The student-led SOC will provide Marshall students with an immersive experience in threat detection, incident response, log analysis, and adversary emulation, mirroring the operational tempo and tooling of modern enterprise security environments. Under faculty supervision and industry mentorship, students will operate in structured analyst tiers, developing mission-ready capabilities aligned to workforce needs across government, defense, financial services, and critical infrastructure sectors.
The partnership reflects a shared commitment to strengthening the national cybersecurity workforce pipeline and advancing secure digital ecosystems.
“This partnership represents the convergence of education and operational reality,” said Alex Donathan, Executive Director of the Institute for Cybersecurity at Marshall University. “By building a student-led SOC in collaboration with Intuit, we are not simulating cyber defense; we are operationalizing it. Our students graduate mission-ready, with experience that directly translates to protecting enterprise systems and national infrastructure.”
“To protect the digital ecosystem of tomorrow, we need a pipeline of cyber talent with real-world expertise,” said Atticus Tysen, Intuit’s Chief Information Security Officer. “Working with Marshall University to build a student-led Security Operations Center provides exactly that—an immersive training ground for cyber defense. This investment ensures students are mission-ready from day one, having mastered the hands-on skills required to secure enterprise systems at scale.”
Today’s announcement marks a significant milestone for Intuit and Marshall University in fulfilling a commitment made in March 2025 to enhance education and economic development in West Virginia. Together, the organizations are cultivating a robust talent pipeline for tech-driven jobs, like cybersecurity, as a core element of their overarching partnership agreement forged last spring.
The SOC will integrate enterprise-grade security tooling, structured playbooks, and industry-informed governance frameworks. Students will gain exposure to:
- Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) platforms
- Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) technologies
- Threat intelligence workflows
- Compliance and audit documentation processes
- Executive-level incident reporting
In addition to experiential learning, the SOC will support research initiatives, workforce development programming, and community cybersecurity assistance efforts across West Virginia and the Appalachian region.
Through this collaboration, Intuit is investing in a cybersecurity talent pipeline and scalable workforce model—one that blends academic rigor, operational discipline, and real-world threat exposure.
The student-led SOC will begin phased implementation in the upcoming academic year, with measurable performance benchmarks and workforce placement metrics tracked annually.
For more information about the Institute for Cyber Security, visit www.marshall.edu/cyber.