>> "Bates Tech Today" is supported in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.

>> The fields of cybersecurity and IT leadership are growing at a fast pace, and the worlds of video production and digital media present exciting opportunities to create and distribute content.

We talked with some of the instructors and a student at Bates Tech about these programs and learned some interesting insights into what's to come.

Up next on "Bates Tech Today."

[ Music ] Welcome to "Bates Tech Today."

I'm your host, Phil Kane.

The fields of cybersecurity and IT management are evolving faster than ever.

As cyber threats grow, the need for training in this evolving technology is on the rise to meet that growth.

We spoke with Computer Information Systems and IT Project Management instructor Joseph Kauer and Olena Volkova, a Bates Tech student currently enrolled in the BAS program, about how these programs today are meeting the future.

Hello, Joseph, and hello, Olena, and welcome to the program.

We'll just start, you know, about the Cyber Information Systems and the IT Management program.

Joseph, cyber threats and technology are moving along at a tremendously fast pace.

With the launch in the BAS program, what were the things that inspired Bates to get started in that area?

>> So I worked exclusively with the Washington State Cybersecurity Center of Excellence back in 2020.

And we did basically a market analysis and a job analysis on the field, cybersecurity as a whole, IT as a whole.

And we started noticing a trend that cybersecurity as a job market was starting to trend down.

And so we were trying to figure out, you know, what market should we corner?

And while we were looking at that, we noticed that project management in the IT sphere and governance, risk, and compliance in that sphere was moving up.

So instead of us doing just a generic cybersecurity bachelor program, we decided to move into that sphere and build something completely unique for Washington state.

So with their help, we started on that pathway from 2020 up until fall of 2025, where we built this entire program and then eventually got it to be released and up and running.

>> Olena, you completed the specialist program, and now you're in the BAS program for cybersecurity and IT management.

At what point did you think this is the next step for me?

And what do you see as your future?

>> Okay, well, I truly believe that knowledge is a brilliant power, and I try to gain as much as possible of knowledge and skills.

And, of course, when I was finishing my program in software development and I heard that Bates Technical College was working on opening this program in IT project management, I felt like, yes, of course, I want to go there and I want to study and gain more knowledge.

And when I think about my future in tech, I always think about how data is the heart of technology.

And actually, this program is helping me to understand that data is the heart of every single company.

And in this program, we try to study how to protect this data.

So this is something I'm very interested in.

>> Interesting.

So Joseph, the program combines cybersecurity, IT, program management, which makes for a very powerful mix.

What kind of skills are being taught to the students as they're facing their move into the field?

>> So students come to us in the bachelor program with a wide variety of mixes already, so we're trying to give them a different aspect of that.

So the program is built with a powerful mix included in them for project management and this governance, risk, and compliance aspect.

Because what we're seeing is companies want people to be able to build projects and manage teams of people that can do the technical side of stuff.

Companies are not necessarily interested in people per se that are more technically minded anymore because the field is moving towards people wanting to be up in these upper-level echelon positions.

So being able to head these giant teams of people and being able to manage step-by-step processes of these projects is something that even our advisory committee has been really interested in seeing our students go through.

So that's, you know, we're grabbing everybody from software development, IT, cybersecurity, cloud, and even hopefully the medical field and pulling them in so that they have all of these different thoughts and processes and ways to go about how to manage data and putting them into this program so that they have different knowledges and skills to get this job done.

>> So Olena, you're in the program right now.

What are you seeing as learning to apply to real-world situations regarding threat management, cybersecurity, project leadership?

Where are you seeing those areas you're learning now as applied to your career?

>> Thank you for asking me this question because right now AI is growing super fast.

And we just talked another day with the instructor about how there would be a video made with the leadership, and no one would realize that this is a fake video.

And this leads us to understanding that cybersecurity is very important these days.

And when we go to our classes, we exercise different techniques and policies and procedures on how to protect data better.

>> That's an interesting point bringing up, because I think that, you know, seeing a keen eye of what's AI?

What's generated as fake news or video?

Is there any training that goes on with that?

That's a little bit of a different question, but as far as AI goes?

>> We actually have directly in the program itself something called the Ethical AI Management Course, and that's specifically designed to go over that.

So, whether the students have any technical background or not inside of IT, they go through a very specific class, and they haven't gone through it yet because that's in the fourth quarter.

But it's designed to distinguish the ethics behind AI inside the management sphere itself.

What can your company do?

What can your employees do?

What should they not be doing?

How do they identify, like she was talking about, deepfakes is what they're called.

So it's going to be a fun class.

Hopefully they like it.

>> Yeah, we will, for sure.

