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In 2012, the National Security Agency (NSA) established the National Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cyber Operations Program designed to further the goal to broaden the pool of skilled workers capable of supporting a cyber-secure nation.
The University of New Orleans (UNO) has been newly designated as a National Center of Excellence by the NSA for the next five years, marking the first Louisiana university to achieve the honor. The designation certificate will be presented next week on June 18th in San Diego.
“This is a huge honor for the University of New Orleans,” said Golden Richard, professor of computer science and director of the Greater New Orleans Center for Information Assurance at UNO. “This designation places strong emphasis on academic programs that prepare students to tackle real challenges in cyber security, meaning they have extensive skills in digital forensics, reverse engineering, network security and other areas.”
During the rigorous application process, the university mapped out curricula that met NSA standards, and a team of four NSA experts visited the New Orleans campus to observe the institution.
According to a statement provided by UNO, the CAE-Cyber Operations designation is reserved for a deeply technical, interdisciplinary, higher education program firmly grounded in the computer science, computer engineering or electrical engineering disciplines with extensive opportunities for hands-on applications.
The University of New Orleans’ Department of Computer Science is already a designated National Center of Academic Excellence in both Information Assurance Education and Information Assurance Research.