FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. –
The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) jointly announce the designation of the following universities as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education for academic years 2005 through 2008:
- California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CA)
- DePaul University (IL)
- East Carolina University (NC)
- Eastern Michigan University (MI)
- Nova Southeastern University (FL)
- Oklahoma State University (OK)
- United States Air Force Academy (CO) - new state
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VA)
Designation as a Center is good for three academic years, after which a university must successfully reapply in order to retain the designation. The following universities were designated as Centers during 2002. They reapplied and were successfully evaluated against strengthened criteria.
- Air Force Institute of Technology (OH)
- George Mason University (VA)
- George Washington University (DC)
- Idaho State University (ID)
- Iowa State University (IA)
- James Madison University (VA)
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM)
- North Carolina State University (NC)
- Northeastern University (MA)
- Polytechnic University, New York (NY)
- Purdue University (IN)
- State University of New York at Buffalo (NY)
- Stony Brook University (NY)
- Towson University (MD)
- University of California at Davis (CA)
- University of Idaho (ID)
- University of Maryland University College (MD)
- University of Nebraska, Omaha (NE)
- University of Texas at San Antonio (TX)
The designations and re-designations for 2005 results in a total of 67 Centers across 27 states and the District of Columbia.
Several additional universities submitted applications and many demonstrated strong potential as future Centers. They are applauded for their efforts and are encouraged to continue to develop their information assurance programs and to reapply.
Presentations will be made to the new and re-designated Centers at 9:30 a.m. on 7 June 2005, during the annual conference of the Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education. The conference will be held at the Georgia Tech Conference Center, Atlanta, GA. Information on the Colloquium and the annual conference may be found at http://www.csse.info.
The National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education Program is intended to reduce vulnerabilities in the national information infrastructure by promoting higher education in information assurance and producing a growing number of professionals with information assurance expertise in various disciplines.
The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security jointly sponsor the National Centers of Academic Excellence Program. This partnership was formed in April 2004 and responds to Priority III of the President's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, 14 February 2003, which directs the Federal Government to foster training and education programs to support the Nation's cybersecurity needs, and to increase the efficiency of existing Federal cybersecurity programs. The President's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace refers to cyberspace as the nervous system of our Nation's critical infrastructures, and indicates that the healthy functioning of cyberspace is essential to our economy and our national security. Securing cyberspace presents a difficult strategic challenge, and information assurance education is a critical component in successfully meeting that challenge.
Universities designated as Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education are eligible to apply for scholarships and grants through both the Federal (http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/due/programs/sfs) and Department of Defense (http://www.C3i.osd.mil/iasp/index.html) Information Assurance Scholarship Programs.