National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education

The U.S. government recently recognized Pitt for taking steps to make the Internet more… The U.S. government recently recognized Pitt for taking steps to make the Internet more secure.

Until 2012, Pitt holds a designation from the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. The distinction recognizes universities that promote research in network and information security.

The CAEIAE initiative was formed in 1998 and was expanded in 2003 by President Bush’s National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. Its goal was to draw more information security professionals to the field, and that’s just what Pitt has been doing lately.

More information science majors than ever before are taking part in Pitt’s Security Assured Information Systems track. Last August, Pitt received a grant of more than $1 million to support students who pursued the SAIS track.

James Joshi, a professor in the School of Information Sciences and a major leader in the program, said that the Center of Academic Excellence designation is a big accomplishment for Pitt.

“Our basic stand was to try to achieve and provide quality education and research, and that provided a very nice standard for us to achieve,” Joshi said. “We started about four years back with this security program, and that seemed like the right goal for us to move towards.

“We basically tried to align with the [CAEIAE] program so that we could be distinctly recognized as an institute that can achieve those standards, and it speaks for itself right now.”

Pitt is one of 13 schools in the nation to meet all five standards, which include a faculty devoted to information assurance, a focused curriculum, funded research projects, a substantial number of students who graduate with a degree in the program and a large amount of solid, published research.

Joshi added that these distinctions come with scholarship money and research funding, guaranteeing that Pitt will have the best facilities and faculty to keep the program on top.