Tiffany Jones

Q: “Tell us about yourself: your family, friends, interests, and employment.”
A: “I am a wife and mom of two young men. We have lived in West Virginia. for thirteen years, and I love to spend time with my family, traveling to watch our youngest son play baseball. I enjoy doing word searches, cooking, and listening to audible books and music. I have worked within the intelligence community for over twenty years within the information security spectrum. My current role is as an Information Security Systems Engineer (ISSE)."

Q: “What was your motivation for pursuing your degree?”
A: “Ever since I was young, my grandmother emphasized the importance of education. However, the major push was my husband, a Norwich alumnus, and my youngest son, who gave me that extra push to pursue my master’s degree.”

Q: “What are your future professional plans?”
A: “I would like to get a few information security certifications and look into getting my Ph.D. emphasizing social engineering, the human element within cybersecurity. I would not mind teaching a class or two to help bring attention to how important it is for schools to big corporations to establish cybersecurity cultures.”

Q: “Why did you choose Norwich?”
A: "My husband graduated in 2014 with his master’s in organizational leadership. Watching him go through the process and speak so highly of his classmates and professors helped. Being a military school makes the school standout more than many of the schools I considered. Growing up in a military family, attending Norwich is an honor. The cybersecurity program stood out due to the smaller class sizes and that most of the professors are tenured here at the university and are highly knowledgeable in their craft."

Q: “Prior to beginning your courses, what were some of your expectations for an online degree program?”
A: "I thought the platform would be easy to use and communication was going to be emphasized. Norwich went above and beyond in ensuring that you and the professors had more than one way to communicate and that the system used for you to access your classes was seamless to use."

Q: “What is one piece of advice you would give to future students enrolling into one of Norwich's online programs?”
A: “My advice would be to pace yourself, no question is a silly question, and be open and honest with yourself and your professors and advisors. They understand life happens that helps and to lean on family and friends for the extra support.”

Q: “How do you plan to use your degree in your career?”
A: “I plan on using my degree to teach and train future or current cybersecurity professionals on the importance of understanding the laws and policies and how important knowing and understanding the human element within cybersecurity and how vital it is to fight cybercrimes.”

Q: “What has been your biggest personal or professional success since starting your degree?”
A: “I received a promotion to the current role within the company I am with. Norwich helped me enhance the knowledge I already had from my over twenty years of experience and undergrad course work and apply it.”

Q: “Please tell us about a time in which you could put your knowledge gained in the classroom to work immediately at your job.”
A: "We are currently working on becoming more familiar with a few national security memorandums regarding cybersecurity and a lot of the laws and policies attached most if not all on the team are unfamiliar with. With my concentration on laws and policies, I have been able to take the lead in helping others on the team understand."

Q: “What aspects of your Norwich experience will you carry most strongly with you?”
A: “Now knowing that I am part of the few and proud that have graduated from the oldest military college with such a strong commitment to excellence and achievement. Being able to witness my husband attend and graduate from Norwich and how he is still in touch with not only his classmates but the professors shows that Norwich is just not a university that it is a family.”