WHY YOUR ORGANIZATION SHOULD JOIN CYBERWATCH

CyberWatch, funded by the National Science Foundation, is a consortium of higher education institutions, businesses, and government agencies whose mission is to improve the quantity and quality of the information assurance (IA) workforce. Consortium members collaborate to share best practices, methodologies, curricula, course modules and materials, and provide faculty training and support to institutions that want to develop an IA curriculum.

CyberWatch has members and partners, as well as an Advisory Board. Members are institutions of higher education. Partners are all other types of organizations. The considerable benefits of joining CyberWatch can be seen by perusing our website. Benefits and responsibilities are also summarized in these attached documents:

• Join CyberWatch as a Member (higher educational institutions)
• Join CyberWatch as a Partner (all other organizations)
• Volunteer for the CyberWatch Advisory Board

Whether your organization joins CyberWatch as a member or as a partner, the procedure is basically the same:

• Provide a support letter from a senior administrator. A sample will be provided to you. This can be sent by email, fax, or hard copy.
• Identify an institutional representative. This is the person who will receive CyberWatch announcements and notices of meetings, who will attend meetings for your organization or send a substitute, and who will be identified as your organization's principal point of contact on the CyberWatch website.
• Attend consortium meetings (~4 per year), electronically or in person. The most important of these is the annual meeting of the CyberWatch Consortium along with the National Visiting Committee in mid-April.
• You must actively sponsor or participate in at least one of CyberWatch’s many programs and activities, an extensive listing of which can be found on the CyberWatch website. Examples include curriculum and faculty development, student scholarships and internships, and student competitions.
• You must be willing to participate in CyberWatch dissemination activities and events.
• Mostly, we expect your organization to be an active and contributing partner of CyberWatch, sharing ideas and/or programs.

CyberWatch is a vibrant Center growing continuously and beginning to exert a considerable impact on the information assurance community. Your participation as a CyberWatch Member or Partner is welcome.

For further information, prospective members should contact Teri Kepner, Coordinator for CyberWatch Member Services. Prospective partners should contact Costis Toregas, Industry Liaison. Advisory Board applicants should contact Bob Spear, Director of CyberWatch.