Donor Support Helps SSU Students Build Their Own Digital Forensics Lab
With a campus grant from the SSU Foundation, 16 Shawnee State University students did something students rarely get to do: they helped build the digital forensics lab they would learn in.
Digital forensics is the work of investigating cyber-attacks and crimes by examining evidence on computers and other devices, and students need real equipment to practice it. Donor support made that equipment possible, and the students helped put it in place.
Jackson Gullett working at the DFIR workstation
Your generosity makes campus grants possible, and those grants enhance learning, research, and innovation across the university. With one of them, students in ISCS 4999 installed a new computer server, added 70 terabytes of storage for the data they analyze, and made the lab’s network ten times faster. They also set up dashboard screens and wrote two guides documenting their work.
The project didn’t start smoothly though, and that was part of the lesson. Supply chain delays forced three changes to the purchasing plan, and the students adapted each time.
“They saw firsthand that professional IT projects require flexibility, contingency planning, and the ability to deliver results under changing conditions,” said ISCS instructor Christopher Zornes. “This is a skill that cannot be simulated.”
For student Jackson Gullett, building the lab changed what it meant to finish the class.
“Usually, we walk into a lab that someone else built. This time, we got to help build it ourselves, and that made finishing the class in it something to be proud of,” Gullett said.
Grace Hall with the lab’s digital signage, which becomes a dashboard and cyber operations control center during DFIR exercises
The upgrades are already making a difference. The faster network lets students practice investigations during class time, and the lab now supports more students at once, including those just starting out in cybersecurity.
For student Nicole Hanks, who took the digital forensics course and served as the lab tech for the room, the work pointed toward a career.
Nicole Hanks working with the new lab equipment
“The new equipment enabled us to dive much deeper into forensics and from that I was able to discover what I want to become after graduation,” Hanks said.
Hanks is now part of the next phase of the project, which is driven by continued donor support to the SSU Foundation.
“I feel that this grant really impacted the students because it gave them ownership of the lab,” Zornes said.
Your support gives students hands-on experience with the tools they will use in the workforce, and that experience carries into the organizations and communities they go on to serve.
To make a donation to help fund opportunities for students like these, please visit givetossu.com, and consider joining us this December 1 for Day of Giving 2026 to raise $50,000 for Shawnee State University.