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Georgia Southern University – an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense

Georgia Southern University’s Center for Applied Cyber Education (CACE) is an interdisciplinary center and a leader in cyber education and training.  CACE began in October 2015 on the Armstrong Campus as a collaborative effort between administration, faculty, and staff across the university to strengthen cyber education and training in the region. CACE is dedicated to supporting interdisciplinary cyber education that affords student access to curriculum, programs, and industry partnerships that impart the skills and concepts applicable to 21st-century cyber workforce needs. CACE provides faculty and staff expertise in areas such as digital forensics, cyber law, cyber warfare, cyber policy, cryptography, healthcare informatics, and data analytics.

The strength of Georgia Southern’s cyber education offerings has been recognized nationally.

In December 2015 , Armstrong State University was designated as a National Security Agency/Department of Homeland Security Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education.

This was followed in September 2017 with the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3) designating CACE as a Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence.

On January 5, 2017, it was announced by the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents that Armstrong State University in Savannah and Georgia Southern University in Statesboro would be consolidated into one university, Georgia Southern University, effective January 1, 2018. Immediately after the consolidation, Georgia Southern submitted the appropriate documentation to have Armstrong’s NSA-CAE / CDE transferred to Georgia Southern and after a review by the CAE Office, this was approved in March 2018.

On June 21, 2023, it was announced that after an over one-year long effort, Georgia Southern was re-designated as an NSA CAE-CD (Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense).

We are proud of our redesignation and it not only shows a commitment to continuing our efforts in Cybersecurity Education, Outreach, and Service to maintain our designation. The designation is now valid through the 2028 academic year, and the certificate will be presented to Georgia Southern at a later date.

Mission

Georgia Southern’s Center for Applied Cyber Education (CACE) is an interdisciplinary center committed to being a leader in promoting cybersecurity education, developing partnerships, educating and training the cyber-workforce, and engaging in collaborative research with industry, government, and academia.

Strategic Goals

  • CACE will expand our visibility and profile as the leader in cyber education
  • CACE will engage in collaborative research to address cyber security needs
  • CACE will collaborate with the academic departments and support the development of strong undergraduate and graduate cyber programs.
  • CACE will partner with government and industry to address cyber-workforce education and training
  • CACE will establish and strengthen community educational partnerships.
  • CACE will advocate for and procure financial resources to support our initiatives.

Georgia Southern University Cyber Academic Programs

Although these can be accessed via the menu on the left, for quick access to our Cyber Academic Programs, click on this link

Georgia Southern Cybersecurity Activities and Resources for Students

Although these can be accessed via the menu on the left (click on Cyber Services), for quick access to these pages, click on the links below.

Georgia Southern Cybersecurity News

For news about the Georgia Southern Cybersecurity Program, click on the News button in the menu to the left or click on this link.

Center PoC and Faculty

Listed below are our Center’s Point of Contact, Alternate Point of Contact, and other Department of Information Technology faculty who teach our Cybersecurity courses.

  • Point of Contact (PoC) and Director of CACE: Prof. Frank Katz, fkatz@georgiasouthern.edu, Office: 912-344-3192 on Savannah Campus
  • Alternate PoC and Associate Director of CACE: Dr. Christopher Kadlec, ckadlec@georgiasouthern.edu, Office: 912-478-7357 on Statesboro Campus
  • Cybersecurity faculty: Dr. Lei Chen, lchen@georgiasouthern.edu, Office 912-478-1256 on Statesboro Campus
  • Cybersecurity faculty: Dr. DeJarvis Oliver, dejarvisoliver@georgiasouthern.edu, Office 912-478-5993 on Statesboro Campus
  • Click on this link for images of the PoC and Alternate PoC

Cyber Advisory

Center for Applied Cyber Education • 11935 Abercorn Street,  Savannah, GA 31419 • 912-344-3192 • cyber@georgiasouthern.edu