Application - Apply to be a Mentor

Apply to be a Mentor, Pre-submission Reviewer, or Peer Reviewer

The CAE Candidates Program

In partnership with the National Security Agency (NSA), the Candidates Program helps regionally accredited US colleges and universities prepare high-quality applications for the designation of NSA/DHS National Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in cyber defense education.

The CAE Candidates Program is in need of mentors, pre-submission reviewers, and peer reviewers to assist new applicants in earning the CAE designation. To qualify, individuals must have significantly contributed to a CAE application resulting in the award of the designation for their institution. This work requires a strong understanding of both the Program of Study validation and the CAE application process. Additional requirements and expectation are listed below.

Mentor - Works with candidate colleges who are assessed to be within six months of applying for the Program of Study Validation and CAE Designation. Mentors are available to answer questions and assist candidates while they enter criteria information into the application.

Pre-Submission Reviewer - Completes a thorough evaluation of candidate’s application prior to submission to strengthen the candidate application. Pre-submission Reviewers provide a report to the candidate with recommended revisions.

Peer Reviewer - Reviewers are assigned to review the Programs of Study and Program Criteria to ensure that the candidate institution's program effectively implements NSA CAE-CDE requirements. This review is typically performed over a period of two weeks. Program Criteria reviewers will be required to travel to a Regional Resource Center to participate on a Review Committee at the end of the Review period.

Mentor Requirements:

Directly responsible for earning the CAE designation for your institution.
Able to dedicate time to assist mentee in the mentorship process.
Able to attend one CAE application workshop a year.

Your first name*

Please provide your first name. Only the following characters are allowed: a-z, 0-9, space, hyphen, comma, and underscore.

Your last name*

Please provide your last name. Only the following characters are allowed: a-z, 0-9, space, hyphen, comma, and underscore.

Name of your organization:*

Please provide the name your organization. Only the following characters are allowed: a-z, 0-9, space, hyphen, comma, and underscore.

Your position*

Please indicate your position. Only the following characters are allowed: a-z, 0-9, space, hyphen, comma, and underscore.

E-mail*

Invalid email address.

Your phone number*

Please provide a phone number where we may contact you.

Institution Street address*

Please provide the street address. Special characters (&, *, @, etc.) are not accepted.

Institution City*

Please provide your city your institution is based in. Special characters are not accepted ($, %, &, #, @, etc...)

Institution State*

Invalid Input

Institution Zip Code*

Please provide your zip code of the institution. Only numbers are permitted

Is your institution CAE designated?*

Yes No

Please indicate whether your institution is designated as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity

Type of institution you are: *

4-year 2-year

Please indicate whether your institution is a 2- or 4-year institution.

I am applying to be a:*

Mentor

Reviewer

Invalid Input

Write a short essay about your experiences with the CAE application preparation process.*

0/3000

Invalid Input. Some special characters are not permitted (*, &, ^, etc.).

Please confirm you are not a bot*

Invalid Input

You will be expected to participate in monthly virtual meetings and one annual face-to-face meeting (details to be determined).