NICE Community Coordinating Council

Charter (February 2021)

I. Introduction: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has 

been designated as the lead for the National Initiative for Cybersecurity 

Education (NICE). The mission of NICE is to energize, promote, and coordinate a 

robust community working together to advance an integrated ecosystem of 

cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development.

II. Purpose of the NICE Community Coordinating Council (NICE Community): To 

provide a mechanism in which public and private sector participants can 

develop concepts, design strategies, and pursue actions that advance 

cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development.

III. Organizational Structure

a. Leadership

i. Executive Committee – Co-Chairs from Academia, Industry, and 

Government

ii. Leadership Team – Executive Committee, NICE Working Group CoChairs, NICE Communities of Interest Co-Chairs, and Ex-Officio 

Representatives

• Examples of Ex-Officio Representatives include:

o Planning Committee Chair(s), NICE Conference and Expo

o Planning Committee Chair(s), NICE K12 Cybersecurity 

Education Conference

o Planning Committee Chair(s), Cybersecurity Career 

Awareness Week

b. Groups

i. NICE Community Coordinating Council - Leadership Team, Working 

Groups, Project Teams, and Communities of Interests

ii. Working Groups – groups established that align to NICE Strategic Plan 

goals and are focused on developing implementation plans for the 

Strategic Plan. 

iii. Communities of Interests– constituent groups or topical groups that 

are designated, reviewed, and renewed annually by the Leadership 

Team

iv. Project Teams – short-term (6 months or less) teams established to 

pursue a specific objective or strategies in the NICE Strategic Plan

c. Terms of Leadership

i. Executive Committee

• Government, NICE Director
• Academia: 2 year term that is staggered with other co-chair

• Industry: 2 year term that is staggered with other co-chair

ii. Working Group Co-Chairs will serve 2 year terms with a possibility of 

renewal for an additional 2 years. Terms will be staggered with other 

co-chairs. A NICE Staff Liaison is assigned to support the working 

group. 

• Government

• Academia

• Industry

• NICE Staff Liaison

iii. Communities of Interest Co-Chairs will serve 2 year terms with a 

possibility of renewal for an additional 2 years. Terms will be 

staggered with other co-chairs. A NICE Staff Liaison is assigned to 

support the Community of Interest. 

• Government

• Academia

• Industry

• NICE Staff Liaison

IV. Operation

a. Sponsorship and Authority: the NICE Community Coordinating Council is a 

NIST Public Working Group. As such, formal recommendations from the NICE 

Community will not be provided to the Federal Government. 

b. Frequency of Meetings

i. Executive Committee – as needed

ii. Leadership Team – twice per year (once via teleconference and once 

at the annual NICE Conference)

iii. Working Group – monthly or bi-monthly

iv. Community of Interest– once per month or as needed

v. Project Teams – weekly or as needed

c. Agenda and Minutes

i. Agendas – available 1 week in advance of meeting

ii. Minutes – posted within 1 week after meeting

d. Communication and Collaboration Platforms

i. Email Lists - Google Groups will be used

• Co-Chairs and participants shall abide by the Mailing List 

Etiquette

ii. Team Site

• Participants will have access to the NICE Community Google 

Share Folder utilizing Google Drive. The website is located at: 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1l7suXndzapFBB9Dhc

CELjtzaE_aQtGK2?usp=sharing

iii. Meeting Collaboration Platform
• Blue Jeans will be used for virtual meetings. If you are new to 

Blue Jeans, here are some support training videos. You can test 

your video connection here.