>> So if someone's watching the program and maybe they're already in the field, what can you say about the program being offered by Bates Tech that would prepare them for a higher level position, likely higher paying role?

What is it about this program at the school that you find would be applicable and beneficial?

>> So from my aspect, the technical side has a ceiling.

You're never going to get higher than a certain aspect in your career if you stay just in the technical side.

So if you're in IT, you're going to do network and systems administration.

If you're in software development, you're only going to get to a certain level of engineering or programming before you hit a certain ceiling in your company.

Every company is going to try to push you into a management or some type of governance role.

And so that's why we developed this, is to get students that background in project management and governance.

Because as soon as you show that core base knowledge of those two types of things, you are more valuable to the company outside of the technical sphere.

Because there are hundreds and hundreds and thousands of individuals that have the technical knowledge, but very, very few of the applicants have this project management and governance side to their resumes.

>> Olena, if you know other students that might be in the specialist program right now, are they asking you about the program?

>> Yes, a lot of my peers are interested to join me late in this program, and I actually could talk about my own experiences and how I feel about this program and where it leads me in the future.

So I got curious about information technology a long time ago, and I would study on my own different pieces of information here, there, like everywhere.

And I feel like it was my foundation of all this knowledge.

And now I'm building a dome, I would say, from all these new skills.

And I feel that this program specifically for those people who want to grow alongside technologies and even lead where it's coming and what it's becoming.

>> Thank you.

We talked a bit about cyber threats.

AI, if you were to look towards the future, are you seeing anything?

Are they converging in a way?

Are you seeing them as somewhat separate issues, or are they intermixed?

>> Currently, the pathway that companies are going is a complete merger of AI, IT, and cybersecurity, including governance.

That is just the current pathway everybody's going.

Whether that changes or not in the future, that is left to be seen.

But that is what companies are looking for right now.

We have a current company that's on our advisory committee that is only hiring and looking for interns with AI prompting, for example.

So that is what the market is looking for right now.

>> Great.

Well, as far as folks out there that are watching, for forward-thinking people that are in the industry or looking for a new challenge, it sounds like this is a really dynamic program to be a part of.

I thank you both for coming out today.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you.

[ Music ] Are you someone with a knack or talent in videography, editing, directing, or all of the above?

Do you have a passion for working hands-on in a creative technical field, from making and managing content to working in live sports, including esports?

We spoke with Bates Tech instructors Brian Parker and Ken Witkoe about what they see as necessary skills you'll need to enter these fast-moving and competitive work environments.

Ken and Brian, thanks for joining us today.

>> Thanks for having us.

>> You're both Bates Tech alumni.

You came back to teach.

So can you speak a bit about your experiences and what brought you back to teach the students?

What's coming?

>> Yeah, sure.

Actually, I graduated from the program that I'm now teaching in 1986.

So that was before Brian was born.

>> Thank you.

>> Of course.

Anyway, and what I was doing was I was a maintenance man at the time, and I realized that I didn't really want to do that for the next umpteen years.

So I've been in the industry now for almost 40 years.

I've had an incredible career.

I started out as a master control operator, became a production manager.

I've lived overseas in Mongolia, was a production manager, station manager there.

I've been in the Middle East, and so I've worked in so many different environments.

I am so eternally grateful for what I've been able to do from my learning from Bates.

So when I had an opportunity to come back to teach that, to teach here, I just thought, man, I've had a wonderful life, and so why not kind of share that with students now.

And it's been a great, 12 years I've been here.

It's been great, and I've been very, very thankful.

>> Brian, what about you?

>> Well, my story started out with a university degree, and I wanted to go into filmmaking, but specifically into advertising.

I wasn't able to get a job with my four-year degree because I would be told, well, you don't have anything to show.

If you want to do production, you need to have a demo reel.

So I went into audio recording.

I had some opportunity to start a studio.

And during that time, I did music, bands, but I also had to make bills.

So I started doing advertisement for radio.

And in 1995, I was intending to go and try to get my advertising job that I wanted so badly.

And so I was going to purchase an editing deck.

And it was going to be quite expensive until one of my clients at the studio said, well, why don't you go to Bates?

They have a broadcasting.

And I was like, really?

And at that time, we could start any Monday.

So I came down to Bates and I saw the program and I realized, wow, there's a lot of opportunity here.

Everything that I need to make my demo reels and to learn more information that I didn't know I didn't know, led to me to get a job in advertising.

Now, at the time, we did what's called competency-based education.

So I was able to complete a two-year course in 30 weeks because I just dedicated my time and energy to going through all of the competencies.

Once I started to work in advertising, I also brought students from digital media, or excuse me, broadcasting into the ad agency as internships.

