Ralph Herndon

Technology Program Administrator

FRIT 7739
Part A: Program Summary

Ralph Herndon

Executive Summary:
The Augusta University Cyber Institute provides cyber defense program guidance and
oversight as well as collaboration and outreach opportunities among students, faculty, and
other initiatives. Augusta Universitys geographic position, strength of national
partnerships, and commitment to research/educational programs strengthen our efforts to
help create a cyber workforce. Geographically situated at the center of key federal and
infrastructure assets, such as the National Security Agency-GA (NSA), Army Cyber
Command (ARCYBER), Cyber Center of Excellence (Cyber CoE), Army Cyber Institute
(ACI), Savannah River National Laboratory (DOE), and Vogtle Nuclear Electric
Generation Plant position Augusta University ideally for cybersecurity outreach,
education, research, and workforce development.
The institutes approach to cybersecurity education, research and workforce
development focuses on partnerships across academia, industry, and government to
address the requirements and workforce demands through interdisciplinary solutions. The
institute relies on cyber industry subject matter experts (SMEs) as well as across the
University in order to provide the most relevant and current cyber content/courses in
healthcare security, professional development, and STEM disciplines to establish a
competent, knowledgeable and experienced cyber workforce. The goal of the Cyber
Institute is to enable, support, and champion meaningful innovative inter-disciplinary
models of research and education for cyber security with focus on building collaborative
partnerships that impact K-12 education, academic, healthcare, government, and business
communities.

Ralph Herndon
Organizational Chart

Methods:
For this evaluation, multiple sources were used. Information was compiled from
interviews with the Director and the Cyber Institute website. The Director provided me
with the Cyber Institute Annual Report, Fact Sheet, and the Cyber Institute Establishment
guidelines. I am using information gleaned from these documents with her permission.

Context and Goals:

Focus areas for the Cyber Institute are: Education, becoming a worldwide leader in cyber
security workforce development. Healthcare, focusing on protection of health
information and medical care devices. Research, enabling transformative,

Ralph Herndon
multidisciplinary research programs. Innovation, Technology Transfer and
Commercialization, recognized as a national cyber thought leader and enabler of cyber
economic development. Strategic Alliances and Partnerships, striving to be a global
leader in cybersecurity and public education awareness.

Who We Are/What We Do:

Vision - To become a national leader in cybersecurity education by creating unique
academic programs with three core strengths: CyberOps, Health Security, and Data
Science.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Cyber Institute is to enable, support, and champion meaningful
innovative inter-disciplinary models of research and education for cyber security with a
focus on building collaborative partnerships that impact K-12 education, academic,
healthcare, government, and business communities.

Cyber Institute-History
As a direct outcome of lessons learned from the Cyber Education Summit 2014, Dr.
Gretchen Caughman, the Executive V.P. & Provost, designated Ms. Joanne Sexton as the
Director of Cybersecurity Education Initiatives in Dec 2014 to establish a plan and obtain
Augusta Universitys first CAE designation.
Before joining the faculty at Augusta University, Ms. Sexton was selected to stand up
(akin to starting a new business) and serve as the first Commanding Officer of what is

known today as Navy Information Operations Command Georgia. Ms. Sexton holds
multiple degrees; a masters in computer science and a masters in national & strategic
studies. More importantly, she holds many certifications in Global Information Assurance
and as a Computer Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), which gives her
unique qualifications to lead cyber education initiatives for Augusta University with three
core strengths Cyber Operations, Healthcare IT, and Data Science.

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1. 2016 Goals/Priorities
Under Ms. Sextons leadership, Augusta Universitys strategic planning goal was met
through the following milestones required to achieve the NSA/DHS CAE-CD
designation:
-

Established the Augusta University Cyber Institute including an internally

populated Cyber Institute Advisory Committee

Renovated space for the Cyber Institute, including a state-of-the-art Cyber Lab

facility
Hired two cybersecurity faculty
Completed a formal Memorandum of Understanding with Cyber CoE
Initiated and obtained approval for an operational budget for Augusta University
Cyber Institute to provide the operational and administrative support necessary to

be successful
Mapped Augusta Universitys cybersecurity program to twenty-one knowledge

unit standards to meet NSA/DHS CAE-CD requirements

Developed twenty-eight required program goals to meet NSA/DHS CAE-CD
Standards

Following submission of Augusta Universitys CAE-CD application on Jan 15, 2016,

Cyber Institute efforts were primarily focused on the start-up of the newly established
Cyber Institute. These initiatives included the hiring of five operational/administrative
staff personnel; fulfillment of Dr. Keels Cyber Faculty Cluster Hire Initiative; relocation
to the newly established space for the Cyber Institute; hiring of a Cyber Academic

