Information Assurance (BS)

Goals

The general mission of the bachelor of science in information assurance program is to provide students with a strong academic foundation that provides a clear picture of how the functional areas of information assurance work together to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information and network-centric services and information. The primary goal of the BSIA program is to help students link their professional aspirations with employment opportunities in government and industry.

Objectives

Communication Objective

Graduates will be able to effectively communicate their ideas in both written and oral form understanding that communication is a cooperative process.

Analytical Objective

Graduates will be able analyze situations and successfully determine cause and effect.

Research Objective

Graduates will know how to use contemporary research tools as well as more traditional methods to locate and analyze information and develop knowledge.

Presentation Objective

Graduates will be able to format and present information of various kinds (both technical and nontechnical) and deliver that information in a manner most appropriate to the message and the audience.

Practical Objective

Graduates will have an understanding of the difference between theory and practice and how to extract from theory and extend its application to real-world situations.

Liberal Arts Objective

Graduates will recognize that a broad knowledge base is critical to their ability to fully contribute to their professions and communities.

Ethical and Social Objective

• Graduates will have an understanding of ethical principles necessary for those entrusted with knowledge of tools and techniques that ensure the security of organizational information.
• Graduates will have an understanding of the possible social, economic, cultural and environmental impact of their decisions in a global and social context.

Lifelong Learning Objective

Graduates will recognize that lifelong learning is essential to ongoing process of professional and personal development.

Outcomes

Upon graduation, students will:

• be prepared for employment in the field of information assurance in a business sector of choice with a strong understanding of information assurance concepts, project management process and team management skills
• be able to understand the laws, regulations, and customary expectations as they relate to information system and network security, individually identifiable information and related privacy concerns
• demonstrate familiarity with security operations and administration, demonstrate a working knowledge of infrastructure and operational security, know how to select and deploy access controls, conduct security analysis and monitoring, and apply principles of risk, response and recovery