Lauren and Cora Bull Hall, Utica University’s cyber security and criminal justice building, will be  undergoing renovations meant to provide more resources to students on campus.  

The renovations include a new Crime Scene Lab, Cyber Range and Cybersecurity Lab.  There will also be four faculty offices on the second floor of Bull Hall to replace the current offices on the first floor. 

“Adding the Crime Scene Lab, the Cyber Range and the Cybersecurity Lab will give our students and the local community great spaces for hands-on learning opportunities,” Dean of Business and Justice, Stephanie Nesbitt said.

The new Crime Scene Lab will give space to develop and stage crime scenes for various criminal justice classes. The open floor plan is designed to be partitioned so multiple crime scenes can be staged simultaneously and left undisturbed for extended periods of time. This currently can not happen in regular classrooms because of the constant use by many classes.

The new Cyber Range will provide students with a space to practice defending and responding to cybersecurity events.  It is a controlled and interactive technology environment where students can learn how to detect, and recover from cyber-attacks.  This allows participants to practice not just the technical skills but also the teamwork, communication and leadership skills needed to succeed in the cybersecurity field. 

The Cyber Range will serve as a location for local companies to provide educational opportunities for their cybersecurity professionals.  This will then give students a chance to work with practicing professionals during educational exercises.

According to Nesbitt, significant progress is being made in accumulating the necessary $1.5 million estimated cost for these renovations.

“To date, we know that Congressperson Claudia Tenney, Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand have submitted the Crime Scene Lab as one of their Community Project Funding Requests for the fiscal year 2023,” Nesbitt said.  “This will cover about half the costs of the projects.  President Casamento, the Advancement team and I are working with several other foundations and potential donors to raise the rest of the funds needed to help complete the projects, and we are gaining a lot of interest and positive responses.”

The Crime Scene Lab is aiming to open in the Fall of 2023. The Cyber Range and Cybersecurity Lab should soon follow in the Spring of 2024.