Program Coordinator to advise and recruit new cyber students to cyber programs across
the university and help map Cyber CoE curriculum for possible academic credit; and the
hiring of a Cyber Program Development Coordinator for cyber faculty development and
cyber grant development opportunities across the university.
Academic Excellence

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In April 2016, Augusta University was designated as a National Center of Academic
Excellence (CAE) in Cyber Defense by the National Security Agency and the Department
of Homeland Security (NSA/DHS). Students in any academic program can earn a Cyber
Defender Certificate or an Advanced Cyber Defender Certificate. Both certificates may
be earned by other majors and is also offered as a continuing education
certification through Augusta Universitys Office of Professional and Community
Education (PACE).

Student Enrollment, Graduate Data/Employment

Augusta University (AU) was approved by the Board of Regents of the University
System of Georgia to offer the Cyber Defender Certificate and the Advanced Cyber
Defender Certificate in Fall 2013. Currently, all Information Technology majors are
working towards the Cyber Defender Certificate and 25 percent of Computer Science
majors are working towards the Cyber Defender or Advanced Cyber Defender
certificates. The numbers of students who have participated and graduated from each
certificate program are presented in the table below:
Cyber Defender
Participants
Graduates
*
AY 2014
Fall 2013
Spring
2014
AY 2015
Fall 2014
Spring
2015
AY 2016
Fall 2015
Spring
2016

Advanced Cyber Defender

Participants*
Graduates

8
12

0
3

1
2

0
0

25
27

4
6

3
3

0
1

31
39

3
17

8
11

2
3

Many of our graduates who received a Cyber Defender or Advanced Cyber Certificate
are listed by employment area in the table below:

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Placement Information for Cyber Defender &

Advanced Cyber Defender certificate graduates

5%
Industry

Government
18%

5% 3%

5%

Graduate School

Academic

Military

No Data

65%

Some of the employers include: ADP, Rural Sourcing, Inc., Augusta National Golf Club,
Plant Vogtle, Northrup Grumman, CTS Inc., Powerserve, First Data Corporation,
Rendition InfoSec, EDTS, IMS Health, CB&I, SYSTEMTEC, SourceOne, Rockwell
Collins, TaxSlayer, John Deere, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, and Augusta
University.

2. Cyber Institute Advisory Committee

As outlined in the initial proposal forming the Cyber Institute, an internal advisory
committee was created to provide guidance to the Cyber Institute Director on major
Cyber Institute activities and strategic planning. The following members listed below
were instrumental in providing oversight and guidance, including the development of a
vision and mission statement for the Augusta University Cyber Institute:
College Representation
Jennifer Armstrong, College of
Education
Trininjan Datta, College of Science
and Mathematics
Gialuca DeLeo, College of Allied
Health and Science
Harley Eades, Hull Business College
Lance Hunter, Pamplin College
Rick Kenney, Pamplin College

Unit Representation
Rod Bustos, Library Services
Caro Cassels, Professional &
Continuing Education
Rob Dennis, Advancement
Carol Giardino, Military & Veteran
Affairs
Chris McKenney, Office of
Commercialization & Innovation
Karyn Nixon, Government &

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Tracey Puig-Baker, College of Nursing
James Rawson, College of Medicine
(Radiology)
Michael Stefanik, College of Science
and Mathematics
Juan Walker, College of Education

Community Affairs
Monty Philpot, Government &
Community Affairs
Deborah Richardson, Office of
Faculty Development

Mission Statement
The Augusta University Cyber Institute, which provides the framework for all things
cyber at Augusta University, was established in June 2015 to enable, support, and
champion meaningful innovative inter-disciplinary models of research and education for
cyber security with a focus on building collaborative partnerships that impact K-12
education, academic, healthcare, government, and business communities.

