Woodard earns CIS degree

The following local student was awarded a degree from Kaplan University during a commencement ceremony at the Symphony Center on Aug. 4.

- Michelle Woodard of Ellabell was awarded an Associate of Applied Science in Computer Information Systems degree.

Stevens on dean's list

The following student from this area has been named to the Columbia College dean’s list for the summer session 2007: Melanie Stevens of Richmond Hill. To be named to the dean’s list a student must have completed 12 semester hours and achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or greater on a four point scale.

CSRI open house

Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU) announced the establishment of the Cyber Security Research Institute (CSRI) on its campus in Savannah.

To celebrate this occasion, AASU will host an opening ceremony of the CSRI at 11 a.m., Monday, Sept. 10. An open house will follow from noon to 4 p.m. The CSRI is housed in an 8,000 square-foot facility on the northeast corner (Library and Arts drives) of the AASU campus, 11935 Abercorn Street.

The Armstrong Atlantic State University Cyber Security Research Institute was established as the next innovative step in Armstrong’s Cyber Security Initiative. The institute’s goal is to provide subject matter expertise in cyber and homeland security issues as it relates to highly specific academic courses, training, and research and development projects.

The institute is one of the first of its kind in the nation and it is unique in that it combines the societal and behavioral sciences of criminal justice with the technology sciences of computer science, information technology, and computer engineering. This enables efficient and needs-based development of tools and curriculum.

"As the risk of costly and disastrous cyber attacks loom over world governments and industry, private-public partnerships are being forged to secure computer networks and track cyber criminals around the world," said Randy Grubb, AASU’s CSRI Director. "One of the frontlines of the cyber security struggle is now located in Savannah, on the campus of Armstrong Atlantic State University.

The institute will allow us to look at the vulnerabilities and threats from a corporate security viewpoint as well as from the view of how criminal and terrorist organizations utilize these vulnerabilities to plan, fund, and communicate their crimes."

The institute will utilize the university’s intellectual resources in the areas of computer science and criminal justice, while advancing cyber security-related education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

The initiative will produce graduates who are ready to join a very specialized industry in technology, law enforcement, policy and law, and cyber forensics.

The program will produce graduates with the skills necessary to become the future managers and academic professionals who are needed to overcome the current threats and vulnerabilities, and secure the nation’s computers and networks.

- compiled from various press releases