The Cyber Catch Scholarship Program

Indiana University Of Pennsylvania, Indiana PA

Investigators

Abstract

The Cyber Catch Scholarship (CCS) program offered by Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Center of Academic Excellence In Information Assurance Education is a CyberCorps®: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program which is supporting four cohorts of undergraduate students in Information Assurance (IA). The program awards scholarships to undergraduate IUP students that are either undecided with interest in cybersecurity or Computer Science majors with IA concentration, and students transferring from area community colleges into IUP's IA concentration. The goals of this project include: (a) Providing a strong mentoring system that includes faculty advising, peer mentoring, scholarship opportunities, and community building activities. (b) Preparing scholars for IA employment by engaging them in an enriched research plan and an internship program. (c) Building on existing programs/resources at IUP. (d) Providing financial/travel support for student mentored projects to be presented at local and national conferences. (e) Providing students with opportunities to interact with IA experts from industry and academia through the established IUP IA day and other conferences. The CCS aims to improve educational opportunities for students, increase retention of students to degree achievement, improve student support programs at IUP and increase the numbers of IA-educated, skilled employees in technical areas of national need. This initiative provides for the identification and recruitment of area community college students who are interested in pursuing an IA concentration at IUP, as well as campus students who have interest in the field. Continual development of an infrastructure that will support and encourage an increase in the number of students entering the IA program, now and in the future, is a focus of the project. This infrastructure will strengthen already established linkages through which the pool of student talent at community colleges gains access to continued study at a four-year, liberal arts institutions like IUP.