3. Cyber Institute Start-up: Human Capital

In July 2015, Dr. Keel committed $1M for a faculty cluster hire in support for cyber
education and to help steer the Cyber Institute. Listed below are faculty leaders selected
because of their experience in cyber security education and research, many of who are
new to Augusta University.
Faculty (hire date)

Academic Programs

College

Dr. John Krautheim (Aug

2015)

CyberOps, Computer
Science

Hull

Mr. Ron Martin (Dec 2015)

CyberOps, IT, MS ISM

Hull

Dr. Mark Harris (Jul 2016)

Health Security, MS ISM

Hull

Dr. Michael Nowatkowski

(Aug 2016)

CyberOps, Computer
Science

Hull

Dr. Jay Heslen (Oct 2016)

CyberOps, Future
Pamplin
Security Studies
Note: Two remaining cluster hire faculty positions are still open for recruitment.

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In order to support the Cyber Institutes mission, a number of administrative & office
support offices were formed and staffed.
Staff Name

Areas of Responsibility

Ms. Karen Ribble

Cyber Outreach and Program

Development

Ms. Joy Lynn

Front Office & Social Media Support

Mr. Markus Bacha

Cybersecurity Education Advising &

Recruitment

Ms. Diana Silas

Financial Operations

Ms. Walidah Walker

Faculty Development and Grant

Initiatives

4. Cyber Institute Start-up: Infrastructure

With Augusta Universitys strategic vision to grow in all areas of cyber education, a stateof-the art cyber lab environment was designed to improve student ability to create,
experiment with, attack and defend networks. The University
committed $2.5M investment, which is the only university in
Georgia that has a lab facility specifically designed for cyber
education. Some of its unique features include:
o

Two dedicated IT cybersecurity staff personnel

to manage the lab environment Lab is
designed to be on its own network separate
from AU network for student learning in

cybersecurity
Design features collaborative learning model six pods designed by
faculty/staff at AU to allow collaborative learning in teams and for

cyber threat simulations.

Capacity - 36 physical seats and 130 virtual seats for remote on-line

learning.
Design allows a lab experience that includes face-to-face and online/remote learning format with video conferencing capabilities.
o Lab configuration is controlled by software (what you dont see)
and is easily reconfigurable and available to our students 24/7;
students reserve lab time that fits their schedule.

Ralph Herndon
o

Study lounge - quiet space for students along with two

additional pods to expand labs capability when needed for
competitions and collaborative learning

5.

Strategic Partnerships & Alliances

Advancing the K-12 Pipeline - Alliance for Cybersecurity Education (ACE)

Fort Gordon, Augusta Georgia is located less than ten miles from Augusta University.
Fort Gordon has been named as the future home of U.S. Army Cyber Command
Headquarters. General Cardon,
Commanding General of the U.S. Army Cyber Command, in one of his early visits to the
Augusta, GA area asked the Richmond and the Columbia County School systems to
increase information security and information technology subjects in the local schools.
The Alliance for Cybersecurity Education (ACE) was created in response to General
Cardons request and worked to develop curriculum pathways for grades 9-12 approved
by the Georgia State Board of Education. The following organizations came together to
define what was needed and succeeded in getting the high school curriculum approved to
be used in any public high school in Georgia beginning fall 2015:
Augusta University
Augusta Technical College
Augusta and Columbia County Chambers
CSRA Alliance
Cyber Center of Excellence, Fort Gordon
Advancing the K-12 Pipeline GenCyber Camps
Augusta University received three National Science
Foundation (NSF) Awards ($204K) to run two student
camps and one teacher camp. The primary purpose of the
student residential and non-residential camps is to expose
high school students (30 students each session) to potential careers and issues in
cybersecurity. The 5-day program features 40 hours of instructional time and 25 hours of
direct hand-on time building Raspberry Pi robots and an afternoon visit to NSA Georgia.
All camp participants took home a Raspberry Pi computer and flash drive with follow-on
recommendation for continued student cybersecurity learning.

Ralph Herndon
The primary purpose of the Augusta University GenCyber teacher camp is to support the
growth in cyber topics to teachers and those who plan to be teachers (teacher
candidates). The 5-day program features 6 hours of instructional time and 14 hours of
hand-on time and an afternoon visit to NSA Georgia. The enrollment target is for 30
participants (20 teachers and 10 teacher candidates) who have basic computer skills
and minimal to no coding experience.

