$4.8 million grant awarded to Oregon State brings scholarships and strengthens cybersecurity program

By NINO PAOLI News Contributor

The cybersecurity program at Oregon State University received a $4.8 million federal grant, most of which will be translated into 29 full-ride scholarships for numbers of students to support that; and so they got to see firsthand that we really do have a large population of students in our cybersecurity program.” computer science students, as part of the National Science Foundation’s Scholarship For Service program.

The “investment” for the SFS program is the agreement that the 29 students awarded a full-ride scholarship will work for the government in cybersecurity after graduation, the number of years they receive the scholarship being the number of years they are required to be government employees.

Cameron McCawley, the president of the OSU Security Club, a nationally-recognized cybersecurity club, and a fourth-year computer science undergraduate, believes the grant is a wonderful opportunity for students who want to pursue cybersecurity as a career.

OSU is the first institution in the state to be awarded money from CyberCorps, a program that provides scholarships for undergraduate and graduate cybersecurity education through the NSF.

The grant will be doled out over a five year period – undergraduates selected from an application process will receive a full scholarship that covers tuition and fees and a $24,000 stipend to cover living expenses each year, beginning in the 2023-24 academic year – and comes after a proposal was submitted by OSU to the NSF in fall 2022, said Dave Nevin, an assistant professor of practice in cybersecurity in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

“A program director from NSF came out for a preaward site visit, and one of the first things that he commented on was that he didn’t realize that OSU was so big,” Nevin said. “It’s a big investment on their behalf, and a lot of their concern [was if] the university would have the

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“By providing this sort of scholarship for service where people can get the knowledge they need about this field, and then go directly into the workforce and get experience, it’s super useful,” McCawley said.

In addition to receiving an annual stipend, undergraduate students in this program will receive $6,000 for travel to attend a job fair in Washington D.C. each year as well as other expenses, Nevin said. Graduate students in cybersecurity are also eligible for the scholarship, but Nevin did not have specific figures for them.

Nevin added that about $800,000 from the NSF was given to support OSU’s CyberClinic, a facility that gives students interested in cybersecurity hands-on experience.

“We set up the (CyberClinic) here… that is staffed by students in our cybersecurity program and they do that as part of their degree program,” Nevin said. “It’s like a teaching hospital for cybersecurity.”

McCawley is currently earning credit at the CyberClinc in place of his senior capstone.

“The money going towards the CyberClinic as well is great, because that is probably the most hands-on experience and the most accurate experience you’re going to get compared to working in an actual role as a security analyst,” McCawley said.

As of now, the city of Tualatin and the Open Source Labs at OSU are clients of the CyberClinic, McCawley said.

Nevin and Rakesh Bobba, an associate professor at OSU focusing on cybersecurity, are co-leads at the CyberClinic, and will be a part of the team that will look over scholarship applications for the cybersecurity grant.

“(The) NSF SFS program has been around for a while… and when they’re picking schools for this award, they’re looking for innovation in cybersecurity and also the strength of the program,” Bobba said. “They really appreciated our CyberClinic program.”

Nevin said that the CyberClinic was made with the intention for students to receive credit as well as gain job experience during their time at OSU. of the pay for (cybersecurity) jobs,” Nevin said. “With just a degree, the average (salary) is probably around $60,000 a year with no experience… but if you have a year of experience that bounces that up closer to $100,000; having that year of experience is worth about $40,000 for the students.”

As the cybersecurity program at OSU grows, Nevin stresses how large of a job market there is for cybersecurity.

The total available job openings in cybersecurity amount to 755,743 in the United States, 7,425 of which are in Oregon alone, according to the Cyber Seek website.

“As long as there are organizations, they’re going to need cybersecurity people,” McCawley said. “Organizations need someone there that can help protect their data, their assets, their customers… I don’t see that (need) going away anytime soon, and I think it’s just going to continue to grow.”

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SEASONAL RESOURCE

By HAYDEN LOHR Campus Editor

A barrier to outdoor travel has been removed for Oregon State University library users as outdoor recreation passes are now accessible via loan from the Valley Library.

The Snow Park Permit, Oregon State Park day use permit and Northwest Forest passes are all now available, providing access and validated parking to visitors.

With national forests representing around 8.5% of all the land in the United States, the Northwest Forest Pass allows access to numerous sites and an enormous amount of recreation, opening all of these sites to use. Rather than paying $30 for a year pass, OSU students can rent these passes for a limited time to try new recreational opportunities.

“It makes it easier to get out and about, public libraries have cultural passes which makes it easier to do things and more affordable,” Trott said.

The Valley Library is not new to renting outdoor recreation gear though. For over a year now the library has rented out a “birding kit” for prospective bird watchers who might not have the binoculars or a bird guide to get into the sport.

“I worked in a public library and we’ve had the state park passes,” said Sara Trott, the equipment coordinator at the Valley Library.

According to Trott, the public library had state park passes among other things.

Currently OSU is offering a Northwest Forest Pass, Snow Park Permit and Oregon State Park Day Use Permit.

According to Trott, the passes have just been processed, but were purchased several months ago. There are no current plans to get a national park pass, the idea for now is to stay more local.

The Northwest Forest Pass offers access to many hiking trailheads and recreation sites located within the country's ubiquitous national forests. While the Snow Park Permit provides space for those looking to engage in winter recreation without the burden of getting a ticket while on the slopes.

The Valley Library also rents out a number of other items for outdoor recreation, such as GoPros, disk golf kits and solar chargers.

To see a list of items to rent, and for more information, go to the Valley Library website.