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College of Information and Communications

  • cybersecurity - computers and students

Information Security and Cyber Leadership

Cyber threats and data breaches are bringing new challenges to the public and private sectors. The demand for information security specialists and cyber leaders is at an all-time high. This flexible, online master’s degree will provide you with both the technical, social and people skills needed to succeed in this rapidly expanding field.

In their 2017 report, a leading cyber professional organization, (ISC)2, predicted 1.8 million unfilled jobs in the cybersecurity workforce in 2022. Statistics reveal that the cyber industry unemployment rate has stayed close to zero for over a decade, and someone with less than five years of experience in cybersecurity can earn around $100,000 a year. 

Benefits of this Program

Here are just a few:

  • 100% online.
  • Certificate after 12 credits for all MISCL  students.
  • Internship or independent study opportunities in the workplace.
  • The ability to stand out in the workplace or hiring process. 

Learning Outcomes

Graduates will be able to:

  • Analyze human information behavior and information security phenomena in cyber environments.
  • Explain the structure of a cybersecurity system, implement the system, handle the system operations, and evaluate the system efficiency.
  • Strategically analyze the external and internal environments of an organization to create and facilitate a human-systems integration (HSI) process.
  • Create teams for HSI environments and facilitate team communication and coordination.
  • Develop information policies and regulations for HSI and cyber information security system environments.

Classes

30 Credit Hours: 4 Core Courses + 6 Elective Courses 

Students in this program must complete 30 hours of coursework: 12 credits of required courses and 18 credits of electives. The electives can be taken to align with three areas of specialization:

  •  Intellectual Capital Management and Communication.
  • Human Information Behavior.
  • Data Communication and Management.

Core Courses (12 Credit Hours): 

  • Challenges in Information-Intensive Organization Administration
  • Special Topics in International Information Issues: Information Security, Ethics, and Leadership in Cyber Environments

Select one of the following:

  • Seminar in Applied Information Systems for Information Specialists
  • Special Topics in International Information Issues: Cybersecurity and Information Science

Select one of the following:

  • Internship
  • Specialist Project

Electives (18 Credit Hours): 

18 credits of electives at the 500 level or above. Advisors will help students select elective courses appropriate to their areas of professional interest.

Substitutions must be specifically approved by the student’s advisor and/or the graduate director.

All elective courses are 3 credit hours unless otherwise indicated:

  • Data Science Methods
  • Data Visualization
  • Information Behavior and Practices
  • Leadership in Information Organizations
  • Information Organization and Access
  • Fundamentals of Data and Digital Communications 
  • Knowledge Management for Library and Information Professionals 
  • Government Information Sources
  • Metadata 
  • Design and Management of Databases 
  • Strategic Intelligence for Information Professionals 
  • Web Technologies for Information Specialists
  • Information Networks 
  • Seminar in Applied Information Systems for Information Specialists 
  • Implementing Data and Digital Communications 
  • Special Topics in International Information Issues: Cyber Security and Information Science
  • Special Topics in International Information Issues: Information and Communication Needs and Assessment 
  • Independent Study in Library and Information Science (1-6 Credits)
  • Information Policy and Ethics 
  • Communication Processes and Information-Seeking Behavior

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

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