Hours: 35 hours a week, Monday-Friday, with weekend & evening hours required

Salary: Commensurate with experience, benefits included

GAs,

Below are the questions that the GAAC provided to the Graduate School and UHS so that we can all better understand the impact to us of the Aetna Student Health insurance rates for UMBC not being approved by the State of Maryland yet.

The Administration is reviewing, and will address our questions as soon as possible, while also potentially adding questions/answers of their own to provide the needed clarity.

• If a student has to see a non-UHS provider after August 14^th, should the student still provide the same Aetna Member ID and the same Aetna card?

• If the rates remain unapproved by August 14^th, what can students expect if they have to see a non-UHS provider (physician, dentist, physical therapist, etc.), or have to have a prescription filled/lab test performed outside of UHS after that date? For example, will students still be asked for the same copay amount in a provider's office, or a different amount? 

• UHS has an on-site prescription dispensary. Will the dispensary continue to provide medications after August 14^th?

• How can students verify which prescriptions will be filled by the UHS dispensary after August 14th?

• Can students do anything to help get rates approved? For example, write letters to a representative, etc.?

• Who can be contacted with additional questions?

If there are other questions you have about the issue, please send them to gaac@umbc.edu.

Best,
Felipe Munoz Castillo
Public Policy PhD Student
GAAC Chair

Excellent event yesterday with Dell EMC. Thank you to everyone who attended and to Hagerstown Community College for hosting #destinationDellEMC

Destination Dell featured interactive experiences showcasing Dell EMC’s newest Intel-powered product lines and industry-leading Dell EMC infrastructure solutions, including:

●  Latest-generation Client Portfolio featuring Latitude, OptiPlex, Rugged and Precision!

●  Intel Optane® technology and collaborative conferencing solutions with Intel Unite®

●  Hyper-Converged Solutions featuring VxRail and VMware vSAN ReadyNodes

●  Next-Generation PowerEdge Servers and All-Flash Data Storage

●  Virtual reality experiences with real-world business applications

UMBC receives $5.4m in funding for new cybersecurity projects

NSF and NSA Fund Three Cybersecurity Projects by Prof. Alan Sherman 

Professor Alan Sherman and colleagues were recently awarded more than $5.4 million dollars in three new grants to support cybersecurity research and education at UMBC, including two from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and one from the National Security Agency (NSA).  Dr. Sherman leads UMBC’s Center for Information Security and Assurance which was responsible for UMBC’s designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Research and Education.

This summer, NSF funded Sherman’s second CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) grant (Richard Forno, CoPI) that will fund 34 cybersecurity scholars over five years and support research at UMBC and in the Cyber Defense Lab (CDL). The $5 million award supports scholarships for BS, MS, MPS, and PhD students to study cybersecurity through UMBC degree programs in computer science, computer engineering, cyber, or information systems. SFS scholars receive tuition, books, health benefits, professional expenses, and an annual stipend ($22,500 for undergraduates, $34,000 for graduate students). In return, each scholar must engage in a summer internship and work for government (federal, state, local, or tribal) for one year for each year of support. The program is highly competitive and many of the graduates now work for the NSA.

A novel aspect of UMBC’s SFS program is that it builds connections with two nearby community colleges—Montgomery College (MC) and Prince Georges Community College (PGCC). Each year, one student from each of these schools is selected for a scholarship. Upon graduation from community college, the student transfers to UMBC to complete their four-year degree. In doing so, UMBC taps into a significant pool of talent and increases the number of cybersecurity professionals who will enter government service. Each January, all SFS scholars from UMBC, MC, and PGCC engage in a one-week research study. Working collaboratively, they analyze a targeted aspect of the security of the UMBC computer system. The students enjoy the hands-on experience while helping to improve UMBC’s computer security. Students interested in applying for an SFS scholarship should consult the CISA SFS page and contact Professor Sherman. The next application deadline is November 15.

With $310,000 of support from NSF, Sherman and his CoPIs, Drs. Dhananjay Phatak and Linda Oliva, are developing educational Cybersecurity Assessment Tools (CATS) to measure student understanding of cybersecurity concepts. In particular, they are developing and validating two concept inventories: one for any first course in cybersecurity, and one for college graduates beginning a career in cybersecurity. These inventories will provide science-based criteria by which different approaches to cybersecurity education can be assessed (e.g., competition, gaming, hands-on exercises, and traditional classroom). This project is collaborative with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

With $97,000 of support from NSA, Sherman is developing a virtual Protocol Analysis Lab that uses state-of-the-art tools to analyze cryptographic protocols for structural weaknesses. Protocols are the structured communications that take place when computers interact with each other, as for example happens when a browser visits a web page. Experience has shown that protocols are so complicated to analyze that there is tremendous value in studying them using formal methods. Sherman and his graduate students are making it easier to use existing tools including CPSA, Maude NPA, and Tamerin, applying them to analyze particular protocols, and developing associated educational materials.

The post Sherman receives 5.4m in funding for cybersecurity research and scholarships appeared first on UMBC ebiquity.