Doctor of Computer Science - Information Assurance Concentration
The Doctor of Computer Science – Information Assurance program at Colorado Technical University is designed to develop leaders in managing enterprise information systems with an emphasis on information assurance.
Outcomes:
- Critically evaluate, analyze, and solve problems within Information Assurance
- Demonstrate expertise within a sub-discipline of Information Assurance by summarizing the state of the art, selecting an important problem, conducting research addressing the problem, and extending current knowledge with results
- Communicate research results and prepare them for publication
- Make well-rounded forecasts about future challenges and developments in Information Assurance
- Demonstrate ethical behavior in all aspects of professional life including honesty, integrity, professional practice, and protection of research subjects
Degree Requirements
Courses: Core
| CS801 | Research and Writing I | 3 |
| CS802 | Qualitative Analysis | 5 |
| CS806 | Research and Writing II | 3 |
| CS811 | Research and Writing III | 3 |
| CS812 | Quantitative Analysis | 5 |
| CS816 | Research and Writing IV | 3 |
| CS817 | Foundations of Enterprise Information Systems | 5 |
| CS821 | Research and Writing V | 3 |
| CS826 | Research and Writing VI | 3 |
| CS831 | Research and Writing VII | 3 |
| CS836 | Research and Writing VIII | 3 |
| CS841 | Research and Writing IX | 3 |
| CS846 | Research and Writing X | 3 |
| CS851 | Research and Writing XI | 3 |
| CS852 | Information Assurance | 5 |
| CS856 | Research and Writing XII | 3 |
| CS862 | Foundations of Digital-Systems Security | 5 |
| CS863 | Enterprise Security Architecture | 5 |
| EIS835 | Security Management | 5 |
| EIS815 | Enterprise Tools, Concepts and Processes | 5 |
| EIS830 | Governance, Quality, Compliance, and Ethics | 5 |
| MGMT852 | Enterprise Change, Innovation and Future | 5 |
| ELE | Select a minimum of two 5-credit hour courses | 10 |
The electives should be chosen from the following courses.
(With permission of the Dean of Doctoral Computer Science, a student may choose other courses.)
| CS842 | Business Intelligence | 5 |
| CS850 | Networking and Security | 5 |
| CS864 | Applications Security | 5 |
| CS865 | Communications Security and Countermeasures | 5 |
| EIS800 | Strategy, Alignment, and Portfolio Management | 5 |
| EIS805 | Enterprise Management Concepts and Databases | 5 |
| EIS810 | Managing, Planning and Integrating EIS | 5 |
| EIS820 | Enterprise Architecture Technology | 5 |
| EIS825 | Information Technology Service Management | 5 |
Total Credit Hours: 96
Each of the three years of the DCS-IA program is designed to provide candidates with the theoretical, research, and applications capabilities necessary in the field of information assurance. The organization of each year is described below.
Year 1: Foundations
Year one focuses on introductory topics and research methods. Coursework covers introduction to enterprise information systems in general and security management in particular. In the research and writing component, students start identifying research-topic areas, analyze relevant literature and start preparing research proposals.
Year 2: Acquisition of Knowledge
With the foundations in place, each student develops an indepth understanding of the knowledge areas and research methods in information assurance. Coursework covers information assurance, security foundations, and enterprise security architecture. The research and writing courses further develop each student’s research.
Year 3: Leadership and Professional Advancement
Coursework in the final year of the program includes Futuring and Innovation, Virtual World Simulation, Web Science and Technology, and Virtual and Cloud Computing Architectures. The research component of the program results in documentation of the student’s applied research in either a dissertation or a series of articles.
The program thus includes twelve 5-credit instructional courses, taken one per quarter for three years, plus a research-and-writing class taken each quarter. Each class is conducted online. Twice each year, students attend an intensive residential symposium lasting four and a half days.
Graduation requires successful defense of a research proposal and final dissertation. These documents must be approved by the student’s committee, consisting of a mentor and two readers.
Graduation Requirements
In addition to the successful completion of the above 96 credits with an acceptable GPA, students must also satisfactorily complete and defend their research proposal and final dissertation.
Degree Completion and Post-Doctoral Study
The student must be continuously enrolled until all graduation requirements are fulfilled. A student who has not completed the research requirements by the end of the formal coursework continues by registering for CS893 Research Continuation according to CTU’s re-take policy.
In addition, a student may achieve a Post-Doctoral Certificate if approved for that in advance by the doctoral dean. A typical program would include successful completion of four courses plus creation of two academic papers of publishable quality after the award of the CTU doctoral degree.
In addition, a student may achieve a Post-Doctoral Certificate if approved for that in advance by the doctoral dean. A typical program would include successful completion of four courses plus creation of two academic papers of publishable quality after the award of the CTU doctoral degree.
Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS)
The University curriculum for this program has been certified by the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) for education standards in computer systems security as follows:
NSTISSI-4011
National Training Standard for Information Systems Security (INFOSEC) Professionals, dated 20 June 1994
CNSSI-4012
National Information Assurance Training Standard for Senior Systems Managers, dated June 2004; Supersedes NSTISSI No. 4012, dated August 1997
CNSSI-4013
National Information Assurance Training Standard For System Administrators (SA), dated March 2004
CNSSI-4014
Information Assurance Training Standard for Information Systems Security Officers, dated April 2004; Supersedes
NSTISSI No. 4014, dated August 1997
CNSSI-4016
National Information Assurance Training Standard For Risk Analysts, dated November 2005
The Doctoral Advantage
While a relevant master’s degree is ordinarily required for admission to CTU doctoral programs, there is also the option of completing a CTU MSCS, MSIT, MSM-ISS, MSM-IT/PM, or MSSE degree while starting work on the Doctor of Computer Science (DCS) degree. The program outcomes remain the same for the DCS and the master’s degrees under this option, but the normal completion time for the degrees in the combined program is reduced. Through this program, doctoral work is started after ten of the twelve required master’s courses have been successfully completed. Program plans must be approved by the Dean of Doctoral Computer Science.
Note, however, that for the MSSE degree to be awarded under doctoral advantage the student must successfully complete SE600, SE610, SE612 (for CTU Virtual Campus students), and SE620.
The MSCS, MSIT, MSM-ISS, MSM-IT/PM, or MSSE degree will be awarded upon successful completion of the ten approved master’s courses plus the first two courses in the doctoral degree program: one five-hour 800-level course plus one research and writing course.