NICE Community Coordinating Council

Meeting Minutes

February 24, 2021 | 3:30-5:00 p.m. ET

I. Introduction and Ground Rules

NICE Program Manager Susana Barraza welcomed everyone to the meeting and 

provided an overview of the council and its purpose. She encouraged everyone 

to engage with the speakers via the chat space and noted that the meeting is not 

intended for commercial or promotional use. 

II. Opening Remarks

a. Industry Co-Chair: Jon Brickey, Senior Vice President, MasterCard

• There was a cybersecurity-related incident earlier in the day involving the 

Federal Reserve. Apparently, it did not involve hacking, but rather 

human error.

• The Cybersecurity Talent Initiative, a public-private tuition 

reimbursement program, is looking for new industry partners. Industry 

sponsorship has dropped significantly. The program enhances the 

cybersecurity workforce pipeline by recruiting and training students, who 

receive student loan assistance. Participants are given a 2-year placement 

at a federal agency and then are invited to apply for a full-time position in 

the private sector. Contact Jon if you are interested in learning more. 

b. Academic Co-Chair: Marni Baker-Stein, Chief Academic Officer and Provost,

Western Governors University

• The Department of Labor estimates that higher education institutions 

have shed at least 650,000 employees in 2020 – the biggest drop since 

the 1950s. 

• President Biden proposed cancelling a portion of student loan debt and 

called on Congress to pass legislation to that effect.

• There has been a drop in FASA applications for first-time students, 

which is a direct hit to equity because the greatest decline is in lower 

income areas.

• The number of students applying for early decision nationally is 

decreasing. The overall number for early action fell by 5%, but that 

number varies depending on the size of the institution. Overall, college 

enrollment has declined by 2.5%, and community colleges have

suffered most. More affluent counties are feeling less of the loss. 
• A recent study looking at IT programs showed that enrollments have 

grown at a higher rate in the IT fields than any other area during the 

pandemic.

c. Government Co-Chair: Rodney Petersen, Director of NICE 

• The Biden administration is staffing up and has announced its top 

priorities: American Rescue Plan, Covid-19, Climate, and Racial Equity

1. Prioritization of the economy puts an emphasis on jobs growth 

and putting displaced workers into good jobs, including 

cybersecurity and IT roles. This will impact cybersecurity career 

pathways – one of the NICE strategic goals. 

2. The attention to Covid-19 offers an opportunity to reexamine 

what “business as usual” will look like in the future. For example, 

will we continue to print and use paper as we did in the past now 

that we’ve been operating digitally for the past year? The 

pandemic has put a spotlight on broadband access, and there will 

be further discussions about online learning and working 

experiences.

3. The prioritization of racial equity provides an opportunity for the 

NICE community to double down on expanding inclusion and 

diversity.

• The nominee for Secretary of Commerce is Governor Gina Raimondo of 

Rhode Island, and during her confirmation hearing the issue of 

cybersecurity came up. Rhode Island has been active in jobs creation, 

workforce development, and educational issues.

III. Standing Items

a. Strategy Stories - New Developments that Align to NICE Strategic Plan

Cybersecurity Inclusive Pathways toward Higher Education and Research 

(CIPHER)

Presented by Dr. Hongyi “Michael” Wu, Director, School of Cybersecurity, Old 

Dominion University

URL: https://www.odu.edu/news/2020/9/school_of_cybersecur?utm_campaign

=HP-Slider#.X3IwYJNKgUF

• Demands and Challenges: In general, higher education is reacting 

quickly to the need for a large cybersecurity workforce and expanding 

cybersecurity programs, but there is still a significant gap between k-12 

and college education in cybersecurity. Funding for scholarships has 

been really helpful.

• Challenges to Achieve Diversity and Inclusion
1. Implementation: Where to fit it into the K-12 curricula and how to 

ensure time allocation and resources and infrastructure.

2. Student Access: How to ensure students with different 

socioeconomic status have equal access to curricula, teachers, 

resources and infrastructure. How to assess students and support 

mobility.

3. Teacher Preparation: How to ensure teachers have access to solid 

curriculum and learning resources. How to prepare competent 

teachers.

