DSS ACCESS, Volume 1, Issue 3 - Defense Security Service (DSS)

First Students Complete
College, Graduate-level Courses at CDSE
The first students enrolled in the new Challenges in
Analyzing and Managing Risk course offered at the Center
for Development of Security Excellence (CDSE) successfully
completed the course in May.
The three students — Rocky McCollum and Jeff Thoma from
the United States Air Force Academy, and Gerald Barb from
the Defense Logistics Agency — received strong support
from their supervisors and employing activities.
The Challenges in Analyzing and Managing Risk course
includes the requirement for each student to complete
a semester-long project in which the student uses the
Analytical Risk Management model to address a security
issue at his or her employing agency.
These recent graduates gathered and analyzed information
about the value and criticality of certain assets at their
agency, threats to those assets, and vulnerabilities that exist
which result in risk to the organization or its mission. They
then identified cost-effective countermeasures which could
be put in place to reduce the risk to an acceptable level.
During the last week of the course each student
presented the project that he or she completed including
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recommendations for next steps to be taken by the agency.
These recommendations may be presented by the students
to decision makers at their employing agencies.
Approximately 45 students are participating in other
college-level and graduate-level classes at the CDSE during
the summer semester.
Students participating in these classes typically devote
15 to 20 hours per week to studying during the 16-week
semester, including reading, writing, and participating in
online discussions with the instructor and other students.
The level of effort required to complete the courses is
similar to that required to complete a graduate-level course
at a university.
Prior to enrolling in one of these courses, it is important
for a student and his or her supervisor to reach a common
understanding of how much of this study time can be done
during duty hours and how much will be done during nonduty
hours.
During the first semester in which the courses were offered,
a significant number of students dropped out after realizing
the amount of time required to complete the course