CyberCorps SFS Renewal: Strengthening the National Cybersecurity Workforce

该项目将继续堪萨斯州立大学（KSU）的CyberCorps®：服务奖学金（SFS）项目，以培养高质量毕业生的历史为基础，满足国家、州、地方和部落政府对熟练网络安全人员的需求。通过新重组和精简的网络安全课程，学生将接受网络安全理论，基础知识和最新技术的全面教育。该项目还将制定网络安全战略计划，包括研究重点领域、可衡量目标以及改进和发展该计划的计划。由于堪萨斯州和中西部地区有大量服务不足的学生，主要是农村和第一代学生，堪萨斯州立大学更新的CyberCorps®项目将有助于扩大多元化和代表性不足的群体的参与。堪萨斯州立大学具有独特的地理位置，可以招收：(1)退伍军人、现役军人和非奖学金预备役军官训练团（ROTC）学生，我们与位于莱利堡的美国陆军中西部地区网络企业中心和位于威奇托的堪萨斯空军国民警卫队建立了密切的关系；(2)通过我们与农村学校和社区学院的紧密联系，帮助来自服务不足的农村地区和堪萨斯州指定机会区的第一代大学生。这一培训和教育计划将造就一支能够随时适应新形势、新技术和新计算模式的网络安全员工队伍。在大学范围内的信息和系统保障中心的保护下，CyberCorps®与KSU的国家安全局和国土安全部国家网络安全研究学术卓越中心（CAE-R）指定协同作用，吸引和留住对网络安全感兴趣的学生。参加网络安全课程的学生人数比CyberCorps®奖学金获得者人数高出80-95%。培训和教育计划将包括网络安全的特殊兴趣领域，通过多方利益相关者信息安全研究和教育（INSuRE）项目获得实际网络安全问题的实践经验，以及根据每个学生的学习风格定制指导和研究参与的年度目标和绩效评估系统。KSU教师为CyberCorps®学者提供一对一的指导和个性化的研究机会。课外活动，如网络防御俱乐部（CDC），通过小组网络安全/系统管理活动促进自学，以及参加地区和国家比赛。CDC竞赛团队在2018年允许KSU举办年度中央区域网络和安全研讨会（CANSec）方面发挥了重要作用，这是一项区域网络安全研讨会和网络防御竞赛。其他拓展活动包括K-12指导计划、每年为小学生举办的计算机机器编程小时协会、基督教青年会日托计算机科学课程、网络安全竞赛，以及在当地弗林特山探索中心博物馆举办的“复古游戏之夜”。该项目由CyberCorps®服务奖学金（SFS）计划支持，该计划为建立或继续网络安全奖学金计划的提案提供资金，并与美国国家网络战略保持一致，以培养优秀的网络安全劳动力。毕业后，奖学金获得者必须在联邦、州、地方或部落政府组织的网络安全部门工作，工作时间与奖学金支持时间相同。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。

The project will continue the CyberCorps®: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program at Kansas State University (KSU), building on a history of producing high-quality graduates that fill national, state, local, and tribal government demands for skilled cybersecurity personnel. Through a newly restructured and streamlined cybersecurity curriculum, students will receive a comprehensive education in cybersecurity theory, fundamentals, and the state of the art. This project will also result in a strategic plan for cybersecurity that includes research focus areas, measurable goals, and a plan to improve and evolve the program. As Kansas and the Midwest have a large under-served, mostly rural and first-generation student population, KSU's renewed CyberCorps® program will help broaden the participation of diverse and under-represented groups. KSU is uniquely situated to recruit: (1) veteran, active duty, and non-scholarship Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students through our proximity to, and established relationship with, the US Army’s Midwest Regional Network Enterprise Center at Fort Riley and the Kansas Air National Guard in Wichita; (2) first-generation college students from under-served rural areas and from Kansas designated Opportunity Zones, through our strong ties to rural schools and community colleges. This training and education program will result in a cybersecurity workforce that can readily adapt to new situations, technologies, and computing modalities.Under the umbrella of a university-wide Center for Information and Systems Assurance, CyberCorps® has been synergistic with KSU's National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Research (CAE-R) designation in attracting and retaining students interested in cybersecurity. The number of students enrolled in cybersecurity courses was 80-95% higher than the number of CyberCorps® scholarship recipients. The training and education program will include special interest areas in cybersecurity, hands-on experience with real-world cybersecurity problems through the multi-stakeholder Information Security Research and Education (INSuRE) project, and an annual goal and performance review system to tailor instruction and research involvement to the learning style of each student. KSU faculty provide CyberCorps® scholars with one-on-one mentoring and personalized research opportunities. Extra-curricular activities such as the Cyber Defense Club (CDC) promote self-study with small-group cybersecurity/system administration activities, as well as trips to regional and national competitions. The CDC competition team was instrumental in allowing KSU to host the annual Central Area Networking and Security Workshop (CANSec), a regional cybersecurity workshop and cyber defense competition, in 2018. Additional outreach includes a K-12 mentorship program, the annual Association of Computing Machinery Hour of Code for grade school students, YMCA daycare computer science lessons, cybersecurity competitions, and a "Retro Gaming Night" at the local Flint Hills Discovery Center museum.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.