In 2005, the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security designated NSU as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. This designation makes NSU part of a select group of universities across the country awarded this distinction. The goal in establishing such centers 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.
As a result of this designation, NSU students will be eligible for scholarships and grants under two programs: (1) Department of Defense (DoD) Information Assurance Scholarship Program, and (2) the Federal Cyber Service Scholarship for Service Program (SFS). In addition, NSU faculty and staff will be eligible for grants and contracts from NSA and DoD. Below is a very brief summary of NSU’s capabilities and recent accomplishments in IA:- Academic Programs: NSU offers three masters degree specializations in IA, a master of science degree in information security, 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.
- 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.
- State-of-the-Art Resources: 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 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 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.