iv. Public Web Presence

• Final deliverables from the NICE Community will be placed 

online at nist.gov/nice

V. Roles and Responsibilities

a. Executive Committee

i. Periodically review and update the NICE Community charter 

ii. Provide input on meeting agendas and minutes 

iii. Recommend and select NICE Community Working Group and 

Community of Interest co-chairs

iv. Recommend participants to perform specific tasks to complete the 

scope, deliverables, and products of the NICE Community

v. Provide guidance to the Working Groups and Communities of Interest

vi. Provide input to all products and deliverables

b. NICE Working Group Co-Chairs

i. Complete requested tasks towards the development of the NICE 

Community and NICE Community deliverables

ii. Attend and actively participate in meetings of the NICE Community

iii. Provide input on meeting agendas and minutes

iv. Preside over Working Group meetings

v. Create deliverables that are aligned to NICE Strategic Plan or in 

response to NICE Community requests or, when necessary, refer them 

to another appropriate Working Group

vi. Provide updates on the Working Group during NICE Community 

Coordinating Council meetings

vii. Provide input into the NICE Community Coordinating Council meeting 

standing items

viii. In consultation with the NICE Community Co-Chairs, review, 

deliberate on, and revise or adopt any recommendations of the 

Working Group prior to forwarding or presenting to the full NICE 

Community

c. NICE Community of Interest Co-Chairs

i. Complete requested tasks towards the development of the NICE 

Community and NICE Community deliverables

ii. Attend and actively participate in meetings of the NICE Community

iii. Provide input on meeting agendas and minutes

iv. Preside over Community of Interest meetings 

v. Engage in discussion with participants in the Community of Interest 

email list

vi. Provide updates on the Community of Interest during NICE 

Community Coordinating Council meetings 
vii. Provide input into the NICE Community Coordinating Council meeting 

standing items 

viii. In consultation with the NICE Community Co-Chairs, review, 

deliberate on, and revise or adopt any recommendations of 

Communities of Interest prior to forwarding or presenting to the full 

NICE Community

d. NICE Working Group Project Team Leads

i. Complete requested tasks towards the development of the NICE 

Community and NICE Community deliverables

ii. Attend NICE Community meetings as necessary for providing project 

status updates, obtaining input, or presenting final results

iii. Consider, deliberate on, and draft reports or other deliverables as 

requested

iv. Review and provide comments on deliverables prepared by or 

presented to the subgroup

v. Attend and actively participate in meetings of the subgroup

vi. Participate in presentation of recommendations to NICE Community

when invited

e. NICE Community, Working Groups, and Communities of Interest participants

i. Complete requested tasks towards the goals of the Working Groups 

and Communities of Interest

ii. Attend and actively participate in group meetings as necessary

iii. Contribute input to group project(s)

iv. Serve as Subject Matter Experts to the group co-chairs

f. NICE Program Office Staff

i. Attend and participate in NICE Community meetings

ii. Serve as liaison to assigned NICE Community Working Groups and 

Communities of Interest

iii. Arrange and conduct meetings including notifying NICE Community

participants of the meeting, drafting meeting agendas, and

documenting subsequent meeting minutes

iv. In consultation with the Co-Chairs, review, deliberate on, and revise 

or adopt any recommendations of NICE Community Working Groups 

and Communities of Interest
NICE Community Coordinating Council

Monthly Meeting Agenda

Draft Template

Shared Folder | Website | NICEcommunity@list.nist.gov | NICE Strategic Plan

I. Introduction and Ground Rules

II. NICE Program Office Updates

III. Opening Remarks

a. Industry Co-Chair

b. Academic Co-Chair

c. Government Co-Chair

IV. Standing Items

a. Strategy Stories- Covers new developments that align to the NICE Strategic 

Plan. 

b. Report Roundup- Covers learning from good ideas based upon recent reports 

and may include statistical data or recommendations from the community. 

c. Framework Feature- Highlights applications and uses of the Workforce 

Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework). 

d. Research Review- Addresses highlights of research results or topics for 

further study. This topic also aligns to the 5th goal of the NICE Strategic Plan 

to “Drive Research on Effective Practices for Cybersecurity Workforce 

Development”. 

V. Project Spotlight (as needed)

VI. Working Group Updates

a. Promote Career Discovery

b. Transform Learning Process

c. Modernize Talent Management

VII. Community of Interest Updates

a. Apprenticeships in Cybersecurity 

b. Cybersecurity Skills Competitions

c. K12 Cybersecurity Education

d. NICE Framework Users Group

VIII. Project Progress Reports

a. Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week

b. NICE Conference and Expo

c. NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference
d. National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (CAE) Community

(as needed)

e. CyberSeek (as needed)

f. US Cyber Games (as needed)

IX. Featured Topic (as needed)

X. Closing Remarks and Next Meeting Reminder