UNC Charlotte, in collaboration with NC A&T State University is continuing and expanding the SFS Cyber Corps program established over the last three years. During the initial program period, UNC Charlotte and NC A&T State University have produced 33 high quality skilled Information Assurance (IA) professionals with a cumulative enrollment of 68 students consisting of 49% African American and 32% women.
Intellectual Merit. The UNC Charlotte SFS program has a well-balanced curriculum that is matching well with the human resource needs of the federal government. It is benefiting from a distinguished faculty and a vibrant and well-funded IA research program. To enhance student learning, the program is building on several innovative features including IA certificates students are earning in conjunction with their B.S., B.A., M.S. or Ph.D. degrees in Information Technology, Computer Science, or Software and Information Systems; research projects, and experiential learning activities. Students are developing a strong commitment to community service through participation in community service activities, and program alumni are serving as mentors to current SFS students to aid in student placement efforts.
Broader Impact. The UNC Charlotte SFS program is helping to address the national need for qualified information technology professionals trained in information assurance and computer security in areas of research and development (in both technology and policy areas), operations, as well as project management. In order to increase the diversity of IA professionals in the federal workforce, the UNC Charlotte SFS program is placing special emphasis on recruiting and graduating highly talented students from underrepresented groups. For many years, NC A&T State University has been a recognized world-leader in producing high quality African-American engineers. It has a very well established mechanism to attract talented minority students from all over the U.S. and a very well developed mentoring and support system to help them succeed, both academically as well as in job placement. NC A&T is a favored recruitment destination for many federal agencies, an important advantage to help place SFS graduates in federal services.
