West Virginia's two largest universities have joined forces with the U.S. Department of Defense to protect and serve the nation while their students gain current -- and future -- work skills in cyberspace -
- and cybersecurity.
West Virginia University and Marshall University are among 84 educational institutions partnering with U.S. Cyber Command’s Academic Engagement Network. On Jan. 5, U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) announced the network will consist of 70 universities and 14 community colleges, as well as nine minority-serving institutions, four military service academies and four military war and staff colleges throughout 34 states.
Students will work with CYBERCOM, which is part of the DOD, engaging in applied research and innovation and acquiring cybersecurity workforce training.
U.S. Cyber Command protects the DOD’s information network and defends the country against cyberattacks. To become members of the network, the universities and the other entities were required to offer select courses, such as cyber-related engineering and law, arts and sciences courses ranging from business and financial intelligence to international relations, political sciences, psychology, journalism, marketing and applied analytics-related sciences, among others. The schools must also be regionally accredited by an organization recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
WVU students also have opportunities to major in cybersecurity at the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, from the approach of management information systems.
"The opportunity to be a part of the U.S. Cyber Command’s Academic Engagement Network is really exciting for West Virginia University cybersecurity students in both the John Chambers College of Business and Economics and the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources," said Chris Ramezan, assistant professor of cybersecurity at the Chambers College.
"We’re very excited for the potential opportunities this will bring for student experiential learning through potential internships, capstone projects and exposure to unique problem sets that only exist at a national scale," Ramezan added. "Cybersecurity is a very hands-on field, so experiences like this are essential for training the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. Students will also be able to learn from industry subject matter experts in a variety of areas from U.S. Cyber Command, which will further enhance their cybersecurity education.
"Cybersecurity is such a vast domain," he said, "so being able to get a variety of perspectives and insights from academia, private industry and now government really provides a unique experience for our students.
"It’s truly an honor for WVU to be selected as one of the 84 participants in the program, and it says a lot about the caliber and quality of our cybersecurity programs at WVU. We believe that our students are among the best in the country, so we’re excited to see how our students can contribute at a national level."
As a land-grant institution, WVU will endeavor to leverage its student and faculty abilities to improve the cybersecurity of organizations throughout the Mountain State, Ramezan said. "Through the AEN, we’re excited for the chance to take that mentality -- and our capabilities at WVU -- to help solve national cybersecurity problems to help keep our nation safe from the latest threats."
WVU's John Chambers College of Business and Economics and the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources both offer cybersecurity programs, Ramezan noted. The Chambers college cybersecurity programs are hosted by the Management Information Systems Department; the Statler College’s cybersecurity programs are hosted by the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Both departments and colleges work together and collaborate frequently, he said.
"We’ve structured our programs to be highly complementary to each other, and we’ve had a good number of engineering students enroll in our MIS cybersecurity courses, and vice versa," he said. "Both programs are taught by expert, award-winning faculty with decades of combined professional experience.
"We also have a Master's of Science [degree] in Business Cybersecurity Management program hosted out of the Chambers College, a fully online, one-to-two-year program," he said. "Our programs are rapidly growing, mirroring the interest and demand for cybersecurity."
Since 2006, WVU has held the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security’s designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in both cyber defense education and cyber defense research.
WVU's cross-college cybersecurity exercises and experiences develop leadership and teamwork skills, as shown in last spring’s out-of-classroom cyber competition, Locked Shields. WVU engineering, business, law and media students collaborated with the West Virginia National Guard and Polish allies to defend a fictional country during the virtual exercise. The U.S. team achieved its highest ranking in the exercise.
A national boost for Marshall
"Getting Marshall University admitted to the Cyber Command Academic Engagement Network goes a long way toward getting Marshall national recognition in Cyber Security Education,” Dr. David Dampier, director of the Marshall University Institute of Cyber Security, said in a release from the Huntington school.
