healthcare professionals who seek to understand the threat landscape and develop strategies to secure their networked, data-driven infrastructures against malware, ransomware, phishing, DoS attacks, and corporate espionage.

“Cyberspace touches every aspect of our personal and professional lives,” says Tom Stewart, associate dean of Graduate and Professional Studies. “Today’s leaders have an inherent responsibility to guide their IT teams in combatting cyber-threats which can have catastrophic and costly consequences for their own organizations and the global business arena.”

The program is nine credits and takes four months to complete. In courses taught by industry professionals and academics, students learn about the current and evolving threat environment, build a foundational understanding, identify cybersecurity best practices, comprehend effective governance strategies, and write protection plans.

The newest certificate is one of several offered by Graduate and Professional Studies, which are available to every professional with a bachelor’s degree. They are Leadership, Advanced Critical Thinking and Decision Making, Project Management and Innovation Leadership, Data Analytics, and Strategic HR Management.

EWIB goes virtual for 10th anniversary

When the Institute for Women’s Leadership at Nichols College was forced to cancel its annual Empowering Women in Business (EWIB) Conference in April due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, organizers were determined to commemorate the 10th anniversary of this popular regional event at some point in 2020.

They are making it happen, albeit virtually, on December 10, with its originally scheduled keynote speaker, Valerie Weisler, founding CEO of the Validation Project.

EWIB began in 2010 as a grassroots effort of Nichols faculty and staff to bring together a community of female entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, and students. Today, it is a featured program of the Institute for Women’s Leadership, which was established by President Susan Engelkemeyer in 2013 to develop the leadership potential of students and serve as a resource and authoritative voice on women’s leadership for the community at large. Over the years, EWIB has helped thousands build skills and confidence, and discover opportunities through practical presentations and dynamic networking.

Weisler, the 2020 speaker, is noted for sparking her own empowerment movement. She published a website in 2013, at the age of 14, which grew into the Validation Project, an international organization that works with 6,000+ teenagers in 105 countries to turn passion into positive action through mentoring and social justice assignments. Her self-designed kindness curriculum is taught in nearly 1,000 schools.

IWL Director Rachel Ferreira and students Lynn Thibault and Sachelle Mercado

She will be the latest in a long line of inspirational speakers to engage EWIB participants, who range from college students to young professionals to seasoned businesswomen, with their empowering messages of hope, resiliency, and triumph in the face of adversity.

Among them are Liz Walker, awardwinning television journalist and founder of My Sister’s Keeper, an organization that advocates for women and children in southern Sudan; Amy Roloff, an entrepreneur and motivational speaker from the reality television series, “Little People, Big World;” Adrianne Haslet, 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing survivor and global advocate for amputee rights; Angela Hucles, former Olympic Gold Medalist in women’s soccer and founder of Empowerment through Sport; Tracey Noonan and Dani Vilagie, mother and daughter founders of Wicked Good Cupcakes; and Mary Carlomagno, best-selling author on life simplification.

For more information on the Institute for Women’s Leadership or the Empowering Women in Business Conference, visit iwl.nichols.edu.

Liz Walker and President Susan Engelkemeyer Amy Roloff Adrianne Haslet and students Elizabeth Gargone, Amanda Haley, and Gina Petruzzi Susan Engelkemeyer and Angela Hucles