SFS@BAMA: Shaping the Next Generation of Cyber Professionals

University Of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa AL

Investigators

Abstract

This project seeks to address the growing national need for highly-trained, well-rounded cybersecurity professionals by recruiting scholars from three academic programs at the University of Alabama: Computer Science, Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Management Information Systems. The trans-disciplinary project leverages the complementary strengths of the three academic programs and builds on the University’s current relationships with local, state, and federal government organizations. Scholars will develop deep technical knowledge from Computer Science, an understanding of the social and behavioral aspects of cyber-crime from Criminology and Criminal Justice, and a grasp on how these concepts fit within organizational contexts from Management Information Systems. Because scholars will be exposed to topics not normally presented in their respective academic programs, they will graduate with a more well-rounded cybersecurity education than their peers. Furthermore, they will be well-prepared to take on the challenges in today’s cyber environment and to serve as leaders in the cybersecurity workforce of the future, beginning with positions in the federal government. The University of Alabama is designated as a Department of Homeland Security and National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research. This project leverages the strengths of the current cybersecurity education and research programs as well as existing relationships with federal, state, and local government organizations. This project will help close the gap between the number of highly qualified cybersecurity professionals needed and the number currently available by awarding scholarships each project year to exceptional students drawn from the Computer Science, Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Management Information Systems programs. In addition to completing the core cybersecurity courses within their chosen major, the selected scholars will take courses from the other two academic domains as part of their core curriculum. The Computer Science department offers a Cybersecurity concentration consisting of courses that provide students with a depth of technical content about many aspects of cybersecurity. The Criminology and Criminal Justice department offers one of the few Cyber Criminology minors in the United States, which focuses on applying social and behavioral sciences to the study of the causes and consequences of crimes in cyberspace. The Management Information System program also offers core cybersecurity courses that focus on the application of cybersecurity concepts in a corporate environment. In addition, scholars will receive faculty mentoring, professional development opportunities, and support as they pursue summer internships and full-time employment following graduation. This project is supported by the CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) program, which funds proposals establishing or continuing scholarship programs in cybersecurity and aligns with the U.S. National Cyber Strategy to develop a superior cybersecurity workforce. Following graduation, scholarship recipients are required to work in cybersecurity for a federal, state, local, or tribal Government organization for the same duration as their scholarship support. 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.