As a member of the network, Marshall faculty and students, like their WVU cohort, will be able to attend exclusive webinars about the technical and non-technical challenges U.S. Cyber Command addresses continually. They will also learn how to benefit from Department of Defense programs affecting cyberspace.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our students,” Marshall University Institute for Cyber Security Associate Director John Sammons said. “One thing we always try to do is give the students as many opportunities as we can to learn outside the classroom to get their hands dirty, so to speak.
“This will give our students the ability to work on real-world, research problems. It gives them the chance to hone their analytical skills and work as part of a research team. Lastly, it will expose them to what it’s like to work at Cyber Command. In short, this is a win for everyone,” Sammons added.
Marshall University’s Institute for Cyber Security is a multi-college academic and research cluster that draws on personnel with the skills to support academic programs, research, external relations, training and certification programs, public education, outreach and inclusion.
Career potential
Cybersecurity is a burgeoning career field. According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, more than 200,000 cybersecurity positions in the nation remain unfilled, with cybersecurity employment postings up 74% over the past five years. The agency adds that employment of information security analysts is projected to grow 33% through the end of the decade, at a faster pace than average among occupations. Median annual pay in May 2020 exceeded $103,000, the BLS added.
Cyberseek.org cited data that approximately 500,000 cybersecurity jobs were available between April 2020 and March 2021, with demand predicted to only escalate in coming years.
The chairman of WVU's Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources attested to those career assessments. “Cybersecurity is the fastest-growing degree program in our department," Professor Anurag Srivastava said. "We always tell students that there are almost half a million cybersecurity jobs open right now. It’s here to stay and, in fact, increase.
“Engagement like this opportunity with CYBERCOM will allow us to show students at least one very good application for what they are learning in classes: to help with national defense,” Srivastava said in a Feb. 2 release from the Morgantown school.
"Our students out of the MS cybersecurity program have seen tremendous success with job placement and career movement," Ramezan added. "Our cybersecurity programs in the Statler College have been very successful as well, and they run a number of student clubs and organizations dedicated to cybersecurity training, most notably Cyber WVU.
"Overall, this is a very exciting initiative, and we can’t wait to see where it goes in both applied research and student opportunities," Ramezan said.
West Virginia University and Marshall University are among 84 educational institutions partnering with U.S. Cyber Command’s Academic Engagement Network. On Jan. 5, U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) announced the network will consist of 70 universities and 14 community colleges, as well as nine minority-serving institutions, four military service academies and four military war and staff colleges throughout 34 states.
Students will work with CYBERCOM, which is part of the DOD, engaging in applied research and innovation and acquiring cybersecurity workforce training.
U.S. Cyber Command protects the DOD’s information network and defends the country against cyberattacks. To become members of the network, the universities and the other entities were required to offer select courses, such as cyber-related engineering and law, arts and sciences courses ranging from business and financial intelligence to international relations, political sciences, psychology, journalism, marketing and applied analytics-related sciences, among others. The schools must also be regionally accredited by an organization recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
WVU students also have opportunities to major in cybersecurity at the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, from the approach of management information systems.
"The opportunity to be a part of the U.S. Cyber Command’s Academic Engagement Network is really exciting for West Virginia University cybersecurity students in both the John Chambers College of Business and Economics and the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources," said Chris Ramezan, assistant professor of cybersecurity at the Chambers College.
"We’re very excited for the potential opportunities this will bring for student experiential learning through potential internships, capstone projects and exposure to unique problem sets that only exist at a national scale," Ramezan added. "Cybersecurity is a very hands-on field, so experiences like this are essential for training the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. Students will also be able to learn from industry subject matter experts in a variety of areas from U.S. Cyber Command, which will further enhance their cybersecurity education.
"Cybersecurity is such a vast domain," he said, "so being able to get a variety of perspectives and insights from academia, private industry and now government really provides a unique experience for our students.
"It’s truly an honor for WVU to be selected as one of the 84 participants in the program, and it says a lot about the caliber and quality of our cybersecurity programs at WVU. We believe that our students are among the best in the country, so we’re excited to see how our students can contribute at a national level."
