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INSTRUCTOR SPOTLIGHT: AUGUST 2021

INSTRUCTOR SPOTLIGHT: FEBRUARY 2022

August 2021 Instructor Excellence Award:
Tara Lemieux

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Certified CMMC

Provisional Assessor &

Instructor

As a Certified CMMC Provisional Assessor and Lead Auditor for ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 20000-1, and ISO/IEC 27001, Tara has worked within the United States Intelligence Community and supported most of the 17 U.S. intelligence agencies in some capacity. After watching what has gone wrong in the world of cybersecurity, and the mistakes and vulnerabilities the United States has faced, Tara has dedicated her life to making sure those mistakes don’t happen again. She has asked herself, “What can I do to fix this?”  

Tara has always loved good instructors. As she reflects on her days sitting in the student’s spot, she says, “I thrived in situations where an instructor can make the complex understandable.” Modeling herself after those instructors, Tara’s approach in the classroom is to take an intimidating and complex topic such as cybersecurity and deliver it to her students with ease.  

It is important for Tara to convey to her students why cybersecurity is so important.  “Our nation and data is so vulnerable especially right now with increasing security threats, loss in security portfolios and private information." It is important for Tara to convey to her students why cybersecurity is so important.

“Our nation and data is so vulnerable especially right now with increasing security threats, loss in security portfolios and private information. One person can make a difference.” Tara hopes that by taking what she has learned throughout her historic career in cybersecurity, it will inspire others to better understand why this field is so important, and that they too can make a difference.  

Tara is a contributing author and Subject Matter Expert to Logical Operations and has assisted in the development in the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) training materials.  At the end of August, she will be teaching the CMMC Kickstart class along with LO’s Technology Education Jedi, Jon O’Keefe. 

Congratulations, Tara, on being recognized as Logical Operations’ August 2021 “Instructor Excellence” award winner! 

August 2021 Instructor Excellence Award:
Coston D. Dorsey

Coston D. Dorsey, MBA, PMP, MCP, is a thought leader as well as an expert Information Technology and Project Management Instructor. His primary expertise is information technology communication, specializing in SharePoint, PowerPivot, Advanced Excel, MS Project, Visio, Adobe Captivate, Google G Suite, and PMP Exam Preparation along with other foundational project management courses. Coston has also created and delivered training on proprietary software applications built by his clients.  

Coston has always had a love for computers and started his IT teaching career in 2014. He remembers getting his first computer, a Commodore 64 in 1983, and says that he has that Commodore computer to thank for where he is today saying, “I think without that, I might not have ended up in this career…that really inspired me.” Coston went on to study Finance at Virginia Tech, but his love for computers never went away.  

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Office Expert and Instructor

When a teaching opportunity fell into his lap in 2014, he seized the moment and has never looked back. It all started at ITT Technical Institute with Coston teaching Project Management.  As his confidence in his teaching ability grew, so did his repertoire of classes as he expanded into networking and virtualization classes.  He absolutely loved it and his students feel that passion in every class he delivers. One of the things Coston loves most are the bonds he builds with his students. Whenever he runs into past students, they go out of their way to say hello and tell him how great an instructor he is and how he inspired them in their careers. Coston truly believes that “by being an outstanding instructor, people see you for more than you give them in the classroom and take those lessons with them forever.” 
  
Coston teaches over 118 subjects from project management to a variety of software products. As for the saying, “Those who can’t do, teach,” Coston has used every product he teaches either personally, in an enterprise for the DoD, or for small companies. As for Coston’s favorite classes to teach, he really enjoys teaching Microsoft Project, Excel, and data analysis tools such as Tableau. 

When asked about making the adjustment to virtual delivery of classes during the pandemic, Coston said that this is nothing new to him. He began teaching virtually around 2017 because his students are located around the world.  When a large client needed to train a team of global Project Managers, he adapted and built the skills necessary to get the job done.  So, “going virtual” has not been much of an adjustment for him.  He adds, “I do miss being in a classroom with students. I miss being able to see their faces and see their body language in person. It helps gauge how the class is going and where I need to improve or makes changes.” But for now, his virtual skills are in demand, and he will continue to strive for excellence as a virtual instructor. 

So, what’s next for Coston? Well, he was recently hired by HackerU as an adjunct professor for American University learners who want to learn cybersecurity and become cyber warriors. He is excited to incorporate his prior experience and military background into this next teaching opportunity.  

Congratulations, Coston, on being recognized as Logical Operations’ August 2021 “Instructor Excellence” award winner! 

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