Developing Cybersecurity Technicians through Expanded Pathways in Rural and Underserved Communities

通过扩大农村和服务欠缺社区的途径培养网络安全技术人员

• 批准号: 2201993
• 负责人: Steve Dibona
• 金额: $ 33.21万
• 依托单位: Lakeshore Technical College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2201993&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Developing; Cybersecurity; Technicians; through; Expanded

Cybersecurity is critical to the protection of computer systems and networks. Many businesses and organizations need to hire cybersecurity professionals to protect their cyberinfrastructure from persistent and increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. The demand for cybersecurity technicians in Wisconsin is unmet with only eight of the 16 Wisconsin Technical College System districts in the State offering the “IT – Cybersecurity Specialist” credential degree program. The goal of this project is to create a Cybersecurity associate degree program at Lakeshore Technical College that will establish a cybersecurity educational pipeline and will recruit and prepare women, low-income, and racial and ethnic minority students underrepresented as Cybersecurity Technicians. The project will stimulate interest from rural high schools and underrepresented students through a Cyber summer camp, sponsorship of a Cyber Patriot Team, and participation in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. First-term college classes will be delivered free of charge via distance learning by faculty as well as through trained high school instructors, providing high school students a means to complete a Cybersecurity associate degree in as little as eighteen months after graduating high school.The proposed Cybersecurity associate degree program will focus on attaining the skills required for entry-level cybersecurity technicians. Eight cybersecurity employers, including large regional employers like Kohler and Johnsonville, will partner with the project to lead program design, create a scholarship initiative, and assist with recruitment efforts through the Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT). At least five BILT members will represent underrepresented groups, serve as mentors to high school students, and provide representation at classroom visits and recruitment events in district high schools leading to enrollments in first-term college classes conducted in partnering high schools. The development of this talent pipeline will support the rural and manufacturing dominant economy in east-central Wisconsin by increasing skilled cybersecurity technicians to protect local IT infrastructure from nefarious attacks on data and systems. The educational systems developed provide a transferable model, suitable for many community or technical colleges, and leading to better national representation of women, racial and ethnic minorities, and people from low-income backgrounds in the high paying cybersecurity technician workforce.This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that 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.

网络安全对于保护计算机系统和网络至关重要。许多企业和组织需要聘请网络安全专业人员来保护其网络基础设施免受持续和日益复杂的网络攻击。威斯康星州对网络安全技术人员的需求未得到满足，该州16个威斯康星州技术学院系统区中只有8个提供“IT -网络安全专家”证书学位课程。该项目的目标是在Lakeshore Technical College创建网络安全副学士学位课程，该课程将建立网络安全教育管道，并将招募和准备女性，低收入以及种族和少数民族学生作为网络安全技术人员。该项目将通过网络夏令营、赞助网络爱国者队和参加全国大学生网络防御竞赛来激发农村高中和代表性不足的学生的兴趣。大学第一学期的课程将通过教师的远程学习以及经过培训的高中教师免费提供，为高中生提供一种在高中毕业后短短18个月内完成网络安全副学士学位的方法。拟议的网络安全副学士学位课程将专注于获得入门级网络安全技术人员所需的技能。八家网络安全雇主，包括科勒和约翰逊维尔等大型区域雇主，将与该项目合作，领导项目设计，创建奖学金计划，并通过商业和工业领导团队（BILT）协助招聘工作。至少有五名BILT成员将代表代表性不足的群体，担任高中生的导师，并在地区高中的课堂访问和招聘活动中提供代表，从而在合作高中进行的第一学期大学课程中入学。这一人才管道的发展将通过增加熟练的网络安全技术人员来支持威斯康星州中东部的农村和制造业主导经济，以保护当地IT基础设施免受对数据和系统的恶意攻击。所发展的教育制度提供了一种可转移的模式，适用于许多社区或技术学院，并导致妇女、种族和少数民族在全国的代表性增加，以及来自低收入背景的高薪网络安全技术人员队伍。该项目由高级技术教育计划资助，该计划专注于技术人员的教育，该奖项反映了NSF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。