Revamping a Traditional Computer Science Program to Meet Modern-day Cybersecurity Education Challenges

国家越来越需要加强网络安全教育工作，以便劳动力准备好抵御当前和未来的网络威胁。学院和大学需要越来越多地培养全面发展的计算机专业人员，他们意识到并有能力减轻网络威胁。休斯顿大学清湖分校（UHCL）的该项目的目标是开发一种可行的方法来改进传统的计算机科学学位课程。拟议工作的更广泛影响包括：i)一种经过测试的方法，用于使国家传统计算机科学学位课程现代化，以纳入网络威胁意识和网络安全知识与技能；Ii)网络安全的师资和课程发展；Iii)更新实验室和课程材料，供其他小型学院和大学在改进网络安全项目时采用；四是扩大产学研合作；v)增加了学生在西班牙裔服务机构（如UHCL）从事网络安全专业职业的机会。该项目将与网络安全和教育专业人员建立合作，以维持课程模块、课程和学位课程的有效开发和评估。此外，它将调查nsf资助的项目和其他资源，以创建可用课程材料、实践实验室和学位项目信息的清单，以支持网络防御教育。此外，该项目将制定一项计划，通过让教育工作者参与各种项目，将网络安全教育有效地整合到现有项目中，并分析计划变更对现有项目认证的潜在影响。该方法将寻求让本科生和研究生参与拟议项目的各个方面。因此，该项目将产生一种严格且可采用的方法，使传统计算机程序现代化，以满足国家对培养更有能力的网络安全专业人员的需求。

There is a growing national need for strengthening cybersecurity education efforts so that the workforce is ready to defend against current and future cyber threats. Colleges and universities need to increasingly produce well-rounded computing professionals that are aware and capable of mitigating cyber threats. The goal of the project from the University of Houston - Clear Lake (UHCL), is to develop a feasible approach to revamp traditional computer science degree programs. The broader impact of the proposed work includes: i) a tested approach for modernizing the nation's traditional computer science degree programs to incorporate cyber threats awareness and cybersecurity knowledge and skills; ii) faculty and curricular development in cybersecurity; iii) updated labs and course materials for other small colleges and universities to adopt when revamping cybersecurity programs; iv) expanded academia-industry collaboration; v) increased opportunities for students in a Hispanic-serving institutions such as UHCL to pursue professional careers in cybersecurity.The project will establish collaboration with cybersecurity and educational professionals to sustain effective development and evaluation of course modules, courses, and degree programs. In addition, it will investigate NSF-funded programs and other resources to create an inventory of available course materials, hands-on labs, and degree program information to support Cyber Defense education. Further, the project will devise a plan to effectively integrate cybersecurity education into the existing programs by engaging educators in a variety of programs, and analyze the potential impact of the planned changes on existing program accreditations. The approach will seek to engage undergraduate and graduate students in various aspects of the proposed project. As a result, this project will produce a rigorous and adoptable approach of modernizing a traditional computer program to meet the nation's need for educating more capable cybersecurity professionals.