Overview

In addition to the Conference on Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice (CCERP) and the Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice (JCERP) (see our Research page), the Center works sponsors several activities:

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  • The NSA/DHS National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense Education
  • Designing and implementing effective cybersecurity/information security curriculum
  • The NIST National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education Framework
  • The ABET Cybersecurity Accreditation development efforts
  • Designing and implementing online laboratory experiences using Virtual Machines and NetLab+

Many of these topics are also available through direct consultations with Center fellows.

Academic and Industry Partnerships

CCE seeks partnerships with other academic institutions and industry organizations as part of its outreach expectations under the NSA/DHS Centers of Academic Excellence program. These partners are expected to engage with KSU faculty members to share expertise in cybersecurity education topics.

Faculty Development Workshop

This periodic workshop provides faculty with an interest in a host of cybersecurity topics with the insights and experiences of KSU faculty members, including the following:

  • The NSA/DHS National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense Education
  • Designing and implementing effective cybersecurity/information security curriculum
  • The NIST National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education Framework
  • The ABET Cybersecurity Accreditation development efforts
  • Designing and implementing online laboratory experiences using Virtual Machines and NetLab+

Many of these topics are also available through direct consultations with Center fellows.

Industry Outreach

The faculty at KSU are eager to collaborate with companies and organizations in the areas of cybersecurity, information systems, and information security. To explore potential collaboration opportunities with KSU, please review our upcoming opportunities and contact us to learn more about how we can work together to advance the field of cybersecurity.

  • Come to campus for a lunchtime talk focusing on cybersecurity, general information system, business skills, or other relevant topics. You will present the same talk two times with a meal break in between. Depending on scheduling availability, your lunch and learn could happen anytime on Monday through Thursday of your choice!

    It is customary for the sponsoring company to buy lunch for the students.

  • KSU is interested in scholarship options for cybersecurity and other students to improve the recruitment and retention of students. Scholarship donations could start at as little as $1000. All donations go to students.
  • Several KSU Departments have student fellowship programs that will offer a select number of upper-division students an opportunity to develop specialized skills. These fellowships could take the form of a departmental fellowship or one that includes direct engagement with your organization. A fellowship donation of $1000 would result in the fellowship including the name of your organization and would allow your organization to identify the semester-long, student project in concert with the faculty member. Fellowships develop improved connections with the most talented students. The full donation goes to the student working on the project.
  • The Center as well as each KSU Department rely on a Board of Advisors for ongoing dialogs about curriculum and program activities. These may require a small financial commitment and attending one meeting a semester.
  • Organizations are welcome to identify a semester-long project in which a classroom full of students works. Ideally, this project aligns with a course in our curriculum and someone within your organization works with the faculty member teaching that course. This could take the form of a member of your organization serving as the live client, and winning teams get to be invited to your headquarters with some sort of prize being awarded. This type of engagement can help brand your company in association with the course in which the project occurs.
  • KSU sponsors many registered student organizations available to students. Among them is the Association for Information Systems promotes the study of information systems through professional development programs, social networking, and community development. The Offensive Security Research Club aims to research and investigate current Offensive Security methods to gain a better understanding of the challenges they will face in an enterprise environment. The Women in Technology organization supports and gives direction to both men and women aiming to work in technology, science, and mathematics. All of these organizations welcome guest speakers, mentoring, and other networking opportunities.

  • The CCE is working to identify events with the best opportunities for developing our reputation and/or providing key opportunities for our students. For example:

    Regional Conference for Information Security Curriculum Development. There is a practice track for practitioners to share the latest in information security technology as well as opportunities to provide financial support for the conference. The Conference also hosts an annual Industry Day for practitioners to address topics of common interest to students and academics.

    Southeast Regional Collegiate CyberDefense Competition. Student teams from across the region engage in a virtual qualifier and the best of them spend days at KSU engaged in a defensive competition to demonstrate their abilities to harden, manage and defend a working business-class network of systems and networking technology. Sponsors can choose from options that include providing human resources for judging and conducting the competition, staffing the penetration test teams as well as providing much-needed financial support. The most supportive of these sponsors can interact with the student teams at a reception to recruit from among this highly motivated group of students

  • By leveraging the KSU Research Foundation, the CCE, the BrainLab, and other campus resources, you may be able to engage KSU faculty and students in collaborative activities such as research projects or targeted consulting engagements ranging from targeted application development to security program development to security product market development to investigations of brain-computer interfaces.
  • Several KSU-sponsored MOOCs are up and running and we would be very interested in discovering whether they might be helpful for in-house training and/or continuing education. In its current version, any student completing the MOOC and taking a test could get undergraduate course credits in several degree programs. We are working on evolving this toward graduate certificates as well.
  • We invite speakers at the beginning of each term (usually in August and January) to speak to classes in the Spring (Jan-Apr) and Fall (Aug-Dec) terms. If you would like to be included in the invitation process, please send an email to hmattord@kennesaw.edu and ask to be added to the KSU Cybersecurity and Information Systems Speakers list. Direct marketing content is not appropriate but talks about key technologies featuring specific products and services are very suitable.
  • The graduates of our programs are sought out by local, regional, and national employers. The KSU Career Planning & Development staff can work with you and/or your HR staff to engage students in experiential learning options (cooperative studies and internships) as well as make your long-term openings visible to current students and program graduates. Each semester multiple on-campus events are available to allow you to make your opportunities known to our students and graduates. Please call (470) 578-6555 to explore internship or full-time opportunities.

  • The All-Access Series at the Coles College of Business is designed to give area companies a platform for introducing and raising awareness of their business to a group of high-interest students. Students register to attend the events and will be looking to improve their understanding of the business and how they might become part of the company team through internship and employment opportunities. The overall presentation will last 30-40 minutes.

    Please feel free to contact us at your convenience to discuss how your organization might like to engage with KSU moving forward. The best contact for any of the above activities is Dr. Herb Mattord, Director of Outreach (hmattord@kennesaw.edu).

Mailing List Information

If you would like to be kept informed about cybersecurity workshops or partnership opportunities, please send an email below and ask to be added to the corresponding mailing list.

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