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Program Introductions

NASPAA & NCAE-C

Summer 2022

A publication by the NICE Community Coordinating Council’s 

Incorporating Cybersecurity into a Public Service Education Project Team
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 The Elevator Pitch

“One cannot educate every 

governor, senator, cabinet 

secretary, or public administrator 

on the ins and outs of 

cybersecurity—but one can take 

real steps to ensure that members 

of their staff have received a 

basic education in the topics most 

critical to their position.”

 Intent 

This document is intended to be shared with the 

members of two organizations: the Network of 

Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration 

(NASPAA) and the National Centers of Academic 

Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C). 

It is the hope of this project team that faculty, 

administrators, staff, and decision makers of all 

backgrounds—from both organizations—will 

become aware of the potential for partnership with 

programs on or near their campus and take this 

opportunity to introduce and open themselves up 

to local collaborations that provide tomorrow’s 

leaders in government with the cybersecurity skills 

most critical to their position.

NASPAA is an international association of more 

than 300 institutional member schools that award 

degrees in Public Policy, Public Administration, or 

Public Affairs.

The NCAE-C program recognizes academic 

departments or research centers at more than 300 

institutions in the United States, with designations 

in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD), Cyber Research (CAER), and Cyber Operations (CAE-CO).

There is no requirement or incentive for CAEs and 

NASPAA programs to make these introductions, or 

to develop local collaborations that better society 

or improve students’ understanding of 

cybersecurity. 

Programs which elect to connect and collaborate 

will be invited to share their stories and participate 

in future initiatives designed to recognize 

outstanding leadership and model multidisciplinary 

approaches that integrate cybersecurity across 

varied curricula to support diverse learners from a 

variety of backgrounds and experiences.

 Background 

This document is a deliverable of the 

“Incorporating Cybersecurity into a Public Service 

Education Project Team” on behalf of the National 

Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) 

Community Coordinating Council. 

The NICE Community has been established 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. The Community is comprised of four 

Community of Interest groups and three Working 

Groups (sponsoring five project teams) that meet 

independent of the NICE Community and report 

out at the NICE Community Meetings.

Projects teams are entrepreneurial groups, 

authorized in sprints of six months, that tackle 

specific objectives or strategies in NICE’s 

Implementation Plan. This project team was 

launched by the Transform Learning Projects 

Working Group in January of 2022 to address 

Objective 2.2 of the NICE Implementation Plan: 

“Advocate for multidisciplinary approaches that 

integrate cybersecurity across varied curricula that 

support diverse learners from a variety of 

backgrounds and experiences.” 
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As a fully volunteer project, with members spread 

across many industries and areas of practice, the 

team relies on members to self-select from the 

current taskings and coordinate their actions 

through the project co-chairs. Project members 

meet monthly to report updates, challenges, and 

new taskings.

Special thanks to the following members for their 

contributions to this document: Stacy Drudy, 

Director of Innovative Teaching and Learning, and 

Data Center Director at the Network of Schools of 

Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration; and 

Karen Leuschner, Program Manager, National 

Centers of the Academic Excellence in Cyber 

Defense. Design and layout of this document by 

Andrew Artz, Data Scientist at the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology.

 The Call to Action

John Kingdon’s "policy window" 

recognizes a moment in time 

when a problem reaches maturity, 

there is a political will to address 

the problem, and feasible 

solutions to the problem are 

present.

Policy windows are not 

permanent—they may close if not 

acted upon. At this present 

moment NCAE-C, NASPAA, and its 

programs can affect the future of 

cybersecurity through their own 

policy window.

What does Incorporating Cybersecurity 

into a Public Service Education look like?

While cybersecurity in a NASPAA program may 

take the form of an elective course, the project 

team sees touch points to cybersecurity across

all facets of a program. Consider the following 

illustrations:

 “An instructor or TA in a course on 

government procurement, city management, or 

social services responds to an assignment or 

discussion post asking how Confidentiality, 

Integrity, and Availability factor into the 

students’ proposals to purchase a new web 

service or provide open public data.”

 “Faculty, staff, or administrators supporting 

NASPAA programs are regularly invited to 

participate in or observe simulation style 

workshops based on real-world cyber events—

like the workshops recently held at the American 

Society for Public Administration’s 2022 

conference” 

 “A career counselor knows there are more than 

500,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs. The counselor 

also knows where to find the resources that can help 

plan a workshop on cybersecurity and to find free or 

low cost training that students may complete and 

add to their resume.”

 “CAE and NASPAA programs collaborating to 

identify where aspects of foundational knowledge 

units are already being taught in NASPAA programs, 

or how current curricula maps to work roles in the 

NICE Framework.”

If these ideas speak to you, and you would like to 

join the project or receive updates, please email:

NICEPublicServiceEducation+subscribe@list.nist.gov

Joining the Google Group will also provide access to 

project resources. The project team meets at 

1:00PM (EST) Second Wednesday of every month. 
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The NCAE-C is managed by the Program Office at 

the National Security Agency. The NCAE-C aims to 

create and manage collaborative cybersecurity 

education programs with community colleges, 

colleges, and universities that:

• Integrates cybersecurity practice within the 

institution across academic disciplines,

• Values community outreach and leadership 

in professional development,

• Actively engages in solutions to challenges 

facing cybersecurity education,

• Establishes standards for cybersecurity 

curriculum and academic excellence,

• Includes competency development among 

students and faculty.

CAE are divided into regions, but a CAE based on 

one campus may serve a local network comprised 

of several institutions. Each institution may hold 

up to three designations but can validate additional 

programs that meet the same high standards 

required of CAE designated schools, thus producing 

a qualified workforce much needed by the nation. 