As a land-grant institution, WVU will endeavor to leverage its student and faculty abilities to improve the cybersecurity of organizations throughout the Mountain State, Ramezan said. "Through the AEN, we’re excited for the chance to take that mentality -- and our capabilities at WVU -- to help solve national cybersecurity problems to help keep our nation safe from the latest threats."
WVU's John Chambers College of Business and Economics and the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources both offer cybersecurity programs, Ramezan noted. The Chambers college cybersecurity programs are hosted by the Management Information Systems Department; the Statler College’s cybersecurity programs are hosted by the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Both departments and colleges work together and collaborate frequently, he said.
"We’ve structured our programs to be highly complementary to each other, and we’ve had a good number of engineering students enroll in our MIS cybersecurity courses, and vice versa," he said. "Both programs are taught by expert, award-winning faculty with decades of combined professional experience.
"We also have a Master's of Science [degree] in Business Cybersecurity Management program hosted out of the Chambers College, a fully online, one-to-two-year program," he said. "Our programs are rapidly growing, mirroring the interest and demand for cybersecurity."
Since 2006, WVU has held the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security’s designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in both cyber defense education and cyber defense research.
WVU's cross-college cybersecurity exercises and experiences develop leadership and teamwork skills, as shown in last spring’s out-of-classroom cyber competition, Locked Shields. WVU engineering, business, law and media students collaborated with the West Virginia National Guard and Polish allies to defend a fictional country during the virtual exercise. The U.S. team achieved its highest ranking in the exercise.
A national boost for Marshall
"Getting Marshall University admitted to the Cyber Command Academic Engagement Network goes a long way toward getting Marshall national recognition in Cyber Security Education,” Dr. David Dampier, director of the Marshall University Institute of Cyber Security, said in a release from the Huntington school.
As a member of the network, Marshall faculty and students, like their WVU cohort, will be able to attend exclusive webinars about the technical and non-technical challenges U.S. Cyber Command addresses continually. They will also learn how to benefit from Department of Defense programs affecting cyberspace.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our students,” Marshall University Institute for Cyber Security Associate Director John Sammons said. “One thing we always try to do is give the students as many opportunities as we can to learn outside the classroom to get their hands dirty, so to speak.
“This will give our students the ability to work on real-world, research problems. It gives them the chance to hone their analytical skills and work as part of a research team. Lastly, it will expose them to what it’s like to work at Cyber Command. In short, this is a win for everyone,” Sammons added.
Marshall University’s Institute for Cyber Security is a multi-college academic and research cluster that draws on personnel with the skills to support academic programs, research, external relations, training and certification programs, public education, outreach and inclusion.
Career potential
Cybersecurity is a burgeoning career field. According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, more than 200,000 cybersecurity positions in the nation remain unfilled, with cybersecurity employment postings up 74% over the past five years. The agency adds that employment of information security analysts is projected to grow 33% through the end of the decade, at a faster pace than average among occupations. Median annual pay in May 2020 exceeded $103,000, the BLS added.
Cyberseek.org cited data that approximately 500,000 cybersecurity jobs were available between April 2020 and March 2021, with demand predicted to only escalate in coming years.
The chairman of WVU's Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources attested to those career assessments. “Cybersecurity is the fastest-growing degree program in our department," Professor Anurag Srivastava said. "We always tell students that there are almost half a million cybersecurity jobs open right now. It’s here to stay and, in fact, increase.
“Engagement like this opportunity with CYBERCOM will allow us to show students at least one very good application for what they are learning in classes: to help with national defense,” Srivastava said in a Feb. 2 release from the Morgantown school.
"Our students out of the MS cybersecurity program have seen tremendous success with job placement and career movement," Ramezan added. "Our cybersecurity programs in the Statler College have been very successful as well, and they run a number of student clubs and organizations dedicated to cybersecurity training, most notably Cyber WVU.
"Overall, this is a very exciting initiative, and we can’t wait to see where it goes in both applied research and student opportunities," Ramezan said.
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