NSF awards funding for Establishment a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education at ASU
The National Science Foundation recently awarded a grant of $298,612 for two years to Albany State University's Department of Mathematics and Computer Science for support of the project "Collaborative Research: Building Information Assurance Education Capacity," under the direction of ASU's Dr. Robert S. Owor, Dr. Khalil F. Dajani and Dr. Zephyrinus C. Okonkwo in collaboration with Dr. John A. Hamilton of Auburn University. " This prestigious and highly competitive NSF grant award is due to our hard work during the past few years," Dr. Owor said. "We collaborated with Auburn University in research, publications, conference attendance, workshops and seminars in information assurance."
In collaboration with Auburn University, Drs. Owor, Dajani and Okonkwo are establishing multi disciplinary information assurance (IA) educational program with the ultimate goal of qualifying ASU to be a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAEIAE). The center will be the only one of its kind in the state of Georgia and will work with other regional and national centers of information assurance expertise by providing more programs aimed at retooling and retaining current federal and state information technology personnel.
With This NSF grant, Drs. Dajani, Owor and Okonkwo will investigate new ways to provide information assurance education by offering new IA courses to broader audiences with particular attention to under-represented groups. Course Materials and experience from this project will increase the accessibility of information assurance education to more students in more disciplines. "Developing appropriate IA capacity at ASU will allow the governmental Scholarship For Service (SFS) program to reach a broader, more diverse body of students, who in disproportionate numbers demonstrate high en-enthusiasm for careers in the U.S. Civil service and the federal government," Dr. Dajani said.
Seminars and workshops will be organized at both campuses for all intersted faculty members and students. Distinguished IA researchers and practitioners will be invited to give presentations and discuss issues. For more information about programs in information assurance, contact: Dr. Dajani at (229) 430-4918, khalil.dajani@asurams.edu, Dr. Owor at (229) 430-4887, robert.owor@asurams.edu, or Dr. Zephyrinus Okonkwo at (229) 430-1833, zephyrinus.okonkwo@asurams.edu. Source
Students in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) at Albany State University earned top honors at the 2008 HBCU-UP National Research Conference Oct. 23-26 at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta. Twenty STEM students participated in either oral or poster presentations.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) HBCU-UP provides grants to enhance the quality of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and research at historically black colleges and universities as a means to broaden participation in the nation’s STEM workforce. The HBCU-UP National Research Conference highlights undergraduate student research and institutional strategies. The conference is cosponsored by the NSF and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
“Many of the students that participated and won were involved research with our STEM faculty members, which says the research conducted on this campus has been judged by other entities to be at a great standard,” said Connie Leggett, director for Title III programs. “Our research is comparable to research being done any where else because we have winners. I am elated at the number of presenters and winners.” There were more than 300 poster and 150 oral presentations from STEM students throughout the country. Students received $300 for first place, $200 for second place and $100 for third place.
“Each year our students put forth a tremendous effort to excel in the STEM disciplines,” said Dr. Everette Freeman, ASU president. “For them to attend such an important conference and walk away with honors is a clear example of their academic prowess as young scholars and an acknowledgement of the unwavering support, work and preparation of our excellent faculty.” There were over a hundred exhibitors present at the conference, and many of the representatives spoke to ASU students about graduate school possibilities. “This is a plus for the institution because it shows that we have pre-eminent scholars here who can compete with students from any other HBCU,” Leggett said.
The Winners were:
First Place - Oral presentation in biology - Quitina Rogers
"Phenotypic Analysis of Xenorhabdus Bovienii Using Transposon Mutagenesis" (Summer research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison)
First Place - Oral presentation in computer science -- Darien Lewis, Carl White, Jamaz Hall, Courtney White
"Building Lego Mindstorms NXT-G Robots to Enhance Problem Solving Skills of Programmers"" (HBCUP-UP Summer research at Albany State University, Professor Gwendolyn Campbell, mentor)
Second Place - Oral presentation in mathematics - Shawn King
"Singular Perturbation Problems in Mechanical Systems and Hdrodynamics " (HBCU-UP Summer research at Albany State University, Dr. Zephyrinus Okonkwo, mentor)
Third Place - Oral presentation in mathematics - Stephanie Loggins
"Logistic Regression Analysis for Obesity " (HBCU-UP Summer research at Albany State University, Dr. Mohammed Talukder, mentor)
ASU hosts workshop for school system data collectors
Student
information coordinators, assistant superintendents and data entry specialists
from across Georgia converged on Albany State University August 31-September 1
to learn the ins and outs of a new statewide student information system.
“This is the second Fall Data Collection Workshop we’ve had here,” said Dr.
Janis Carthon, the director of the Educational Technology Training Center
located at Albany State. “About 100 people are here, many from southwest
Georgia, but others from the rest of the state. Some are coming to find out
about changes in the system and others are new and came to learn how to code
information into the system.”
Entering data correctly is vitally important for school systems because the
information determines how much state and federal funding and other assistance
they will receive, Carthon said. “If you don’t code properly, you’ll miss out on
funds.”
The data is also used to prepare for the AYP, the Adequacy Yearly Report, which
determines how well school systems are performing.
Last year the Georgia Department of Education introduced a new statewide
electronic data collection process, which gathers information from school
systems throughout the state into a single clearinghouse.
“There are still glitches being worked out,” Carthon said. “And there are a lot
of changes in the initiative, such as getting away from using students’ Social
Security numbers and assigning them IDs from the State of Georgia.”
The ETTC at Albany State, which serves 14 counties in southwest Georgia, is one
of 13 centers strategically located across the state.
“These centers are partnerships between host educational agencies and the
Georgia Department of Education,” said Carthon. “We provide instructional and
technical training and assistance for all school systems.” Source
ASU professors develop innovative software for health management
Three Albany
State University professors recently developed an innovative software and
research product in cooperation with Southwest Georgia Health District and
Darton College. In a presentation at ASU, the professors gave the public an
overview of the development of the software to be used to improve heathcare in
Southwest Georgia.
The software, designed by Dr. Khalil Dajani, associate professor of Computer
Science; Dr. Zephrynius Okonkwo, professor and chair of the Department of
Mathematics and Computer Science; and Dr. Robert Owor, associate professor of
Computer Science, will support a health management research program to be
launched later this year by the Southwest Georgia Health District.
“The purpose of this software is to help improve the health and wellness of
Southwest Georgians,” said Dr. Dajani, at the unveiling of the software on March
23. “We hope this work will lead to ASU being recognized as a key player in
software development for health and wellness in the state of Georgia.” The
product has already received high praise from state health officials.
Source