CyberCorps Scholars: Mentoring for Success through a Community-Based Life-Cycle Approach

达文波特大学（Davenport University）新的网络军团：服务奖学金（SFS）项目将为28名学生在联邦、州、地方和部落政府工作人员的网络安全职业提供支持和准备。该项目将有助于解决密歇根州和美国各地网络安全专业人员的短缺问题，同时使网络防御领域多样化，重点是招募退伍军人、少数民族和女性。杜大独特的SFS项目将利用：级联指导模式的有效性；丰富的体验式学习课程，包括基于行业的研究以及公共和私营部门的实习；具有管理国防部网络安全奖学金计划（CySP）（前身为IASP）和信息安全与保障中心（ISaAC）编程的经验；参与大学网络防御竞赛；以及一支以学生为中心的网络安全教师队伍，他们拥有丰富的专业知识和行业经验。杜大将培养多样化的SFS学者毕业生，他们不仅掌握了严格的网络安全课程，在网络防御方面获得了丰富的行业经验，而且还培养了与同行合作的技能，在网络安全社区中建立联系，并指导有前途的网络安全学生。DU将与密歇根州的K-12机构、社区学院和工业界合作，建立一个网络教育工作组，通过外展、指导、队列发展和体验式学习来确定和解决管道中的差距。该计划的战略将被评估和传播，作为其他国家网络防御教育卓越学术中心（CAE-CD）机构复制的最佳实践。杜被指定为CAE-CD和数字取证学术卓越中心。杜大的SFS计划的目标是通过直接支持学者，并通过与大急流城教育合作伙伴协调，建立杜大招募、支持、保留和毕业未来网络安全学生的能力，解决密歇根州和全国网络安全专业人员的紧迫短缺问题。杜大的SFS项目将支持24名本科生和4名研究生攻读网络防御学位课程。其中9名本科生将从大二开始，在大急流城社区学院注册网络安全项目，然后转到杜里大学技术学院（CoT）完成他们的学士学位。SFS学者将攻读六个CoT网络安全学士课程之一或三个网络安全硕士课程之一的学位。支持和留住学生的方法包括新的队伍建设活动；与教师、校友、行业专业人士和同行进行指导的机会；职业准备和实习；学术支持;增强研究经验。杜大将利用其将学生安置在公共部门网络安全职位的记录，确保SFS学者将有能力为政府机构服务，与行政部门的联邦机构合作，并履行他们的服务义务。为了扩大内部和外部的网络安全能力，DU将与网络安全教育领域的社区合作伙伴合作，实施基于社区的生命周期方法，通过为SFS学者和其他在管道中跟随他们的学生建立指导关系，改善协调，以解决网络安全教育管道中不同时间点的人员流失问题。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 new CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program at Davenport University (DU) will support and prepare a total of 28 students for cybersecurity careers in the federal, state, local, and tribal government workforce. This program will help address the shortage of cybersecurity professionals in Michigan and across the U.S., while diversifying the cyber defense field, with a focus on recruiting veterans, minorities, and women. DU's distinctive SFS program will leverage: the efficacy of the cascade mentoring model; a robust experiential learning curriculum, including industry-based research and public and private-sector internships; experience administering the Department of Defense's Cybersecurity Scholarship Program (CySP) (formerly IASP) and Information Security and Assurance Center (ISaAC) programming; engagement in collegiate cyber defense competitions; and a student-centered cybersecurity faculty with diverse expertise and industry experience. DU will produce cohorts of diverse SFS Scholar graduates who have not only mastered a rigorous cybersecurity curriculum and gained ample industry-based experience in cyber defense but have also developed skills in collaborating with peers, creating connections within the cybersecurity community, and mentoring up-and-coming cybersecurity students. In partnership with Michigan K-12 institutions, community colleges, and industry, DU will develop a Cyber Education Taskforce that will identify and address gaps in the pipeline through outreach, mentoring, cohort development, and experiential learning. The program's strategies will be evaluated and disseminated to serve as best practices for replication at other National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CD) institutions. DU is designated as a CAE-CD and a Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence. The goal of DU's SFS program is to address the urgent shortage of cybersecurity professionals in Michigan and across the nation by directly supporting Scholars and by building DU's capacity to recruit, support, retain, and graduate future cybersecurity students in coordination with Grand Rapids educational partners. DU's SFS program will support 24 undergraduate and four graduate Scholars enrolled in cyber defense degree programs. Nine of these undergraduates will begin as sophomores enrolled in the Cyber Security Program at Grand Rapids Community College and then transfer to DU's College of Technology (CoT) to complete their bachelor's degrees. SFS Scholars will pursue degrees in one of six CoT cybersecurity bachelor's programs or in one of three cybersecurity master's programs. Methods for supporting and retaining SFS Scholars include new cohort-building activities; cascade mentoring opportunities with faculty, alumni, industry professionals, and peers; career preparation and internships; academic support; and enhanced research experiences. DU will leverage its track record in placing students in public sector cybersecurity positions to ensure that SFS Scholars will be well-equipped to serve government agencies, with federal agencies in the executive branch, and to fulfill their service obligations. To expand both internal and external cybersecurity capacity, DU will work with community partners in cybersecurity education to implement a Community-Based Life Cycle approach, which will improve coordination to address attrition at various time-points in the cybersecurity education pipeline through the creation of mentoring relationships for SFS Scholars and other students who follow them in the pipeline.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.