National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education
In March 2005, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security designated Nova Southeastern University (NSU) a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education for the academic years 2005-2008. Official letters of notification from NSA were sent to NSU’s President Ray Ferrero, Florida’s Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Members of Congress, and appropriate Congressional Committees.
Securing cyberspace and information infrastructures is more important now than ever before. NSA’s goal in establishing centers of academic excellence is to reduce vulnerability in our national information infrastructure by promoting higher education in information assurance (IA) and producing more professionals with IA expertise in various disciplines. This designation applies to the entire university.
Benefits and features of the program are:
1. Prestige: national recognition for NSU in information assurance/security
2. NSU will be expected to serve as a regional center of expertise in IA
3. NSU students will be eligible for scholarships and grants under two programs:
- DoD Information Assurance Scholarship Program
- Federal Cyber Service Scholarship for Service Program (SFS)
4. Eligibility of NSU faculty/staff for grants and contracts from NSA and DoD
At the date of NSU’s designation NSA has established 55 such national centers of excellence in the U.S. The only other university with that distinction in Florida is Florida State University. Examples of other centers of excellence:
- Stanford University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Johns Hopkins University
- University of Illinois
- University of North Carolina
- Carnegie Mellon
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Virginia
- University of Massachusetts
In order to apply, institutions must first obtain certification by NSA of their curriculum in information security – for NSU this was accomplished in April 2004. The benefits of such certification:
(1) NSU was added to NSA's list of referrals for students who seek training in the information security.
(2) Federal civilian and military personnel are able to take NSU’s security courses under government sponsorship and obtain special recognition under the certification.
(3) NSU is authorized to issue certificates using NSA’s logo to students who complete its certified courses.
NSU’s proposal for the National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education had to satisfy ten NSA major criteria (including 32 sub-criteria). The major criteria are listed below:
1. Partnerships in IA Education
2. IA treated as a Multidisciplinary Science (taught within existing courses in other programs)
3. University Encourages the Practice of Information Assurance (NSU security policy, appointed Information Systems Security Officer)
4. Academic Program Encourages Research in IA (more than 15 ongoing dissertations in IA; six already completed)
5. IA Curriculum Reaches Beyond Geographic Borders
6. Faculty Active in IA Practice and Research and Contribute to IA Literature (over 30 paper in last 2 years)
7. State-of the-Art IA Resources (new security laboratory (SARDIS); state-of-the-art library in IA)
8. Declared concentrations (e.g., B.S., M.S., PhD)
9. Declared center (focus) for IA education/research (SCIS)
10. Full-time IA Faculty
NSA’s website for the Centers of Academic Excellence: http://www.nsa.gov/ia/academia/caeiae.cfm
Below is a very brief summary of NSU's capabilities and recent accomplishments in IA:
1. Academic Programs: NSU offers a master of science degree in information security, three master's degree concentrations in IA, two graduate certificate programs in IA, two Ph.D. concentrations in IA, and a range of IA courses in non-IA graduate programs (law, business, criminal justice, and medical informatics). Most of our IA courses are also offered online and reach every corner of the U.S.
2. Research: Over the last few years, NSU faculty authored 16 papers in IA that were published in journals or presented at major technical conferences. Currently, 15 Ph.D. students are writing dissertations in IA, and graduate students have completed more than 30 IA research projects.
3. State-of-the-Art Resources: NSU recently created an IA laboratory to be a significant research and teaching facility. Its advanced computer system facilitates research in new IA technologies. In mid-2005, it will be connected to the Florida Lambda Rail. The laboratory is also dedicated for use in partnerships with other institutions. NSU has established an online IA repository that provides access to both historical IA material and current research material from NSU and other academic IA research centers. It also provides access to seminal IA-related documents collected at other centers of excellence and IA papers presented at major conferences. In addition,
NSU looks forward to its new role as a center of excellence in information assurance and providing a greater level of service and expertise to the nation in this critical area.
