UCCS again asserts its national leadership in cybersecurity through its efforts at spreading the word on cybersecurity. Through more than 100 cybersecurity events in 2024 touching not only UCCS students, but partner colleges and universities in the Rocky Mountain West and nationally, K-12 students and educators across Colorado, and the cybersecurity community, including partner companies, government, and nonprofit organizations that impacted almost 13,000 people, UCCS continues to lead across the U.S. in promoting cybersecurity education.

The National Security Agency (NSA) offers the NCAE-C designation (CAE) to colleges and universities in cybersecurity. The National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity designation requires Institutes of Higher Education (IHEs) to pass rigorous qualifications through cybersecurity program and curriculum requirements, including a deep dive into educational pathways offered, services provided for students and the community, and in the events and outreach they initiate to promote cybersecurity education in their community.

UCCS was granted our first CAE designation for Cyber Defense in 2012 and has since renewed that designation twice, most recently in 2024. In addition, UCCS was also awarded a new CAE designation for Cybersecurity Research in 2024.

With now over 450 colleges and universities carrying a CAE designation in the US, the CAE community is large, thriving and growing. To encourage these IHE’s to actively promote cybersecurity through educational pathways as well as community outreach across the U.S., the CAE Program Office annually recognizes colleges or universities who have excelled in cybersecurity promotion and outreach with the CAE Outreach Award.

Out of 57 submissions from over 450 IHEs, UCCS won first place in 2024, competing with the United States Air Force Academy, Purdue University, Loyola University, Florida State University and many others. This adds to UCCS’s growing accolades in this area, having also placed first in 2023. Since the establishment of the UCCS Cybersecurity Programs Office in 2020, UCCS also finished third in 2022 and fifth in 2021 for the national CAE Outreach Award.

In addition to the CAE Outreach Award for UCCS, there were a number of individual recognitions from the CAE CoP (Community of Practice) as well. Gretchen Bliss, Director of Cybersecurity Programs at UCCS, was given a Community Service Award for her Outstanding Contribution to the CAE-CD Community and a Community Service Recognition Award as Top CAE-CD Peer Submission Reviewer. Terri Johnson-Akse, Assistant Teaching Professor of Cybersecurity Management in the UCCS College of Business, received a Community Service Recognition for Outstanding Contribution to the CAE-CD Community.

In 2024, there were many cybersecurity program highlights. The UCCS Cybersecurity Programs Office sponsors and plans most of the campus’s cybersecurity events, thanks in part to funding from the State of Colorado through Senate Bill 18-086. In addition to grants and corporate sponsorships, this funding helps CPO get the word out. Some examples are below:

• CPO sponsors two student-led cyber clubs on campus: the UCCS WiCyS Club (Women in Cybersecurity) and Mountain Lion Cyber Club bring speakers to campus and the community, holding events with companies and government entities so students can build networking skills and get out in the community. The CPO also assists the clubs to engage in competitions so that students can flex their real-world, hands-on skills in cybersecurity, making our students more employable

• Over a dozen events for K-12 students and educators alike, from week-long summer cybersecurity camps for middle school students held in both English and Spanish to cyber training for educators who want to bring cybersecurity concepts into their classrooms, were held in 2024

• Cyber First Fridays, a monthly event where between 100 – 200 community members, students, companies and governments meet to learn the latest in cybersecurity and network with peers in the industry, was co-founded by UCCS and is hosted at the UCCS Kevin W. O’Neil Cybersecurity Center

• CPO sponsored events for the community with our partners such as the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative, including the “Ethics and Cybersecurity in the Healthcare Industry” speaking event, reinforcing DFEI’s 8 Ethics Principles, and the National WiCyS Conference in April, where over 2,000 people from across the US and the world, including 11 UCCS students, gathered in Denver to learn cutting-edge cybersecurity concepts, grow connections, and build hands-on skillsets in cybersecurity

• In partnership with the Colorado Dept. of Education, CPO hosted the first ever Colorado-wide cybersecurity education symposium for educators in K-12 and higher education. Over 100 educators from across Colorado came to UCCS to attack the new group’s goal: how do we get a cybersecurity education resource in every Colorado middle and high school classroom by 2030?

• UCCS sponsored several CAE events throughout the year including CAE Competency Training for 30 colleges and universities in the Western Region. Participants could hone their cybersecurity education skills on behalf of their institutions to ensure CAE designation.

• CPO encourages UCCS cybersecurity students to spread their wings by teaching at summer cybersecurity camps for K-12, developing cybersecurity discovery applications for VR headsets, and teaching the community about online safety through our “Get into IT! Donuts and Digital Discovery” series. For this event students developed and taught the curriculum community-wide one Saturday a month over the summer.

These programs could not have been offered without the amazing support of the leadership at UCCS, as well as the State of Colorado and the CU Community. If you have ideas on how to promote cybersecurity education, please reach out at [email protected]. For more information on Cybersecurity Programs at UCCS, visit UCCS Cybersecurity Programs.