Utica College Breaks Ground for CIMIP

New Building for Science, Technology Complex Under Way

Written By Amanda Damiano, PR Intern

A groundbreaking ceremony begins the second phase of UC's science and technology complex, housing CIMIP, economic crime and justice study programs.

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Contact

cleogrande@utica.edu

Utica, NY (08/31/2007)

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A groundbreaking ceremony was held at Utica College Friday (Aug. 31), beginning the second phase of the college’s science and technology complex.

The new facility will provide education and research space for the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (CIMIP), as well as for UC’s economic crime and justice studies programs, said Todd S. Hutton, president.

R. Barry White, vice president for financial affairs, said the new, state-of-the-art facility will include a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), allowing UC to provide CIMIP researchers with secure access to highly confidential and classified material, as well as offer specialized training to law enforcement personnel. It will also house four teaching and research laboratories, two classrooms, a 135-seat multipurpose auditorium, and a number of faculty offices. The freestanding building will be located on the southeast side of Hubbard Hall.

Utica College’s CIMIP, the first such partnership of leading corporate, government and academic institutions, drives an aggressive research agenda that focuses on critical issues in identity management, information sharing and data protection. Corporate partners include LexisNexis, IBM and TransUnion; government partners include the U.S. Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and just joining CIMIP this week, the U.S. Marshals Service. In addition to UC, academic partners are Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute’s CERT/CC, Indiana University’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, and Syracuse University’s CASE Center.

Speaking at the groundbreaking were: Lauren Bull, chair of UC’s board of trustees; Todd S. Hutton, UC president; Michael Arcuri, congressman; Donald Rebovich, associate professor and chair of economic crime programs; Gary Gordon, professor of economic crime management and executive director of CIMIP; Norman Willox Jr., chief executive officer, LexisNexis Special Services Inc.; Michael Bryant, special agent in charge, U.S. Secret Service, Buffalo field office, and former state senator Raymond Meier.

Since its founding last year, CIMIP has garnered national attention, including a grant from the Bureau of Justice Administration (BJA), Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice, to study a significant sample of federal criminal cases to provide law enforcement with information that will assist them in combating the growing problem of identity fraud and theft.

“The construction of the new CIMIP building symbolizes the unified commitment of this unprecedented alliance of government, industry and academia in taking a global leadership role to address the critical issues of identity theft, information sharing and information protection,” said Jim Peck, CEO of LexisNexis Risk & Information Analytics Group. “The applied research produced here by CIMIP will help pave the way for the development of industry best practices and innovative technologies to address these challenges and LexisNexis pledges our continued support for this important and truly unique organization.”

Phase two, which is set to be completed and occupied by fall 2008, is a $4.5 million project. The facility will house approximately $1 million in equipment and provide an additional 22,000 square feet of space.

Phase one of the science and technology complex project is the newly constructed F. Eugene Romano Hall, which provides modern classroom, clinical, and research space, as well as faculty offices for the College’s health sciences programs.

Phase three of the project, a new teaching and research facility for the natural sciences, is slated to begin in two to three years.


About Utica College – Founded in 1946, Utica College is a comprehensive private institution that grants the Syracuse University baccalaureate degree and the Utica College master’s and doctoral degrees. The College, located in central New York, approximately 90 miles west of Albany and 50 miles east of Syracuse, currently enrolls nearly 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 32 undergraduate majors, 26 minors, 13 master’s and two doctoral degree programs.

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