SaTC: EDU: Creating Cybersecurity Pathways Between Community Colleges and Universities

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The ability of higher education institutions to produce cybersecurity professionals has not kept pace with the demand for cybersecurity graduates. While some available cybersecurity jobs can be filled with high school graduates and community college graduates, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the "typical" degree requirement for these jobs is a bachelor's degree. Given the ability of community colleges to attract and serve disadvantaged and minority students, in order to more fully attract these students into the "typical" cybersecurity job, it is important that pathways between community colleges and higher education institutions be created. In addition to the pathways, activities connecting cybersecurity community college students and university students are needed. Common issues that community college students face (including cybersecurity students) as they transfer to four year institutions are credits not transferring, the lack of preparation in theoretical foundation within the discipline, and isolation at the four-year university. Intentional programming and coordinated efforts between faculty from the multiple institutions that students attend can help to address these issues. Because many cybersecurity community college programs are offered as applied degrees that do not easily transfer into upper level university programs, an opportunity exists to connect these community college programs with interdisciplinary bachelor's degree programs at universities. Addressing this opportunity, the Hampton Roads Cybersecurity Education, Workforce, and Economic Development Alliance (HRCyber) connected cybersecurity programs at three community colleges (Tidewater Community College, Northern Virginia Community College, and Thomas Nelson Community College) with Old Dominion University by creating formal academic pathways for students.In an effort to evaluate the success of HRCyber and further their efforts to strengthen and better understand the pathways, in this project, the investigators will (1) define an interdisciplinary body of knowledge that establishes pathways between community colleges and universities; (2) evaluate the effects of interdisciplinary and inter-institutional cybersecurity programming on student learning by analyzing students' electronic portfolios; (3) examine whether interdisciplinary and inter-institutional programming encourages diversity; (4) identify strategies to effectively use peer mentors for transfer students; (5) identify strategies to strengthen cybersecurity pathways between educational institutions guided by NSA designations at the associate's and bachelor's level; (6) evaluate the impact of cybersecurity competitions in an inter-institutional environment; (7) identify strategies to enhance partnerships between cybersecurity community college and four-year programs; and (8) eisseminate the project results to assist other institutions to implement similar programs and courses.NSF's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program is providing co-funding for this project in recognition of its contribution to technician education in community colleges.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.