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

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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.