INDIANA, Pa. – Indiana University of Pennsylvania has been awarded $4.98 million from the U.S. Department of Defense for a new project to enhance cybersecurity and STEM education in the state.
This money will be used to "establish a dynamic, collaborative consortium of community colleges, with IUP as the lead organization" throughout the next six years.
Grant funding could total nearly $11 million – the largest single grant in school history.
Waleed Farag, professor of computer science and director of IUP's Institute for Cyber Security, will lead the team working on the project, which will include university faculty and graduate students as well as faculty and administrators from six Pennsylvania community college partners – including Pennsylvania Highlands Community College.
"We strongly believe that improving cybersecurity and STEM programs at the community college level will positively contribute to the alleviation of the national talent gap in this important field," Farag said in a release.
The goal of the project is to increase completion rates of certificate programs that strengthen the work force of these fields as well as the number of students transitioning from community colleges to four-year institutions for science, technology, engineering and mathematics-related fields.
Funding will also be used to develop a set of innovative activities and initiatives that will focus on student recruitment, retention and completion of cybersecurity and STEM programs.
"IUP's expertise in cybersecurity and STEM education, commitment to research, and our already established relationships with community colleges throughout the state, positions IUP perfectly to lead this important initiative," university President Michael Driscoll said in the release. "This project truly complements IUP's ongoing work of eliminating barriers for students who want to transition to IUP from community colleges."
While researching barriers prior to requesting the funds, Farag and his team identified multiple challenges community colleges face in meeting the project goals, from a lack of recruitment to community awareness.
"Some of the initiatives to overcome identified challenges will be managed centrally at IUP to maximize efficiency, maximize needed resources and promote collaboration, while the others will be implemented locally at each of the participating community colleges to address local challenges and target specific audiences at each institution," Farag said.
Planning and development is expected to start this year while implementation will begin during the 2023-24 academic year.
"Although the focus of the consortium work and initiatives will be on cybersecurity education, our implemented services will help STEM education in general, as well as address some other Department of Defense priority areas, such as robotics," Farag said.
Gloss