Educational Initiatives
CAE IA Program: USA was awarded a National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAE/IAE) designation in June 2011. This designation is awarded to institutions after a rigorous review for programs that have demonstrated their commitment to academic excellence in Information Assurance education. USA CFITS supports the educational and research endeavors of the CAE/IAE program. CFITS faculty support the undergraduate information assurance program curriculum development and research initiatives. We have established research groups in Information Security, Computer Forensics, and Healthcare Information Systems. For more information on the USA CyberScholars program visit USA CyberScholars.
K-12 STEM Initiative: Implementation of our SCIS K-12 Initiative: Math, Science, and Computing Initiative Project (4.1) is intended to increase the pool of qualified high school graduates in the area, from which to recruit undergraduate students locally. By engaging industry partners showing specific interest in K-12 math and science education, we can accelerate the development of our program, with implementation as soon as Fall 2012.
CIS Dual Enrollment in Alabama Public High Schools: CFITS is fully engaged in the broad effort to improve education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that over 70% of new STEM related jobs will be in computing, which supports our commitment to help bring about inclusion of CS dual enrollment as a science requirement option for graduation in public high schools across Alabama.
K-12 Robotics: Support for robotics learning experiences in K-12 has and continues to be utilized as a tool to enhance the integration of STEM educational concepts into our schools. We continue to support such activities as BEST, FIRST, LEGO, various tech fairs and summer camps. Our investigators also participate as judges and educators in many robotics educational and competitive activities.