Beginning this fall, Walla Walla University will become the first Seventh-day Adventist college to offer degrees in both cybersecurity and game development. WWU is responding to the rapidly changing world of computing to prepare graduates for emerging careers.
The new cybersecurity degree will teach both critical thinking and technical skills to prepare students to manage systems in hospitals, businesses, and other industries to protect against attacks on privacy and security. Students of the program will also be prepared to earn several professional certifications including ones for forensic examiners and information systems security professionals. With virtually zero-percent unemployment in the field, the need for cybersecurity workers is evident and WWU’s new program will prepare students to confidently join the field.
In studying game development, students will learn the skills necessary to successfully work as a programmer, designer, or producer, and to obtain industry-recognized certification. Game development-related roles are expected to experience a notable 20% growth rate over the next 10 years, making the need for skilled and ethical workers in the field very prominent.
While it is acutely evident that computer games can negatively influence college students, WWU believes the industry and students interested in this field would benefit from the solid Christian ethical framework of WWU. The Seventh-day Adventist church has recognized the evangelistic and educational power of games at ministry conferences and through the creation of its own game in partnership with Hope Channel. The new degree will prepare students to enter the rapidly growing area of game development, which has clear evangelistic and educational potential.
Both of the new degrees offered will harness the specialized knowledge of experts in the respective fields for a number of degree-specific courses. Capstone projects, mentorship, and core classes including courses on ethics will be taught by WWU professors. The new degree offerings will prepare students well for a changing technology landscape in the context of Christian values.
Learn more about computer science programs offered at WWU by visiting wallawalla.edu/cs.
Posted Sep. 25, 2023.
