Building Framework and Infrastructure to Assist a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) in Cybersecurity Program Development

The University of North Florida (UNF) offered to leverage resources generated as a result of its CAE-EDU designation to assist Edward Waters University (EWU), a local Minority-Service Institution (MSI), with establishing cyberse-curity educational opportunities for their STEM faculty and undergraduate students. This project, funded by NSA as part of their Cybersecurity Education Diversity Initiative (CEDI) program, designs the framework and cultivates the infrastructure by which EWU gains access to UNF instructional resources (e.g., courses, facilities), faculty expertise (i.e., curriculum, consulting) and student activities (e.g., clubs, advising) in cyber defense education. Project plans included (i) outreach activities with support from faculty of the Florida State College of Jacksonville (FSCJ), a local community college, also CAE-designated, as well as (ii) proof-of-concept assessments with support from faculty and students of Edward Waters University (EWU), an MSI with no existing cybersecurity programs. Some of the activities performed under this project and their outcomes are reported in this paper.