4. Partnership and Coordination: There are no standardized 

articulations between elementary schools, middle schools, high 

schools, community colleges and 4-year universities; there is no 

guarantee that all teachers adhere to one philosophy regarding 

the teaching of cybersecurity; no guarantee that students at the 

same grade level are introduced to the same academic content 

and skills.

• In response to a question, Dr. Wu said it would be great for his program 

to connect more closely with the NICE community and he will send an 

invitation to their next meeting. 

b. Report Roundup - Learning from Good Ideas

NASCIO Cybersecurity Study

Presented by Meredith Ward, Director, Policy & Research, National Association 

of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO)

URL: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/

6899_nascio/DI_NASCIO_interactive.pdf

• The NASCIO Cybersecurity Study, in its 10th year, looks at the role of 

state CISOs, their budget, governance, reporting, workforce, and 

operations. It is a comprehensive report, and they have 10 years of 

data to examine. The key takeaways:

1. COVID-19 has challenged continuity and amplified gaps, creating 

more of a risk landscape.

2. Operating in “silos of excellence” is not realistic. Collaboration 

with local governments and public higher education is critical to 

managing increasingly complex cybersecurity risk within state 

borders.

3. A centralized structure helps CISOs position cybersecurity in a 

way that improves agility, effectiveness, and efficiencies. States 

with centralized CIO organizations were better able to pivot to 

remote work.
• In the cybersecurity workforce, the leading outsourced cybersecurity

functions are cyber threat risk assessments (60%), security operations 

center (42%), and forensics/legal support (40%). The top talent 

management practices to attract and retain the cybersecurity

workforce are promoting non-salary benefits, highlighting greater 

stability, and offering internship programs.

• To learn more, email Meredith at: mward@nascio.org

c. Framework Feature - Applications and Uses of Workforce Framework for 

Cybersecurity

NICE Framework Success Stories

Presented by Karen Wetzel, Manager, NICE Framework

URL: https://www.nist.gov/itl/applied-cybersecurity/nice/nice-frameworkresource-center/success-story-catalog

• Success Stories: Organizational profiles that illustrate drivers, process, 

a tie-in with the NICE Framework, benefits, and impact. These stories 

provide an opportunity for people wondering how their organization 

can use the Framework to see how others are using it.

• NICE has already recorded some success stories and would like to 

profile organizations from different sectors. If you have a story to 

share, submit it at niceframework@nist.gov or contact Karen at 

karen.wetzel@nist.gov

• In response to a question about including competencies in the success 

stories, Karen said they are not currently part of the profile but 

probably will be soon. 

d. Research Review - Highlighting Research Results or Topics for Further Study

Cybersecurity Skills Journal: Practice and Research

Presented by Laurin Buchanan, Principal Investigator Secure Decisions

URL: https://www.nationalcyberwatch.org/cybersecurity-skills-journal-practiceand-research/

• Rather than highlighting research, Laurin said the cybersecurity 

education community should highlight systematic investigations. There 

are a lot of informal results around the objectives in NICE Strategic Plan 

Goal 5, but data-driven evidence about effective and proven practices is 

critical. 

• Evidence-based systematic investigations: The cybersecurity 

community lacks experience designing, conducting and documenting 

evidence-based studies into human factors and performance. There is a 

need to leverage lessons that have been learned in other domains, such 
as healthcare, and identify what works, why, and under what 

conditions. It is also important to share what didn’t work and learn 

from failures. Results need to be disseminated more widely. 

• Cybersecurity Skills Journal: They are seeking studies on Practice, 

Research, and Education topics to advance the current understanding 

or capability of humans in the cybersecurity loop; analyze, evaluate, 

improve, and measure techniques, tactics and procedures (TTPs); 

design and deployment of instructional systems that raise capability 

maturity. 

• They are issuing a call for abstracts for an upcoming special issue,

Diversifying the Cybersecurity Workforce. Diverse perspectives are 

essential for driving innovation and addressing the skills gap. If you 

have models, data, systematic, review, cases, or instructional designs 

that suggest how the nation can succeed in diversifying the 

cybersecurity workforce, let them know.

