The National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have designated The Ohio State University as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAEIAE). This is a great honor for OSU and CSE is very proud of its participation.
Designated CAEIAE Institutions are located throughout the country - many within driving distance of major Department of Defense (DoD) installations, federal research centers, and other federal agencies. This outreach program is a result of the Presidential Decision Directive 63, National Policy on Critical Infrastructure Protection, May 1998, and the NSA initially designed and operated it. Currently, the NSA and DHS jointly sponsor the effort in support of the President's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, February 2003. The goal of the program is to reduce vulnerability in our national information infrastructure by promoting higher education in Information Assurance (IA), and producing a growing number of professionals with IA expertise in various disciplines. The selected schools serve as regional centers of IA expertise and have already begun to provide more programs aimed at retooling and retaining current federal and state information technology personnel. OSU-CSE will offer 18 of the 54 NSA certified courses OSU will teach as a whole. Other University areas involved include several College of Engineering departments, the Moritz College of Law, the Fisher College of Business, the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), the Program for International and Homeland Security, the Security Office of the CIO, the OSU Libraries, and the Geographic Information Science (GIS).
Ohio State has been striving for this designation since 2004 when it successfully completed the first step of application which was the Information Assurance Courseware certification. At that time, the approving government bodies felt "this institution's submission maps to CNSS training standards at 100% . Their submission was extremely well documented in all respects. They have a robust IA curriculum that spans several academic disciplines." It was at that time that OSU formed a Consortium for Information Assurance Education and Research (http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/caeiae/).
"Each application (had to pass) a rigorous review demonstrating its commitment to academic excellence in IA education. During the application process, applicants were evaluated against stringent criteria (http://www.nsa.gov/ia/academia/caeiae.cfm) for a very selective designation," said Professor David Lee, the Chair of the OSU Consortium for Information Assurance Education and Research. "OSU CAEIAE will play an important role to lead and support IA education and research throughout the university. Various colleges and organizations work closely together for the partnerships in IA education with minority colleges and two-year community colleges and technical schools. CAEIAE encourages and supports IA education and research as a multidisciplinary activity through collaboration with other academic institutions."
In addition to the formal recognition by the U.S. government, as well as opportunities for prestige and publicity, CAEIAEs are eligible for various government funding for their role in securing our nation's information infrastructures. Furthermore, students attending CAEIAE schools are eligible to apply for scholarships and grants through the Department of Defense Information Assurance Scholarship Program and the Federal Cyber Service Scholarship for Service Program (SFS).