| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 15, 2013 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | May 26, 2015 |
| Award Number: | 1303941 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
R. Corby Hovis
chovis@nsf.gov (703)292-4625 DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | January 1, 2014 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $493,382.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $493,382.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2014 = $204,039.00 FY 2015 = $143,913.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
301 S 68TH STREET PL LINCOLN NE US 68510-2449 (402)323-3410 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
8800 O Street Lincoln NE US 68520-1299 |
| Primary Place of Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Advanced Tech Education Prog |
| Primary Program Source: |
04001415DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04001516DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
There is a growing demand for cybersecurity knowledge and skills in organizations of all types. To meet this need, this project is adapting and implementing cybersecurity curricula, strengthening the recruitment and retention of students in information technology (IT), and providing professional development in cybersecurity for educators and industry professionals.
By adapting curricula developed through CyberWatch, an ATE National Center of Excellence, the project is developing an associate degree that meets the requirements for transfer to four-year institutions. To ensure transferability and relevance, the curriculum incorporates standards required for the Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education-Two Year (CAE2Y) designation.
Incumbent IT workers often lack adequate training in cybersecurity. To fill this skills gap in the current workforce, the project team is collaborating with local employers to package credit-bearing curricula into a model online/blended training track culminating in a Certificate of Completion.
To produce more graduates for the high-demand, high-pay career pathways that IT and cybersecurity offer, the project is working to increase graduation rates in the college's Computer Information Technology program and is working to increase the number of women students, in particular, who enroll in the program. The project team is reviewing and modifying curricula to include active learning strategies, such as the "flipped" classroom, as a means to engage students, heighten learning, and improve retention. The project is also providing faculty with training on gender-inclusive practices to help overcome stereotypes that discourage women from pursuing careers in computing.
The project is collaborating with the Midwest Center for Information Technology (MCIT), an NSF ATE Regional Center of Excellence based in Omaha, NE, to provide professional development in cybersecurity to community college faculty, high school teachers, and industry representatives in a four-state region during MCIT's annual "Working Connections" conference.
Collaboration with MCIT and CyberWatch provides a means of nationally disseminating the project's new curricula and other models.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The SECURE-IT project was an innovative and now fully sustained educational program at Southeast Community College (SCC) in Lincoln, Nebraska that responds to the national need for cyber security in organizations of all types in today's computer-connected society. SECURE-IT focused on the community college educational pathways that are critical to supporting overall national cyber security efforts. The program was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technical Education Program (ATE). The program collaborated widely with area employers, educators, and the military to help support the critical demand for additional training and education to meet growing information security needs. The project sought to increase the availability and quality of training in cyber security for a growing diversity of community college students in Nebraska and beyond, with a special consideration for recruiting women into SCC's Computer Information Technology (CIT) program.
The intellectual merit of the project entailed the development of a well-focused and model cybersecurity coursework sequence for community college students. The coursework takes full advantage of new educational and cloud technologies, engages a wide range of stakeholders, and articulates well with area high schools and 4-year colleges. The broader impacts of the project particularly included the increased ability of the program's cyber security elements to cross into other information technology curriculums and a raised awareness of area stakeholders about the importance of cyber security. Further the program helped the overall CIT program to consider technology-rich educational strategies such as blended and online learning, that also informed other SCC programs and encouraged wider collaborations with area stakeholders in IT contextualization efforts.
The overall outcomes of the SECURE-IT program include the following:
1) A core of five interrelated cyber security courses, that meet national standards and parallels the coursework of various cyber security centers and leaders, including organizations such as CyberWatch and the Army National Guard.
2) The establishment of a wide variety of IT educational pathways that synergize with the courses, including Associate of Applied Science and certificate programs.
3) A synergistic approach for 564 students within the overall CIT program, in a well-focused program refined by input from a wide range of stakeholders, that also improved women enrollments by 67% from 64 to 107 students.
4) A fully sustained program, that is now being completely supported by SCC and other partners, that has also expanded with additional faculty.
5) A range of professional development sessions, outreach, workshops, presentations and engagement experiences that involved fundamentals of cyber security.
6) A full range of recruitment materials, that continue to be used and expanded.
7) An array of articulation agreements with area High Schools and 4-year institutions that support cyber security education from high school to college to career.
Last Modified: 01/31/2018
Modified by: Linda Bettinger
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The SECURE-IT Program is now routinely graduating IT and Cybersecurity Specialists.SCCPublic DomainLinda BettingerSCC Graduates IT and Cybersecurity Specialists -
The SEURE-IT program emphasized the Cybersecurity is multi-faceted and includes software, hardware and human considerations.SCCPublic DomainLinda BettingerCybersecurity is More Than Software -
SECURE-IT reinforced that cybersecurity is a growing and dynamic career field, particularly for focused individuals who can see the bigger picture of technology and its use.SCCCopyrightedLinda BettingerCybersecurity Focused Concentration -
The SECURE-IT program strongly recruited, engaged and supported women students.SCCPublic DomainLinda BettingerSECURE-IT Put an Emphasis on Recruiting Women Students
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