And then in 2001, I received a call from Bates Technical College that they wanted to start a digital media program.

At that time, digital media really didn't exist.

We didn't have books, we didn't have schools, we didn't have courses.

And so I had the great opportunity to be on the ground level of designing the digital media course and then eventually becoming the instructor.

And so for the last 24 years, I've been helping students do exactly what I needed that Bates gave me, which is having the hands-on skills and training to actually start a job on day one.

>> So day one, speaking of which, students come into your class.

What is it that they see that may be a surprise to them as far as equipment goes and the layout for the class and the curriculum?

>> Yeah, you know, I think, I will just tell experiences from students who have actually, just what Brian mentioned, they've gone to four-year schools.

They haven't had -- they've learned a lot of theory, but they haven't had the practical hands-on education that they really need to become, as Brian mentioned, the tools that they need to get into the industry.

And so we have students like that right now that are coming.

And in the first week, we're doing live productions, we're doing studio productions.

We may be actually doing remotes where they're setting up and they're putting their hands on cameras and switchers and lighting gear and all that kind of stuff.

So it's really very different, very different from just going and sitting in a class and listening to a bunch of theory.

And that's why I came, because I didn't have time to go through theory and four years of this and that.

I needed to get a job and I needed to learn, get hands-on stuff right now.

And so that's what makes us very, very different than a traditional four-year school.

>> I have to agree.

I think that being thrown into the deep end is a fantastic way of exploring all of what we need to understand before we go out to work.

And it helps because when we go into production, there's a lot of uncertainty.

What are we going to be making today?

How are we going to be doing this?

What problems do we need to solve?

And to get the critical mind thinking immediately is, I think the bigger shock is we teach adult education.

We have certain assumptions that we bring into the classroom.

Like you have a strong desire to learn and to grow in this.

And we allow them to find their pathway because at the end of the course, they're going to have the outcomes.

But hopefully they not only have the outcomes, but they've learned a lot of the processes of, like we say, we all make mistakes.

Some know how to fix them, some don't.

So hopefully when they get out there, they'll be able to, you know, run into challenges and solve them.

>> Can you speak to some of the experiences that the students will have in your classes and how that would relate to real-world experience?

Ken.

>> Yeah.

We actually are one of the most unique programs in the state, in fact, probably on the West Coast, in that our students almost immediately are out doing stuff in the public.

So right now, we're actually getting ready to do the WIAA State Basketball Championships at the Tacoma Dome.

We've just finished doing a boxing tournament for the Golden Gloves, Washington Tacoma Boxing, Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament.

And so we just did that one.

We did recently in the last year, the first ever Hanna Cup Youth Pool Tournament for the top 10 youth in the country that flew here.

And we put on a pool tournament and did the production like that.

And we do high school football.

We do college basketball, as well as just studio productions and all kinds of things that are related to that.

So a lot of different things that they're going to be doing that's real world that gets their hands on equipment and very, I mean, it's not like just sitting around looking or talking to it.

Nobody wants to listen to me anyway.

So anyway, we want them to get out there and get that kind of experience.

So it's really very, very fun.

>> Terrific.

>> Digital media is a little bit different than broadcasting because broadcasting is more of a team activity, which is really exciting to watch them go and do the sporting events and doing cool stuff like the pool.

But what digital media we focus on is messaging.

And some of our times our messages are TV commercials.

Sometimes they're communication material, posters, brochures, videos.

And so we lead them through some real-world activities, understanding that we need to speak to an audience and how do we understand the audience so that our creativity aligns with their wants and needs.

And then we also do shop jobs.

We also try to put people into community activities.

And right now we're working with the Rotary Club.

They have a fundraising coming up.

And one of the things I like to do is to show the students how we can use emotions and logic inside of a three-minute video that will encourage people to donate money.

And so the students right now are working with the messaging on what are we going to do to help people to understand that what their money is doing is actually doing good.

And so we're going to be working on that.

All the students are going to do all the productions, all the camera work, all the editing, all the graphics.

So that's a real-world experience.

And then they can also see the results of their work.

One of the fun parts is we guess how much money that we think we'll be able to raise, and then we see the actuality, and then we either go, hey, it really worked great.

What did we do?

And if it didn't get what we wanted, we can do something called wisha coulda shoulda.

Oh, I wish I'd done that.

I could have done that.

I should have done that.

And then you take that to your next project.

Yeah, an after-action review.

A couple of my military veteran students really encourage that because they're so used to it that they always love the after-action reviews.

And that helps them to say, okay, I know what to do next.

