UI Wins Prestigious National Security Agency Re-Designation

Circuit

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has announced a renewal of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's status as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAEIAE).

The CAEIAE program recognizes universities that offer students outstanding programs of academic coursework in information assurance. Illinois has held a CAEIAE designation since 2000. Professor Roy Campbell, who is the Director of the Center for Information Assurance Education and Research in the Information Trust Institute at Illinois, explained that the term "information assurance," or "IA," refers to efforts to manage and minimize the risks associated with information systems. "The expanding scope of the Information Trust Institute and our new Cyber Scholarship program for undergraduates are examples of the world leadership shown by our university in IA research and education," said Campbell. "We're very pleased that the NSA has recognized our programs with this honor."

In addition to maintaining CAEIAE status, the University of Illinois also continues to carry a CAE-R (National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research) designation from the NSA. The CAE-R designation gives formal recognition to universities whose outstanding graduate research programs in the field of information assurance demonstrate significant impact.

The CAEIAE/CAE-R program is jointly sponsored by the NSA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. According to NSA's website, "The goal of these programs is to reduce vulnerability in our national information infrastructure by promoting higher education and research in IA, and producing a growing number of professionals with IA expertise in various disciplines."

The new CAEIAE re-designation will be effective for academic years 2009-2014. A ceremony recognizing the achievement was held during the 13th Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education (CISSE), which took place last month in Seattle, Washington.

7/31/09