| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | March 30, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | March 24, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 1800958 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
R. Corby Hovis
chovis@nsf.gov (703)292-4625 DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | May 1, 2018 |
| End Date: | October 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $223,928.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $259,310.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2019 = $35,382.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
245 NE 4TH ST BLDG 3000 MIAMI FL US 33132-2206 (305)237-3910 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
300 NE 2nd Avenue Miami FL US 33132-2204 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Advanced Tech Education Prog |
| Primary Program Source: |
04001920DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
To meet the current need for cybersecurity professionals, opportunities for more diverse populations to obtain cybersecurity credentials and degrees must be available, leading to a more diverse workforce. The Cybersecurity Opportunities and Methods that Promote Access and Student Success project at Miami Dade College in Florida aims to meet this need by increasing the diversity of students entering the cybersecurity workforce. The project aims to (1) improve the understanding and evidence base regarding learning approaches and their impact on retention and completion of underrepresented students; (2) improve industry engagement through involvement with curriculum development; (3) increase the knowledge base on the effects of competency-based summer camps that result in industry-certification and continuation into a cybersecurity-related degree program of study; (4) increase recruitment, retention, and completion of underrepresented students in cybersecurity programs; (5) increase the number of students who complete a College Credit Certificate and/or an AS in cybersecurity who are employed in industry; and (6) create dual enrollment pathways that retain cybersecurity majors from high school to two-year colleges. The program will share pedagogical best-practices for underserved populations across the Miami Dade College system; with the surrounding school systems; via the National CyberWatch Center; and with other institutions across the nation, including existing and emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Minority-Serving Institutions. and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The project will adapt and evaluate materials and methods developed through the ATE National Center in Cybersecurity, CyberWatch, and other ATE projects. It aims to increase the number and diversity of students who complete a state approved one-year College Credit Certificate (CCC) and a two-year Associate in Science degree in cybersecurity. The overarching goal is to create the foundation for a seamless pipeline across two critical educational transitions: high school to college and college to workforce. The project aims to achieve this goal by implementing and evaluating the following objectives: (1) building the capacity of college faculty and high school teachers to provide relevant and up-to-date education in cybersecurity; (2) integrating instructional approaches into cybersecurity curriculum that have been shown to be effective in engaging and retaining diverse students; and (3) creating pathways into cybersecurity degree programs through dual-enrollment opportunities, a competency-driven boot camp, and certificate programs.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
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.
COMPASS (Cybersecurity Opportunities and Methods that Promote Access and Student Success) was essential for Miami Dade College (MDC) to provide increased opportunities for more diverse populations from first-time in college and non-traditional students to obtain cybersecurity credentials and degrees leading to increased representation in the workforce.
Through COMPASS, Miami Dade College (MDC) developed an Associate in Science (AS) in Cybersecurity and a College Credit Certificate (CCC) in Network Security that have served over 500 students since the implementation of the programs in 2019, with 91% of them coming from underrepresented minority background. The courses from the cybersecurity programs were either developed or adapted by MDC faculty following effective learning approaches for minorities from multiple education organizations including the NICE framework and the standards for cybersecurity education defined by the National Security Agency’s (NSA) frameworks. Additionally, faculty incorporated practical applications of hands-on cybersecurity skills in the courses to prepare students for industry certifications like CompTIA Security+, Network+, Linux+ and CySA+. After three years of implementation, the program had over 200 students certified with one or more of these certifications.
The NSF ATE grant supported the capacity building needed to develop the courses and cybersecurity programs of study. The faculty professional development plan and activities implemented as part of the grant allowed MDC faculty and local high school teachers to participate in more than 10 conferences, workshops or training camps. As a result, 4 MDC faculty were able to complete 14 cybersecurity industry credentials from ISC², AWS, EC-Council, Cisco and CompTIA among other providers. Additionally, 35 high school teachers passed the Certified Secure Computer User from EC-Council, allowing them to incorporate that content in their high school courses.
The project also created the foundation for a seamless pipeline in a critical educational transition - high school to college. A pathway was created to guide and support high school students to MDC cybersecurity programs through dual enrollment courses and summer camps. A total of 60 high school students participated on the 2019 cybersecurity or networking summer camps at MDC (97% minorities), with 36 of them becoming Certified Secure Computer Users. From those students, 52 continued into dual enrollment cybersecurity courses at Miami Dade College during 2019-2020 academic year.
Finally, the NSF ATE project supplemental funds allowed the PI, CoPI, a cybersecurity student and a Dean from the college to travel to Israel in 2022 to learn best practices in cybersecurity education from Israeli universities, and promote collaboration and expand integration of recognized cybersecurity companies from the country. As part of the international trip, the college delegation attended Cyber Week Israel and met with three leading universities in cybersecurity research and education: Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University and Ariel University. Additionally, the college team met with the cybersecurity companies Cyberbit, CheckPoint and Cyber 7. These meetings and event allowed the team to learn about the strong collaboration between government, academia, military sector, startups and the private sector required to have a successful cybersecurity workforce and ecosystem. All these stakeholders in Israel have cybersecurity as a priority. Regarding direct collaborations, the visit allowed to create pathways for student and faculty exchange with universities, as well as larger integration of products from Cyberbit and CheckPoint in MDC cybersecurity programs.
As a result of all these accomplishments, MDC was awarded by EC-Council with the 2019 Academic Best Newcomer Award, which is only awarded to one education institution on the world each year. Additionally, the AS in Cybersecurity allowed the college to receive the designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense by NSA in March 2022, which is the highest cybersecurity designation for an academic institution in the nation.
Last Modified: 12/19/2022
Modified by: Antonio Delgado
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