>> Well, as we start wrapping up, if both of you can talk a bit about the future, the pathways, you know, as you've been talking about prepping students, what do you see as the next five or 10 years down the path in broadcast production?

>> Well, I'm going to take that one because unfortunately, we're going to be losing Ken here very shortly to retirement.

>> Yeah.

>> And that's going to be a big loss.

>> And he has nothing to say.

>> Well, I hope what he does is brings his legacy to the students of Bates as we continue to move forward with training students and the thing we love the most.

I mean, that's the thing, retirement, the hardest part is leaving the thing we love to do the most.

>> That's great, Ken.

Thank you for sharing that.

>> Actually, what do you see, Ken?

>> There's a lot.

First of all, the thing that never changes is the way that we do the process of delivering or creating content.

But the tools might change.

And so we do see a lot of tools that are changing, especially the AI environment.

I know Brian is going to be doing a lot of AI stuff.

And we are definitely looking into how to implement AI in a live situation in broadcasting.

And so, but live, the thing is about us, live content, everybody is going to want that forever.

I don't care where it's delivered, you've got to be able to produce live content.

And so, and that's kind of our uniqueness and the way we do that.

So I just see us doing more and more of that in the future, getting more and more in the public eye.

We have opportunities to do more live broadcasts for certain entities that we're still kind of negotiating with.

And so we just want to see more of what we're doing.

>> Brian.

>> Again, with the AI, it's coming.

This is no different than when digital media started to peek its head over the corner, around the corner, and saying, hey, we're here, and watch people panic.

And then it usually turns into something that is going to make more jobs, not less jobs.

And I think AI is going to be the same thing.

It's just another tool.

Really what we do in digital media is we're teaching how to tell stories, we're teaching how to send messages, and some of those principles are 2,300 years old.

And the only thing that changes is the tools that we use to create the message.

And it's still going to take a human to make sure the message has a direct association to the audience we speak in.

AI speaks to everyone.

And in storytelling, if we speak to everyone, we speak to no one.

>> And that's how we close.

So thank you very much both for joining us.

>> Absolutely.

>> All right.

Take care.

>> Thank you for having us.

>> Thanks.

[ Music ] >> From cybersecurity to IT management, from digital media to being part of a dynamic production crew, Bates Tech offers a diverse array of programs designed to put you on a pathway to leading-edge industries.

Check out the Bates Tech website for more information on these and other exciting programs.

We hope you enjoyed this edition of "Bates Tech Today."

You can watch this episode again at kbtc.org and at batestech.edu.

And we'll leave you with just one more thing.

Esports is an exciting way for students to engage in a growing extracurricular and competitive phenomenon.

Watch these Bates Tech students, who've actually represented Bates at a national competition, take their skills to the next level.

For KBTC and Bates Technical College, I'm Phil Kane.

Thanks for watching.

>> Every single Thursday afternoon, I just get to dunk on somebody, and it just feels good.

>> ESports is very much like traditional sports.

Notably, all of the games that we play here are competition-focused.

They have a measurable statistic that allows you to compare against one another.

And to me, that's all a sport really is.

>> It's just playing video games the best you can.

That's the simplest way I would explain it.

If you are competing in Tetris, you're just going to try to play Tetris longer than your opponent does.

>> We compete in a weekly format against other schools around the nation.

And at the end of the season, you'll be given a position and a final bracket, and then you'll play in a playoff, just like in a traditional sport.

>> You're practicing a skill and you're honing it over time and improving at it.

It's just really self-rewarding.

>> What I hope to teach people from esports is like how to gather a passion into something that they're interested in, even if it's something like a video game, how to improve and set aside time in their weekly schedule to get better.

That's a really powerful thing for students, you know, consistency in matches, learning how to learn, humility and growth.

But I think the champion thing that makes this, I think, especially important is just the accessibility for students.

I like to keep this space open for students.

Bates Technical College in Tacoma really serves an underprivileged population of students, people who don't have very fancy computers at home.

They come in, they ask if they can use the consoles, you know, play the games that they kind of don't have the access to sometimes at home.

Of course, I'm going to let them use a computer.

That's what they're for.

>> I think sports and extracurriculars are useful for schools just because it makes me more like connected to being at the school.

I think if I don't have anything else going on at the side, it's a lot easier to like just clock out and like not really acknowledge the school outside of when you're there.

And it's just nice to like have another reason to get out of the house and be at school and interact with people.

>> It's just like any other sport.

You don't have to be a certain level of athletic to play a sport.

You can just decide you want to do it.

It's fun.

I think it's really welcoming.

I think tournaments are super welcoming.

This club's really welcoming.

I think anybody should try it out.

[ Music ] >> "Bates Tech Today" is supported in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.