6. Community Outreach Events

Augusta University (AU) hosts and sponsors many cyber defense events for the local and
regional community.
AU Cyber Education Summit
AU hosted its first Cyber Education Summit, October 23, 2014 featuring presentations
from Senator Saxby Chambliss, Vice Chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence and Admiral Michael S.Rogers, Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command
and Director of the National Security Agency. Our 2nd annual Cyber Education Summit
took place October 14-15, 2015 and featured Stephanie OSullivan, Principle Deputy
Director of National Intelligence and Lieutenant General Edward C. Cardon,
Commanding General of the U.S. Army Cyber Command. We use the summit as a
mechanism to help educate AU faculty, staff, and students; as well as the surrounding
community including Fort Gordons Cyber Center of Excellence, JFHQ-Cyber, NSAG,
and the DOE Savannah River Site, on cybersecurity topics of interest. We used the first
summit to learn more about the CAE process and how industry, the military, and higher
education could work together to improve the pipeline of available cybersecurity talent.
Our second summit was used to report on efforts of a statewide workforce consortium to
further develop cyber workforce needs, frame the national discussion regarding emerging
needs for cybersecurity curriculum and discuss how to share information to fight threats.
We also examined novel partnerships and ongoing successful communitywide efforts to
promote cybersecurity workforce development and education. Our summits are about
putting AU and our region on the national stage and promoting this area as a
cybersecurity thought leader.

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BSidesAugusta
Augusta University is the host and major sponsor of
BSidesAugusta. We saw an opportunity to partner
with the local community on cybersecurity and helped
grow this local cybersecurity community event.
BSides is an international phenomena focused on
creating community events where likeminded information security professionals can
network, share ideas, and present their latest cyber findings. BSidesAugusta was initiated
over three years ago, prior to the Army Cyber Command Headquarters move to Fort
Gordon. A shared desire among a number of the local cyber professionals was the vision
to create and promote Augusta, GA, as an information security technology center. After a
careful review of potential options, BSIDESAugusta was first held in 2013 and attracted
171 attendees. Our 2015 event held on August 10, 2015 had 650 attendees. As part of the
2015 BSidesAugusta, we also hosted the Security Onion Conference on September 11,
2015.
Greater Augusta ISSA and Hull College of Business hosted cybersecurity speaker
series
Since 2007, the Hull College of Business has sponsored a cybersecurity speaker series in
partnership with the Greater Augusta Information Systems Security Association (ISSA).
The speaker series is offered free to the general public and has provided the Augusta, GA
community high quality presentations by noted cybersecurity professionals. Speakers for
the last three years can be found on the Augusta ISSA website http://augusta.issa.org/.
VetSuccess
SANS Institute, in collaboration with Augusta Warrior Project and Augusta University,
presented from February thru June 2016, the SANS VetSuccess CyberTalent Immersion
Academy. For transitioning veterans, the academy provides advanced technical training,
certifications, and connections to high-paying jobs in cybersecurity. For employers, its a
faster, more reliable, and less expensive way to find, train, certify, and employ highly

Ralph Herndon
qualified cybersecurity talent. Augusta University
hosts this important effort to help train veterans in
our community.
7. Financial Operations
Establishment of the Augusta University Cyber
Institute was funded through the FY16 Planning
and Resource Alignment planning process, strategic use of remaining FY15 funds and
earmarked FY16 USG allocations. Total USG allocation for FY16 was $1.2M, which
is reflected in the chart below:

Part B Technology Center Activities

What We Have Achieved
Education

Completed a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the

Army Cyber CoE to become strategic education partners

Hired four cyber focused faculty members who will provide
opportunities to integrate cybersecurity across the curriculum,

Ralph Herndon
including liberal arts and health sciences (Allied

Health/Hull/Pamplin Colleges)
Supported the application for Accreditation Board for Engineering
& Technology (ABET) necessary for the CAE CyberOps

designation by NSA/DHS
Created and piloted a CISSP course offered thru Professional and
Continuing Education, which is the foundation for a new graduate
level Health Security Certificate

