By Geoff Fein
George Mason University will begin offering a master of science degree in management of secure information systems next spring to meet the growing demand for a cyber workforce.
“We created it as a result of many inquiries about cyber security,” Roy Hinton, associate dean, executive programs school of management, told Defense Daily recently.
“We thought we could formalize a master’s degree in the area by combining the technology side with the management side and with the public policy regulatory side of things,” he added.
The federal sector will be an important target for the program, as will the health care industry, the defense sector, and information technology personnel, Hinton said.
“We think there are a lot of job opportunities in the area, so we thought it would target people interested in a career in that area,” he said. “And it serves a wide range of industries.”
The school of management is partnering with the school of public policy and the Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering, Hinton noted.
“We anticipate enrollment being available probably no earlier than next January and no later than next June,” he said.
Hinton said officials are getting a lot of inquiries from companies that the Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering people have talked to and that the school of management have talked to.
The engineering school runs its own cyber program, purely on the technology side, he added.
“It’s just a masters of science in secure information systems technology. That one is doing very well. It’s in place now and operating,” Hinton said.
Hinton added he expects the initial enrollment to be in about the low 20s, but eventually climbing to a solid enrollment of 40 students in the program. “We will do this in our executive format.”
Hinton sees the degree program taking about 15 months. “It will probably be one evening a week and Saturday or Saturday only.”
Officials want to make the degree program for the working professional, Hinton added.
Students at George Mason University, who are pursuing other degrees, will be offered about a seven to eight course certificate format program, Hinton said. “They will walk out with a certificate in managing secure information systems.”
GMU professors started talking about this course idea early this year, Hinton said.
“People from the school of public policy, IT&E, and I met. We started hammering out the curriculum, went back to our faculty and started talking to them about it,” he said.
They got approval from the faculty in their schools and are now awaiting for the graduate council at the university to review the program. That review won’t occur until August when the group next meets.