Beyond the classroom, CAEs offer faculty access to 

cybersecurity development training, and students 

the opportunity to apply for scholarships, access to 

career fairs, access to tech talk/forums on 

cybersecurity topics, and much more!

As part of their designation, CAE schools are also 

required to integrate Cybersecurity topics in 

additional disciplines within the school. So, what 

do the CAE designations mean?

 Cyber Defense

The CAE-CD designation is awarded to regionally 

accredited academic institutions offering 

cybersecurity degrees and/or certificates at the 

associate, bachelor’s, and graduate levels.

 Cyber Research

Awarded to DoD schools, PhD producing military 

academies, or regionally accredited, degree 

granting four-year institutions rated by the 

Carnegie Foundation Basic Classification system as 

either a Doctoral Universities – Very high research 

activity, R2: Doctoral Universities – High research 

activity or D/PU: Doctoral/Professional 

Universities.

 Cyber Operations

The CAE-CO program is a deeply technical, 

interdisciplinary, higher education program firmly 

grounded in the computer science, computer 

engineering, and/or electrical engineering 

disciplines, with extensive opportunities for handson applications via labs and exercises.

Attention NASPAA Programs!

Visit the following pages to learn more 

and locate a CAE near you

NCAE-C Website

NCAE-C Institution Map

Who are the National Centers

for Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity?
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NASPAA is an international association of schools 

that award Masters level degrees in Public Policy, 

Public Administration, Public Affairs, Non-Profits, 

and closely related fields of study. Over half of 

NASPAA graduates go directly into public service 

after graduation, with 36% of graduates going 

directly into state or local government (where 

cybersecurity skills are often critically behind the 

federal government).

NASPAA graduates are everywhere from state, 

local, tribal, and territorial governments to 

presidentially appointed and congressionally 

approved positions in CISA, DHS, and DOD. 

NASPAA representatives on the NICE project team 

recognize they cannot educate every governor, 

senator, cabinet secretary, or public administrator 

on the ins and outs of cybersecurity—but they can 

take real steps to ensure that members of their 

staff have received a basic education in the topics 

most critical to these roles. 

In January, NASPAA partnered with NICE to begin

to address the need to incorporate cybersecurity 

throughout a public service education. The 

objective of this project extends beyond the 

development of an elective course in cybersecurity, 

to thinking about where cybersecurity fits into 

existing courses, career counseling, academic 

research, and professional development. 

NASPAA recently launched publicases.org, an 

online platform connecting students and faculty 

with case studies, data, and simulations. NASPAA 

is seeking to develop partnerships with schools in 

information technology, engineering, and 

computer science, and programs like the CAEs to 

make case studies and other engaged learning 

opportunities available to its students through 

Publicases.

The needs of the public sector are diverse, and so 

are the range of specialties covered by member 

schools. NASPAA accreditation is less prescriptive 

of curricula and more about ensuring public service 

professionals are receiving the highest quality of 

education, according to their program’s mission 

statement; with a focus on the universal 

competencies’ students should receive. 

Accreditation includes eligibility requirements, 

program self-evaluation, on-site visits, and review 

by the Commission on Peer Review and 

Accreditation (COPRA). Because NASPAA accredits 

multiple degree titles, a university may have more 

than one accredited program—potentially in more 

than one school. NASPAA does not accredit 

undergraduate or doctoral programs, but these 

programs may be identified as NASPAA affiliates. 

Attention CAEs!

Visit the following pages to learn more and 

locate the programs nearest to you

About NASPAA

NASPAA Roster of Accredited Programs

Innovative Teaching and Learning

Who is the Network of Schools of

Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration?
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Ideas for CAEs

Many NASPAA programs teach advanced methods 

courses and data analytics with Python or R. 

Consider inviting these students to workshops on 

Structured Analytic Techniques, or Open and AllSource Analysis.

Some NASPAA programs have specialties or 

concentrations in areas like Election 

Administration. Consider inviting these faculty to 

sit in on certain cybersecurity courses as a special 

guest or as guest lecturer. 

An informal survey of NASPAA graduates found 

that those who took a cybersecurity course as an 

elective outside their school did not learn about 

FISMA, the role of OMB in cybersecurity, or how to 

respond if their organization was the victim of a 

ransomware attack. Consider collaborating with 

NASPAA programs and special interest student 

groups to design professional development and 

“train the trainer” workshops geared specifically 

for future policy analysts and public administrators. 

Ideas for NASPAA programs

The objective of the NASPAA-NICE partnership is to 

extend cybersecurity education beyond the limits 

of elective courses. Consider inviting your career 

counselors, academic advisors, and student leaders 

to take part in introductions between the CAE and 

your program.

The needs and impacts of public servants extends 

beyond the topics typically published journals of 

policy analysis, management, and personnel 

administration. Consider whether research 

collaborations with CAEs may yield new insights or 

support the topics your faculty are already 

exploring.

Schools that house NASPAA programs often include 

additional programs in related fields, like AllHazards Planning. These programs may have 

faculty with a wealth of experience around natural 

hazards but less experience around human based 

hazards like cyber-attacks—so consider inviting 

them to make introductions as well.

 

What are the next steps? 

Not every CAE or NASPAA program is alike... but those who wish to prepare the next 

generation of government leaders with the cybersecurity skills most critical to their 

position, who believe in multidisciplinary approaches to solving wicked problems, or 

who share in the vision that cybersecurity is not only the responsibility of technologists and 

information security officers, should seek out potential partners on or near their campus 

and take this opportunity to introduce themselves and explore local collaborations. The 

following ideas may help to break the ice or serve as a “jumping off point” for conversation.