Neighbor News
Owings Mills Resident Among 8 Scholarship Recipients Recognized Internationally
Owings Mill resident William McClelland receives full-tuition scholarship through University of Phoenix and the ASIS Foundation.
Owings Mills resident William McClelland is one of eight recipients internationally awarded a full-tuition scholarship through University of Phoenix and the ASIS Foundation. The scholarship program is designed to support the skills and expertise development of security professionals, an industry that is extremely critical to our nation in this time of heightened national security concerns.
The scholarships come at a crucial time when the need for qualified security professionals is greater than ever, yet the number of available candidates can’t meet the demand. In fact, in 2013 more than 200,000 cybersecurity jobs alone went unfilled[1], and cybersecurity jobs take 24 percent longer to fill than all IT openings and 36 percent longer to fill than any other job openings[2].
Mr. McClelland, a former teacher at the high school and college levels, has been with the Social Security Administration for 25 years. For the last four years, he has been lead analyst for physical security under the Deputy Commissioner for Operations, the largest component in Social Security. He hopes to lead the physical security efforts for the agency, guiding and directing the individuals who are charged with the daily work of keeping the agency’s data, facilities, employees, and 46 million annual visitors safe.
The degree program will help him eventually move on to a career in public education, where he can meld the two areas he loves most – security and education. With a greater understanding of managing security programs, he believes he will be able to help ensure that his school, as well as others, can learn without fear and be secured without students, staff, volunteers, and parents feeling incarcerated.
Mr. McClelland plans to use the degree to make a difference in the Owings Mills community.
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1 ASIS International and the Institute of Finance & Management (IOFM), The United States Security Industry Size and Scope, Insights, Trends, and Data, 2013
2 Ibid.
