CyberCorps Scholarship for Service: Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity and Cyber Forensics

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville TX

Investigators

Abstract

Sam Houston State University (SHSU) establishes a CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) program to serve four cohort classes of undergraduate and graduate students with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary education and research opportunities for scholars. The program will prepare highly qualified students to become cyber leaders in the government workforce, with goals of increasing the percentage of scholars who are transferring from community colleges. SHSU is a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education designated by National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security. The SHSU SFS program will build networks of universities and community colleges in the region recruiting cyber scholars. The SFS program at SHSU will educate and train scholars in different aspects of cybersecurity, such as Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Digital Forensics, and more. The interdisciplinary collaboration offers practical experiences to ease the transition into the workforce. The unique cross-department collaborative environment at SHSU will develop an interdisciplinary approach to educating and training cybersecurity workforce. Students will be prepared to make substantial contributions to our country’s cybersecurity defenses. This program targets the final two or three years of undergraduate and graduate students. The selected scholars will receive academic advisement, research and career mentoring, extracurricular activities, and coordinating placement with Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for internships and service. 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.