Research

Renovated space for the Cyber Institute, including an investment

of $2.5M for student online learning and virtual lab capacity for
cybersecurity classes, cyber research, cyber defense
competitions and K-12 community outreach

Outreach

Piloted cybersecurity professional development for Georgia high

school teachers in Cybersecurity Curriculum Pathway approved

by the Georgia Department of Education (GADOE) in March 2015

For the second year, Collaborated with the College of Education
in conducting the second annual GenCyber camps, a STEM
program focused on introducing cybersecurity to STEM middle

school teachers
Host SANS Vet Success Immersion Academy, an intensive,
accelerated program that provides training and certifications

needed to fill critical jobs in cybersecurity (Sep-Dec 2016)

Host and Sponsor for BSides Augusta 2016 with over 700 in

attendance, the highest attendance record

Cyber Georgia @ Augusta University a partnership event
sponsored by Augusta University and the GA Chamber for

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Industry, Academia, & Government Strengthening Cyber Security
held Oct 12-13, 2016

Looking Ahead
CyberOps
Achieve NSA/DHA National Center of Excellence in Cyber Ops
(CAE-CyberOps)
Develop online courses for cyber defense that will enable greater
access by a broader potential group of highly qualified and high
achieving students
Conduct a Capstone course to address a vulnerability
assessment in partnership with local government agencies
Expose all students to cybersecurity issues and provide the
opportunity to develop needed cyber security competencies
regardless of the career program or field of study

Health Security
Offer a Masters of Science in Information Security Management,
which will include health security electives
Develop a Health IT graduate program grounded in sound
cybersecurity fundamentals
Hire faculty who will provide opportunities to integrate
cybersecurity across health sciences with expertise in process
control systems
Achieve NSA/DHS CAE Healthcare Security Focus Area
designation

Data Science
Develop graduate level programs in Data Science
Be the nations leading health center in health information protection, application
of data analytics, and cybersecurity practice and implementation

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Advocate for the greater application of data science to reduce

clinical practice risk exposure

Outreach
Expand Cyber K-12 Pipeline Initiative
Increase pre-collegiate experiences to boost student interest in
the field of cybersecurity
Continue the Cyber Institutes strong practice of hosting and
sponsoring cyber defense events for the local and regional
community
Expand Cyber COE outreach initiatives
Expand the number of NSA Georgia, Cyber Center of Excellence, and Army Cyber
Headquarters adjunct professors.

Goals for 2017

As a new institute, our primary goal is to put practices and processes
in place that will promote and foster multidisciplinary cyber research
and education across the institution. As defined and identified at the
first Cyber Retreat, the Cyber Institute is championing the
establishment of the Medical and Control Device
Security/Certification Working Group, chaired by Augusta University
CISO Walter Ray, and the Crisis Consultancy/Risk Management
Working Group, chaired by Dr. Mark Harris, Cyber Institute and Hull
College of Business. In collaboration with Hull College of Business,
the Cyber Institute is supporting the development of a Master in
Information Security Management degree program. and in Additional
2017 goals follow keyed to our three strategic strengths:
CyberOps - Cyber Operations is deeply technical, interdisciplinary, higher education
program firmly grounded in computer science (computer and electrical engineering)
that leverages the human element.
Computer Science accredited thru ABET, onsite visit 2016
Submit NSA/DHS CyberOps application Jan 2017

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Develop online courses for cyber defense
Map Joint Cyber Analysis Course (impacts NSA & Cyber COE)
Develop visiting professor positions with NSAG and Cyber CoE
Data Science Data Science is an interdisciplinary field that provides insights and
extracts knowledge from large data sets that support cyber activities, healthcare,
research, etc.
Hire faculty member with a strength in Data Science and Computer Science
Develop graduate level programs in Data Science
Health Security Health Security applies cyber defense, health IT, cyber operations,
data science to healthcare settings, EMP privacy, and security, and medical device
security, etc.
Hire faculty member with a strength in Health Security and Computer Science
Develop graduate level programs in Health Security
Grow Health Security Certificate to a 30 credit MS program

Ralph Herndon

References
Augusta University Cyber Institute Fact Sheet
Augusta University Cyber Institute Annual Report 2015-2016
Augusta University Cyber Institute Establishment Document
Augusta University Cyber Institute Website