The Role of Community Colleges in Cybersecurity Education: Future Directions

2002年，美国国家科学基金会和美国社区学院协会召开了一次研讨会，并发表了一份题为《社区学院在网络安全教育中的作用》的开创性报告。当时，社区大学几乎没有网络安全方面的课程。研讨会和最终的报告为社区大学在接下来的几年里建立网络安全项目提供了蓝图。自2002年以来，网络安全教育发生了巨大的变化，国家的网络安全威胁和需求也发生了变化。如今，信息技术以外的许多领域——如能源、生物技术、医疗保健和金融部门——都依赖于网络安全，需要具备相关知识和技能的员工。在该项目中，Whatcom社区学院和Moraine Valley社区学院（两个高级技术教育（ATE）网络安全教育中心的所在地）将召开研讨会并编写一份报告，该报告将审查2020年社区学院的网络安全教育状况，并将确定未来几年的挑战、机遇和行动计划。2020年的研讨会将涉及来自学术界、工业界和政府的约150名专家，将评估自2002年研讨会以来社区大学对网络安全教育的影响，以及社区大学网络安全项目毕业生在国家网络安全劳动力中发挥的作用。研讨会还将确定社区大学课程应涉及的前沿和新兴主题，并特别关注当今网络安全的跨学科性质。最终报告将向学术界、工业界和政府提出需求、挑战、机遇和建议。这样，它将更新2002年的愿景，并在未来几年塑造社区大学在网络安全教育中的角色。最终，该项目将改善全国社区大学的网络安全教育并使其现代化，帮助解决对训练有素的毕业生的持续需求，以服务于许多依赖具有一定程度网络安全知识和技能的工人的经济部门。该项目由先进技术教育（ATE）计划资助，该计划侧重于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In 2002, the National Science Foundation and the American Association of Community Colleges convened a workshop and produced a pioneering report on "The Role of Community Colleges in Cybersecurity Education." At that time, community colleges had virtually no courses or curricula focusing on cybersecurity. The workshop and resulting report provided a blueprint for community colleges to build cybersecurity programs during the following years. Cybersecurity education has evolved dramatically since 2002, and the cybersecurity threats and needs of the nation have also evolved. Today, many fields outside information technology -- such as energy, biotechnology, healthcare, and the financial sector -- depend on cybersecurity and need workers with relevant knowledge and skills. In this project, Whatcom Community College and Moraine Valley Community College, the homes of two Advanced Technological Education (ATE) centers for cybersecurity education, will convene a workshop and produce a report that will examine the state of cybersecurity education at community colleges in 2020 and will identify challenges, opportunities, and an action plan for the coming years.The 2020 workshop, which will involve approximately 150 experts from academia, industry, and government, will assess the impact that community colleges have had on cybersecurity education since the 2002 workshop and the role that graduates of community college cybersecurity programs have come to play in the nation's cybersecurity workforce. The workshop will also identify cutting-edge and emerging topics that community college curricula should address, with special attention to the cross-disciplinary nature of cybersecurity today. The resulting report will present needs, challenges, opportunities, and recommendations for academia, industry, and government. In so doing, it will update the 2002 vision and shape the role of community colleges in cybersecurity education for the coming years. Ultimately, this project will improve and modernize cybersecurity education at community colleges nationwide, helping to address the persistent need for well-trained graduates to serve the many economic sectors that depend on workers with some level of cybersecurity knowledge and skills.This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program, which focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.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.