• Submit your idea by September, and include the problem and research 

question. They take a highly collegial approach and try to find a way to 

work with authors to ensure scholarly rigor. Submit an abstract at: 

https://nationalcyberwatchcenter.wildapricot.org/event-4157377

IV. Working Group Updates

a. Promote Career Discovery

Roland Varriale II, Cybersecurity Analyst, Argonne National Laboratory

• The Promote Career Discovery Working Group will perform an 

environmental scan as a first order of business. They are looking for 

people to join the group and provide a diverse look at different 

pathways. 

• Next meeting: Wednesday, March 17, 2021, 3:30 p.m. ET

b. Transform Learning Process

Richard Spires, Instructor, Learning Tree

• The Transform Learning Process Working Group held the first meeting 2 

weeks ago and will meet every other week to build momentum. They 

welcome new members.

• Next meeting: Wednesday, March 10, 2021, 3 p.m. ET

c. Modernize Talent Management

Karen Jensen, Saaby Consulting
• The Modernize Talent Management met for the first time recently and 

will focus initially on building project teams to take on the goals in 

smaller groups. They welcome new members.

• Next meeting: Thursday, March 18, 2021, 1 p.m. ET

V. Community of Interest Updates

a. Apprenticeships in Cybersecurity

Tony Bryan, Executive Director, CyberUp

• The Apprenticeships in Cybersecurity COI is reviewing its charter as a 

newly structured community of interest. 

• Next meeting: Friday, March 26, 2021, 11 a.m., ET

b. Cybersecurity Skills Competitions

Amelia Phillips, Highline College

• The Cybersecurity Skills Competitions COI met the previous Thursday. 

They are reviewing their charter and polishing up three recently 

completed projects. 

• Next meeting: Thursday, March 18, 2021, 3 p.m. ET

c. K12 Cybersecurity Education

Laurin Buchanan, Secure Decisions

• The K12 Cybersecurity Education COI started introducing each meeting 

with an interactive activity that educators can use to introduce a topic. 

They are working to identify gaps that will guide them to a roadmap. 

• Next meeting: Wednesday, March 10, 2021, 3:30 p.m. ET

d. NICE Framework Users 

Karen Wetzel, Manager of the NICE Framework

• The NICE Framework Users COI, formed at the end of January, now has 

120 members. 

VI. Project Progress Reports

a. NICE Conference and Expo

Presenter: Randy Pestana, Florida International University

URL: https://niceconference.org/

• Save the Date: June 6-8, 2022, at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in 

Atlanta, Georgia

• The conference theme will be revealed soon. 
• A virtual event will be held in November, 2021. 

• Future conferences will be held the first week in June.

b. NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference

Presenter: Felicia Rateliff, Director of Operations & Programs, iKeepSafe

URL: https://www.k12cybersecurityconference.org/

• Save the Date: December 6-7, 2021

The NICE K12 conference will be virtual again this year because of the 

continued impact of Covid-19 on educators, including travel restrictions 

and budgetary restrictions and because the 2020 virtual conference 

was a very successful event.

• Key Dates:

1. March 25: First planning committee meeting

2. Early to mid-April: Call for speaker proposals opens

3. Late June: Call for speaker proposals closes

4. Mid-August: Early bird registration opens; agenda goes live

5. Late October: Early bird registration closes

6. December 4-5: Pre-conference workshops

• Conference planners are seeking sponsors and exhibitors. An exhibitor 

virtual booth is $750 for for-profit companies and $500 for nonprofit 

organizations.

• Registration: $125 for early bird and government attendees; $150 

regular price. (All conference content will be available to attendees for 

1 year after the event.) Scholarships will be available for educators. 

• For more information, email Felicia at: conference@ikeepsafe.org

c. Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cybersecurity Community

Presenter: Amy Hysell, California State University, San Bernardino

URL: https://www.caecommunity.org/

• Upcoming Events:

1. May: Virtual Executive Leadership Forum

2. September 17: National Cybersecurity Virtual Career Fair: Open 

to all CAE students and alumni. They are looking for industry 

partners to host a booth – it’s free. 

3. June 2022: Community Symposium event

VII. Closing Remarks and Next Meeting Reminder
• Rodney thanked the speakers and participants for joining the meeting. 

If anyone has a Strategy Story, Recent Report, Framework Story, or 

Research to share, contact the NICE team. 

• The next NICE Community Meeting will be on March 24, 2021, at 3:30 

p.m. ET