Use co-curricular activities to get feedback on the program’s offerings. Internships, co-ops, and externships can be used to get feedback from students and industry. After students in the Rochester Institute of Technology’s computing-security department complete their required co-ops before graduation, faculty members sit down with them to ask if there were skills they wish they’d had going into the position. The employers who host students for co-ops can also suggest topics or areas in which students can improve.
Quick change keeps programs current, but time is needed to ensure quality. The challenge: finding a way to have both.
Develop courses that also meet general-education requirements. Students often perceive breadth requirements as boxes they have to check. At DePaul University, in Chicago, faculty members developed courses that meet breadth requirements and are relevant to the cybersecurity major. An “Ethics and Technology” course, for example, fulfills a “philosophical inquiry” requirement.
Use research papers instead of textbooks. At Carnegie Mellon University, faculty members who teach cybersecurity courses often eschew textbooks because of the time required to publish updates. Faculty members will often use the latest research papers instead.
Use special-topics courses. Many institutions use courses whose focus can change from semester to semester as a way to include contemporary issues without having to approve an entirely new course. Some faculty members also reserve a set number of classes to talk about developments in the field without having to sacrifice other course content.
Bring outside perspective into the program-review process. Many institutions regularly hold course evaluations, a process that often involves an academic reviewer who combs through a program’s curriculum, looking at what it includes and giving feedback. At the University of Maryland University College, a second reviewer from industry also examines certain courses and programs alongside the reviewer from academe.
Start small. When Texas A&M University introduced a cybersecurity program, it started with a minor because that was more flexible, more interdisciplinary, and took less time to get off the ground. Some institutions have also inserted modules on topics like cybersecurity into other courses, to give students exposure to new areas.
