Not Built in a Day: Cybersecurity and Privacy School Increases Staff Five-Fold

When 2025 began, the four-year-old School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP) had 13 staff members supporting the unit’s 27 faculty, their labs, and graduate and undergraduate students.

However, a year prior, only a handful of staff members carried the weight of the growing graduate school. At the beginning of the Fall 2023 Semester, school administrative officer Jan Morian committed to an aggressive hiring push to turn SCP’s skeleton crew into a fully functioning department.

“There was at least one week where we booked back-to-back interviews every day for an entire week,” said Morian. “We needed people in every position, from faculty support coordinators to an assistant director of financial operations, filled immediately, but we also had to make sure the people we hired were the right people for those jobs.” 

As the semester progressed, the desks on the 10th floor of the Coda Building quickly filled up. Managers began organizing their teams, and the school turned its attention to the challenging task of simultaneously playing catch-up while performing daily operations. 

"The staff in our department are vital to our success, bringing exceptional skill and dedication to their roles, and are essential to our mission of creating security for everyone and everything, every day,” said inaugural SCP Chair Michael Bailey. “I am incredibly proud of our staff's talent, commitment, and teamwork—they are the foundation of our community and the reason we can achieve so much together."

In 2024, SCP staff: 

• Processed over 50 research grant proposals with a total of $49 million.
• Hired five new staff members and promoted five existing staff members.
• Supported a cohort of approximately 116 students.
• Sent their new finance team to attend more than 30 non-mandatory training sessions to enhance their expertise.
• Consistently built and distributed comprehensive monthly reports to all faculty members. 
• Established monthly meetings with all supported faculty to build rapport, trust, and strong connections between faculty and support teams.

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Beyond the Job Description

The School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (SCP) staff go beyond their daily responsibilities, bringing remarkable personal and community accomplishments to the table. For instance, Nancy Baker supports the school's mission and contributes as a staff council member. She also recently completed a rigorous leadership program.

Other recent SCP staff achievements include:

• Morian's exceptional efforts were recognized with a prestigious college-wide award, a testament to her outstanding leadership.
• Elijah Mastinu’s ambition shines through his completion of a leadership program and his current pursuit of a bachelor’s degree.
• Cody Martin’s achievement of being nominated for CREU (Cultivating Relationships Encouraging Unity) team representative has fortified the expertise of the financial team, exemplifying the staff's commitment to professional growth.
• At SCP, Assistant Director of Financial Operations Mary Helen Hayes has launched several new initiatives, such as training for research proposals, travel, and expenses. She also established regular meetings between faculty, administrative, and finance staff and created methods to expedite undergraduate hiring and research proposal intake. 

The SCP’s staff growth and achievements highlight their dedication to the School’s mission and their commitment to personal and professional development. This dynamic team has laid the foundation for the School’s continued success by focusing on leadership growth, encouraging community involvement, and recognizing excellence. 

Below is a list of SCP staff and their start dates. 

• Nancy Baker, Academic Program Coordinator in Jan. 2022, promoted to Academic Program Manager I in Feb. 2025
• Kodi Brown, Faculty Support Coordinator – Sept. 2022
• Jan Morian, SAO – July 2023
• Harrison Crawford, Financial Admin Lead – Oct. 2023
• Regina (Gina) Anderson, Administrative Manager II – Oct. 2023
• Elijah Mastinu, hired as temporary staff in Sept. 2023 and promoted to Administrative Operations Coordinator in March 2024
• Patty Hickman, hired as temporary staff in Sept. 2023 and promoted to Administrative Operations Coordinator in April 2024
• Tiffany Darlington, hired as temporary staff in Sept. 2023 and promoted to Administrative Operations Coordinator in March 2024
• Jenny Eaton, Financial Administrator III – Feb. 2024
• Chris Boggs, Research Operations Program Manager – Jan. 2024
• Mary Helen Hayes, Assistant Director of Financial Operations – Jan. 2024
• Cody Martin, Financial Manager II – May 2024
• Nickie Cayce-Griffis, Assistant to the Chair – Sept. 2024

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