The National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium consists of five partner universities.
The Criminal Justice Institute (CJI), a division of the University of Arkansas System, was established in 1994 to meet the critical specialized and advanced training needs of Arkansas law enforcement personnel and agencies serving rural and tribal communities across the country. CJI enhances performance and professionalism in public safety in progressive areas of criminal justice, including law enforcement leadership and management, forensic sciences and computer applications. Since 2004, CJI has been funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Training and Education Division (NTED) to develop and deliver cybersecurity training nationally for information technology (IT) personnel safeguarding critical infrastructure.
As the threat of cyber incidents increase in severity, frequency and sophistication each year; CJI training counters these threats by providing the opportunity for practitioners to develop their knowledge, skills and abilities to more effectively prevent, protect, mitigate, respond to or recover from any type of cyber incident.
The director of CJI, Dr. Cheryl May, is chair of the NCPC and as a result, all NCPC awards from DHS and FEMA are administered through CJI. As one of the founding members of the NCPC, CJI’s experience in law enforcement, technical competencies in organizational critical infrastructure and school safety enhance the overall strategic mission of the NCPC.
The UTSA is a Hispanic Serving Institute and is a DHS/NSA designated Center of Academic Excellence. UTSA is one of the few universities with all three designations: (CAE) in Cyber Defense Research, Cyber Defense Education and Cyber Operations.
Established in 2001, the CIAS was UTSA’s first cybersecurity center. The CIAS was instrumental in igniting multidisciplinary cybersecurity research at UTSA. In 2002, the CIAS began working with critical infrastructure sectors, states and local jurisdictions to identify gaps and enhance their cybersecurity posture. In 2008, the CIAS created the Community Cybersecurity Maturity Model (CCSMM), which is based on the lessons learned from working with communities. The CIAS has national programs in Community Cybersecurity Exercises, Competitions, Training, K12 initiatives, Community Preparedness, and Information Sharing.
As a founding member of the NCPC, the CIAS strengthens the consortium with more than 20 years of “whole community” cybersecurity expertise.
The Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) is a state agency within the Texas A&M University System, an extension agency that began training responders in the 1930s. TEEX’s National Emergency Response and Recovery Training Center (NERRTC) is a nationally recognized center that plays a vital role within the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC), bringing unmatched expertise in emergency management, response and planning and cybersecurity expertise to the collective mission of enhancing cyber preparedness.
Since the Center’s inception in 1998, TEEX/NERRTC has been at the forefront of developing and delivering training that strengthens the nation’s ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from all-hazard incidents, training more than 1 million participants nationwide. The Center’s mission expanded to include cybersecurity in 2010, building a team of subject matter experts from both critical infrastructure and state and local cybersecurity professionals.
TEEX/NERRTC’s unique expertise in connecting cybersecurity with emergency management strengthens the NCPC’s mission. The Center’s training is designed to seamlessly integrate cybersecurity principles into the fabric of a community’s planning, response and recovery activities. By bridging the gap between IT and emergency management, the Center helps meet the needs of the whole community including state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) partners and critical infrastructure partners, ensuring that they are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect against, manage and mitigate cybersecurity threats effectively.
Within the NCPC, this specialized knowledge in emergency response and planning complements the expertise of other member organizations, creating a robust and cohesive consortium. This collective strength allows the Consortium to offer impactful solutions in cyber preparedness, leveraging each member’s unique capabilities to address complex and evolving cyber threats.
The University of Memphis (Carnegie R1) Center for Information Assurance (CfIA) stands as a nationally designated Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education and Research (CAE-CDE, CAE-R) by the NSA/DHS. The CfIA provides world-class cybersecurity research, education, online and hands-on training and career development for professionals and students alike.
The CfIA national efforts include hosting, since 2010, the Mid-South Cybersecurity Summit to provide organizations the opportunity to learn, discuss and exchange knowledge and technologies about cybersecurity; participating in national cyber defense competitions since 2014; organizing high school cybersecurity summer boot camps; conducting workshops on critical infrastructure protection; and regularly publishing research papers on topics including Artificial Intelligence (AI).
As a founding member of the NCPC, the CfIA developed and delivered the initial 10 online training courses for FEMA. They continue to develop courses based on in-house research, address emerging cybersecurity threats and trends; provide state-of-the-art technological solutions, including zero trust architectures; AI-based intrusion detection; advanced identification and authentication methods; mobile device security; smart-grid security; and best practices when dealing with advanced persistent threats (APTs) to help educate the public about common social engineering attacks and how to mitigate them.
Norwich University Applied Research Institutes (NUARI), formerly The National Center for the Study of Counterterrorism and CyberCrime, has evolved into a leading cybersecurity education and training authority. Initially, NUARI developed online courses for IT professionals and first responders through the DHS/FEMA Homeland Security Training Program, supporting nationwide initiatives and the DHS/FEMA mission.
This expertise led to the creation of the DECIDE® Platform, a cutting-edge simulation tool for testing incident response plans in critical infrastructure sectors. NUARI’s comprehensive exercise scenarios assess and enhance critical thinking and decision-making capabilities among government and industry leaders, fostering resilience and proactive defense strategies.
Building on its experience with the Vermont National Guard and the U.S. Army’s Schoolhouse System, NUARI developed advanced education and training technologies. NUARI’s affiliation with Norwich University, recognized as a National Security Agency (NSA) sponsored National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) since 2001, allows NUARI to utilize expertise and cutting-edge educational training capabilities.
