Using Cyber Defense Competitions to build bridges between community colleges and four year institutions: A footbridge for students into an IT program

The Community College Cyber Defense Competition (CCCDC) was created as a bridge between Iowa State University and the 15 community college districts in the state of Iowa. It grew out of an overwhelmingly positive response to a session on IT-Adventures conducted during the ISU Community College Summit in Summer 2007. IT-Adventures is a year-long inquiry-based learning program that uses educational materials, competitive events and service learning projects to increase high school students´ interest in information technology. This paper discusses the creation and evolution of the CCCDC, the two successful CCCDCs that have been conducted, as well as lessons learned about working with community college students. Additionally, we discuss the benefits of IT-Adventures participation for the community colleges who have partnered with us such as increased enrollment and additional options for dual-enrollment high school programs. Future directions our dialogues with community colleges over the past two years are taking us are also briefly touched upon. In our second CCCDC competition in December of 2008 we had nine teams in attendance which represented seven out of the 15 community college districts or 50% participation.