This program provides opportunities for students with diverse backgrounds to become Computer Security and Information Assurance (CSIA) professionals and to help protect the safety and security of our nation's information infrastructure. Professors who are internationally recognized specialists in CSIA, some of whom have over thirty years experience teaching this material and producing graduates trained in the CSIA, educate students in this program. Using traditional computing lab resources along with newly developed resources such as a battle lab, students will be exposed to hands-on demonstrations and experience that are on the cutting edge of CSIA education, as befits an NSA-designated Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAE/IAE) such as The George Washington University (GW). In this proposal, GW is partnering with Gallaudet University and Marymount University to expand CSIA education opportunities to citizens of the Washington DC area and to capitalize on the strength and accessibility of courses available to students through the eleven-member Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. This partnership also broadens the participation of traditionally underrepresented groups in CSIA. Gallaudet is the world's only university that brings together deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing students and faculty in the common pursuit of education. Marymount, until 1986 a women's college, is now a coeducational liberal arts institution with women making up 70% of its students.
