In the photo (from left): Representative from FBI, Joon Park, representative from NSA and representative from CISA. (Photo courtesy of the Center of Academic Excellence)
Syracuse University has been designated once again as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) through the academic year 2028. The program is administered by the National Security Agency (NSA) with a goal of promoting and supporting quality academic programs of higher education that help produce the nation’s cyber workforce.
The combination of required elements for the designation assures the institution meets the desired characteristics of a Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) institution and that the academic delivery to students is producing a qualified workforce needed by the nation.
Students attending CAE institutions are eligible to apply for scholarships and grants that require the CAE designation status.
As one of the 18 elite academic institutions that received the original CAE designation in 2001, Syracuse has continuously maintained its CAE status through re-designations. Meanwhile, the CAE criteria has been updated with more rigorous requirements and multiple review rounds. The new criteria includes the new NSA PoS (Program of Study) Validation, evidence of sound cybersecurity posture/plan, sustainability, professional development, outreach activities as well as others.
According to the new criteria, the University received the NSA PoS Validation in 2022 with the bachelor of professional studies program in cybersecurity administration at the College of Professional Studies. This CAE re-designation reaffirms the University’s commitment to high-quality education and related activities in cybersecurity.
Dr. Joon Park, a professor at the School of Information Studies, served as the point of contact and led the efforts for the NSA PoS Validation and CAE designations with other faculty, staff members, program directors and students in the cybersecurity area across the following schools and colleges in addition to the iSchool:
Park attended the CAE designation ceremony at the National Cybersecurity Education Colloquium in Chicago in September. “Despite the rigorous demands, serving as the point of contact brought about gratifying experiences as I collaborated with our dedicated colleagues and students with honors and privileges, guided by the support and directives from the CAE program officers,” says Park. “The designation signifies that the University has the ability to meet the increasing demand for the protection of the National Information Infrastructure with our top-tier achievements in cybersecurity education through the courseware quality, faculty engagement, students’ learning outcomes and administration. Moving forward, we will continuously contribute to the national cyber strategy with our cybersecurity education!”
