PCE News
GVSU to Host GenCyber Teacher Program in 2024
August 28, 2023
Grand Valley State University will host their first GenCyber Teacher Program through a $136,476, two-year award sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA).
Dr. Sara Sutton, assistant professor of computing, is the principal investigator of the NSA grant and the program director for the GenCyber Teacher Program taking place on GVSU’s campus in the summer of 2024. Dr. Sutton will lead the camp along with PCEC faculty members Dr. Xinli Wang, Dr. Andrew Kalafut, Dr. Vijay Bhuse, Dr. Samah Mansour, and Dr. Ira Woodring.
"The GenCyber award will enable us to provide a free cybersecurity camp experience for high school teachers with diverse backgrounds, allowing them to incorporate cybersecurity concepts into their courses," Dr. Sutton said. "The topics of the GenCyber teacher camp will include fundamental security knowledge, network scanning, as well as other subjects such as cryptography, email phishing, password management, and cyber ethics."
As cybersecurity professors in the school of computing, Dr. Sutton and other computing faculty members have directed their efforts towards advancing cybersecurity education and research. The NSA grant provides an opportunity for the computing faculty to broaden their scope and work with high schools and the local community to make an impact at Grand Valley State University and the local community.
While this is the first GenCyber camp for teachers, GVSU has offered a GenCyber camp for students in the summer of 2023.
The program consists of face-to-face sessions along with synchronous online pre-camp and post-camp activities. Teachers will learn how to develop lesson plans to teach cybersecurity and help their students navigate today’s cybersecurity risks. Prior knowledge of computers and cybersecurity is not required to attend the camp. If you are an educator interested in the free GenCyber Teacher Program, please contact Dr. Sutton at [email protected].