Carnegie Mellon University is adding three new cohorts to its existing SFS program. SFS scholarships are awarded to students in either of two masters degree programs; the MS in Information Security Technology and Management, and the MS in Information Security Policy and Management. Both curricula have been certified pursuant to the Information Assurance Courseware Evaluation Process of the National Security Agency's National Infosec Training and Education Program, and have been mapped against NSTISSI No. 4011 - National Training Standard for Information Systems Security (INFOSEC) Professionals and 4014 - Information Assurance Training Standard for Information Systems Security Officers.
Carnegie Mellon University has been an active and enthusiastic participant in the SFS program since the program's inception. To date, sixty-two highly qualified students have graduated from the program and have been placed into federal information assurance positions. Of the twenty four graduates who have satisfied their two year service commitment, CMU has been able to determine the current status of nineteen of them. Of these nineteen, seventeen are still serving in federal positions. As the SFS program continues to study its impact, these data suggest that CMU students are committed to public service careers.
Through its participation in the federal CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) program, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) supports the protection and security of the nation’s critical information infrastructure. SFS students at CMU gain the benefit of accessing leading educational programs in information assurance and hands-on learning through campus research in engineering and computer science. This Project Outcomes Report describes the university’s SFS efforts, including its enhanced recruitment efforts, the involvement of faculty and students in research, and the exposure of students to a rich variety of federal job opportunities. Intellectual Merit Under this award, CMU was able to fund 28.5 full-time equivalent students. CMU students in the SFS program are enrolled in either the College of Engineering’s Information Networking Institute (INI) or the Heinz College, both top-ranked schools. Through the programs, CMU strives to provide interdisciplinary studies that integrate management and policy issues along with technology expertise. The SFS scholars receive opportunities for research and hands-on learning at CMU. They are exposed to cutting-edge research through Carnegie Mellon CyLab, a world leader in technological research. CyLab faculty are directly involved in teaching core courses that SFS students take as part of their core program requirements. Weekly CyLab seminars feature invited speakers from academia and industry to present their latest findings. SFS students actively engage with faculty and researchers at CyLab. Some elect to complete a master's thesis under the supervision of CyLab faculty to fulfill their degree requirements. The INI offers a Cyber Forensics and Incident Response (CyFIR) Track that teaches students in the cyber security field on how to conduct forensically sound digital investigations. Instructors from the CERT Program, a leader in Internet security expertise, teach the coursework in this track. The CyFIR Track is increasingly popular among SFS students, as well as non-SFS students. Recently, the INI added a new course, 14-832 Cyber Forensics & Incident Response Capstone, which is a capstone course that will replace three of the track’s mini-courses as a requirement (14-824 Advanced Host Based Forensic Analysis, 14-825 Advanced Network Analysis, and 14-826 Event Reconstruction & Correlation). Broader Impact In order to attract a diverse group of talented U.S. applicants, the INI admissions staff spends significant time traveling to meet undergraduate students and building relationships with other universities and undergraduate faculty advisors. Several efforts are established to attract minorities to Carnegie Mellon graduate programs. Since 2006, the INI has supported of the recruitment of women annually as a sponsor of the Grace Hopper Women in Computing Conference. The INI has also developed a close relationship with the leadership of the Executive Women’s Forum (EWF), an annual conference for leading women in the areas of information security, risk management and privacy. These specific events—as well as a personalized communication strategy, and subsequent word-of-mouth marketing—led to quite a few applications from minority and female applicants in recent years. At least 10 leads from these events enrolled to date, of which three were interested in and eligible for the SFS. Prospective SFS students are indoctrinated through community-building efforts that begin even before students have accepted admission to their programs at an open house and SFS dinner. Throughout the academic year, SFS students are encouraged to get together with one another at social events, as well as with SFS alumni and federal recruiters at campus information sessions. In recent years, CMU has furthered its relationship with NSA and U.S. Navy to benefit program offerings for SFS students. NSA SEALs (Security Education Academic Liaisons) worked closely with the faculty and administrators at Carnegie Mellon to give advice and guidance on information assurance educational programs. The U.S. Navy engaged in collaboration with CMU to design a new master’s program that aligns with its information dominance core strategy, called the Master of Information Technology Strategy (MITS). CMU’s raised SFS students’ interest in federal employment by hosting information sessions, with guests from employers such as the National Security Agency, CIA, Securities and Exchange Commission, Jet Propulsion Labs, Department of Homeland Security, SPAWAR, Sandia National Laboratories, MITRE and The CERT Program, among others. CMU’s SFS graduates have consistently earned a 100% placement rate, with several having gone on to excellent positions working for the employers who presented information sessions on campus. Furthermore, the SFS Carnegie Mellon alumni support the argument that they are well prepared to be successful in their federal positions. Disclaimer (required) This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
