Cybersecurity Fellows: The Scholarship for Service Program at Georgetown University

Georgetown University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This project seeks to establish a new CyberCorps®: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program at Georgetown University to prepare highly-qualified cybersecurity professionals for entry into the federal, state, local, or tribal government workforce. The proposal presents an innovative education program that takes a multifaceted approach to cybersecurity. The Cybersecurity Fellows Program at Georgetown will provide students with a broad view of cybersecurity. SFS students will not only learn the technical aspects of cybersecurity but will also understand domestic and foreign policy, politics, business, culture, and ethics. It is this broad view that the graduates of the proposed program will bring to Federal, State, Local, and Tribal Government organizations. The team has extensive experience in multiple areas within cybersecurity and has an established record of successfully engaging students in research, professional development, and in placing graduates in government organizations. More of Georgetown students have been choosing technical fields and the introductory computer science course enrollment has almost tripled in the last four years. The Cybersecurity Fellows program aims to diversify the cybersecurity workforce by recruiting, graduating, and placing women and members of underrepresented groups in government positions. The project will use Georgetown's relationship with the Cristo Rey network of high schools to recruit underrepresented students from urban schools to Georgetown. The Regents Scholars Program, a summer bridge program for underrepresented students in STEM, will help usher in well-prepared students for a rigorous science curriculum. The Cybersecurity Fellows program will offer additional faculty mentoring, interdisciplinary academic programming, and job placement services. Georgetown is designated as a DHS/NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research and its security programs are highly interdisciplinary with other areas including policy, law, international studies, and data science. The SFS students will be offered cybersecurity degrees in Computer Science; Science, Technology, and International Affairs; Security Studies; Public Policy; and Technology Management. Some examples of the interdisciplinary nature of the program include courses such as: Surveillance and Censorship; Information Warfare; Cyberspace and American Power; Cyber Conflict and Policy Dilemma; and Cybersecurity Conflict and Policy. Faculty members in the Computer Science department regularly collaborate and maintain strong ties with government organizations, including the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Naval Academy, and the National Institutes of Health. Students will have an opportunity to participate in applied and basic research on software security, system security and software technology problems in Georgetown's Security and Software Engineering Research Center.