Building Cyber Security Practices Into Your Campus Culture

Stephen Rieks - Delaware Valley University
Jill Forrester - Dickinson College
Justin McIntyre - First American Equipment Finance
Jim Burke - John Carroll University

Cybersecurity is no longer just a technical concern - it’s a leadership, culture, and communication priority. As threats grow in complexity and frequency, higher education institutions must work to embed cybersecurity awareness across every department, from central IT to business offices and academic units. But building this kind of culture requires more than policies and firewalls - it requires people.

In this panel discussion, leaders from higher education institutions will share how they are advancing a culture of cybersecurity across their campuses - what’s working, what’s not, and what lessons they’ve learned along the way. Topics will include engaging non-technical stakeholders, managing risk in decentralized environments, navigating compliance, and cultivating cross-functional ownership of security practices.

The session will be moderated by the Senior Vice President of Information Security & Engineering at First American Equipment Finance, a national financial services firm, who will offer comparative insights from a five-year cybersecurity transformation within the highly regulated finance sector. While operating in different industries, both higher education and finance face common challenges: growing digital footprints, resource constraints, and the need to inspire behavior change at scale.

Audience engagement will be central to the session through live polling, Q&A, and peer-to-peer idea exchange. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to elevate cybersecurity as a shared responsibility across their own institutions.

Learning Objectives

  1. Identify key strategies used by higher ed institutions to build a culture of cybersecurity.
  2. Describe how business and IT leaders can collaborate to increase awareness and engagement campus wide.
  3. Compare higher ed approaches with lessons from finance to determine transferable practices.

CPE Available

  • 1 Credit: Information Technology