CyberCorps Scholars: Mentoring for Success through a Community-Based Life-Cycle Approach

Davenport University, Grand Rapids MI

Investigators

Abstract

The new CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program at Davenport University (DU) will support and prepare a total of 28 students for cybersecurity careers in the federal, state, local, and tribal government workforce. This program will help address the shortage of cybersecurity professionals in Michigan and across the U.S., while diversifying the cyber defense field, with a focus on recruiting veterans, minorities, and women. DU's distinctive SFS program will leverage: the efficacy of the cascade mentoring model; a robust experiential learning curriculum, including industry-based research and public and private-sector internships; experience administering the Department of Defense's Cybersecurity Scholarship Program (CySP) (formerly IASP) and Information Security and Assurance Center (ISaAC) programming; engagement in collegiate cyber defense competitions; and a student-centered cybersecurity faculty with diverse expertise and industry experience. DU will produce cohorts of diverse SFS Scholar graduates who have not only mastered a rigorous cybersecurity curriculum and gained ample industry-based experience in cyber defense but have also developed skills in collaborating with peers, creating connections within the cybersecurity community, and mentoring up-and-coming cybersecurity students. In partnership with Michigan K-12 institutions, community colleges, and industry, DU will develop a Cyber Education Taskforce that will identify and address gaps in the pipeline through outreach, mentoring, cohort development, and experiential learning. The program's strategies will be evaluated and disseminated to serve as best practices for replication at other National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CD) institutions. DU is designated as a CAE-CD and a Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence. The goal of DU's SFS program is to address the urgent shortage of cybersecurity professionals in Michigan and across the nation by directly supporting Scholars and by building DU's capacity to recruit, support, retain, and graduate future cybersecurity students in coordination with Grand Rapids educational partners. DU's SFS program will support 24 undergraduate and four graduate Scholars enrolled in cyber defense degree programs. Nine of these undergraduates will begin as sophomores enrolled in the Cyber Security Program at Grand Rapids Community College and then transfer to DU's College of Technology (CoT) to complete their bachelor's degrees. SFS Scholars will pursue degrees in one of six CoT cybersecurity bachelor's programs or in one of three cybersecurity master's programs. Methods for supporting and retaining SFS Scholars include new cohort-building activities; cascade mentoring opportunities with faculty, alumni, industry professionals, and peers; career preparation and internships; academic support; and enhanced research experiences. DU will leverage its track record in placing students in public sector cybersecurity positions to ensure that SFS Scholars will be well-equipped to serve government agencies, with federal agencies in the executive branch, and to fulfill their service obligations. To expand both internal and external cybersecurity capacity, DU will work with community partners in cybersecurity education to implement a Community-Based Life Cycle approach, which will improve coordination to address attrition at various time-points in the cybersecurity education pipeline through the creation of mentoring relationships for SFS Scholars and other students who follow them in the pipeline. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.