Each week, Communique will be highlighting a series of campus wins, accomplishments and accolades. Please explore the list below to check out what other teams are up to, and help celebrate their good work!
Have something to add? Please reach out to University Communications with your submission!
Cybersecurity
The UCCS Cybersecurity Programs Office will have to forfeit one of its star student employees for the summer – and we’re super-excited about it! Emily Leusink, a Senior at UCCS who is a double major in Computer Science (College of Engineering) and Technical Communications & Information Design (College of Letters, Arts & Sciences) will begin a full-time internship at Leidos at the end of May. Leidos, a 50+ year old Fortune 500 company, has a strong presence in Colorado Springs as a leading provider of IT and technology services to both government and commercial customers. They are a great partner to UCCS and our students, for both employment opportunities and research.
The interdisciplinary nature of cybersecurity is alive and well at UCCS. Nine LAS faculty members from 7 different disciplines just completed the Cybersecurity and LAS Workshop, From Plato to Phishing on May 20, 2025. In this workshop, participants explored how to incorporate cybersecurity principles into their LAS disciplines to ensure students and faculty alike understand the impact of data protection and online safety in all disciplines, whether in their coursework or research.
CPS
Shout out to Dr. Monica Furey (Clinical Assistant Professor and MSW Practicum Director), the Spring 2025 Commencement Marshal for the afternoon ceremony!
Congratulations to Dr. Johanna Creswell Baez (Assistant Professor and MSW Program Director) for her 10 publications this year. Included in that impressive number is the following book, which Dr. Baez edited. It includes contributions from several UCCS faculty including Drs. Bidwell, Gangemi, and Simmons (Social Work), Companion (Sociology), Tapia and Fuselier (College of Education) and UCCS MSW alumni Heather Huffman, Wren Lichlyter-Klein, and Nikki Flemate. Apologies if any other UCCS affiliates were missed.
Báez, J. C. (Ed.). (2025). Issues of Equity: Key Concepts in Qualitative Methods. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003560128
Student Success
The graduate student winner of the UCCS 3-Minute Thesis this year, Julia Bradshaw (PhD student, Psychology), competed in the Colorado statewide competition and won second place with her presentation “College Intimate Partner Violence Victimization: Examining Moderators of Individual Risk”