A Community College and Industry Partnership to Produce a Highly Qualified Cybersecurity Workforce

确保计算机和信息系统的安全是一项重大挑战。企业、工业和政府需要训练有素的技术人员，他们可以预防、检测和调查网络安全漏洞。网络威胁的增长催生了对更多拥有适当、特定知识和技能的工人的需求。在全国范围内，雇主调查显示，只有一小部分大学和学院为毕业生的网络安全工作做好了充分的准备。科罗拉多州是网络安全工作的主要中心，该学院在丹佛地铁和科罗拉多斯普林斯地区有9000多个网络安全职位空缺。其中超过1,200个职位可以由拥有应用科学副学士学位的个人填补。该项目将培养合格的网络安全专业人员和信息安全分析员，使区域劳动力受益。该项目将创建和实施一个符合业务需求和联邦标准的响应性AAS网络安全计划。该方法将侧重于整合体验式学习和基于项目的学习，为学生提供真实世界的体验，创造从课堂到劳动力的无缝连续性，并使学生掌握21世纪的就业能力技能。该学院打算实现网络防御学术卓越中心的指定。这一指定，加上将课程与联邦标准相对应，将使学生掌握必要的知识、技能和能力，以保护和保卫国家的基础设施。该项目还将侧重于增加妇女对网络安全的参与。该项目有三个目标：(1)解决该学院服务的地区对网络安全技术人员的未得到满足的需求；(2)通过招收更多女性学生来增强网络安全领域的性别多样性(目标是至少20%的学生是女性)；(3)提高获得网络安全AAS学位的保留率和坚持性。该项目将采用、调整和评估通过科罗拉多社区学院系统、国家网络观察中心和其他NSF高级技术教育项目开发的材料和方法。它还将开发一门新的安全风险管理课程。与区域商业和工业领导团队的合作将确保该项目能够创建一个强大的课程，提供从课堂到工作场所的无缝连续性，并满足行业标准。此外，与多样性和组织变革方面的主题专家的合作，以及与高中的合作，将促进该学院网络安全计划中女性的招聘、留住和完成。通过使用远程教育和远程访问实验室，该项目将覆盖科罗拉多州以外的地区。开发的新课程将被添加到CCCS数据库中，并将适用于系统中的所有13所大学和全国其他大学。发现的最佳实践将通过国家网络观察中心、ATE中心、社区大学网络峰会和国家融合技术中心，以及通过侧重于网络安全和体验教育的国家会议在全国范围内传播。该项目由高级技术教育计划资助，该计划专注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NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Keeping computers and information systems secure is a major challenge. Business, industry, and government need well-prepared technicians who can prevent, detect, and investigate cybersecurity breaches. The growth of cyber-threats has created a need for many more workers who have appropriate, specific knowledge and skills. Nationwide, employer surveys indicate that only a small percentage of universities and colleges fully prepare graduates for cybersecurity jobs. Colorado is a major hub for cybersecurity jobs, with over 9,000 open cybersecurity positions in the Denver Metro and Colorado Springs areas, which are served by the college. Over 1,200 of these jobs can be filled by individuals who have an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree. This project will prepare well-qualified cybersecurity professionals and information security analysts to benefit the regional workforce. The project will create and implement a responsive AAS cybersecurity program aligned with business needs and Federal standards. The approach will focus on integrating experiential and project-based learning to provide students with real-world experiences, to create seamless continuity from classroom to workforce, and to equip students with 21st-century employability skills. The college intends to achieve a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense designation. This designation, along with mapping the curriculum to the Federal standards, will equip students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to protect and defend the nation's infrastructure. The project will also focus on increasing the participation of women in cybersecurity. The project has three goals: (1) to address the unmet demand for cybersecurity technicians in the region served by the college; (2) to enhance gender diversity in cybersecurity by recruiting more female students into the program (the aim is for at least 20% of the students to be women); and (3) to improve retention and persistence in the attainment of an AAS degree in cybersecurity. The project will adopt, adapt, and evaluate materials and methods developed through the Colorado Community College System, the National CyberWatch Center, and other NSF Advanced Technological Education projects. It will also develop a new course in Security Risk Management. Collaboration with a regional Business and Industry Leadership Team will ensure that the project can create a robust curriculum that provides seamless continuity from the classroom to the workplace and meets industry standards. In addition, collaboration with a subject matter expert on diversity and organizational change, along with partnerships with high schools, will facilitate the recruitment, retention, and completion of women in the college's cybersecurity program. By using distance education and remote-access labs, the project will reach beyond Colorado. The new courses that are developed will be added to the CCCS database and will be available for all 13 colleges in the system and other colleges across the nation. The best practices that are discovered will be disseminated nationally through the National CyberWatch Center, ATE Central, the Community College Cyber Summit, and the National Convergence Technology Center, as well as through national conferences that focus on cybersecurity and experiential education. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education 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.