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CAE Community of Practice Cyber Defense

Community Outreach Competition

NCAE-C Seal

CAE-CD Community Outreach Competition Initiative

The “CAE-CD Community Outreach Competition” initiative is co-chaired by:

  • Wei Li - Nova Southeastern University

  • Xiuwen Liu - Florida State University

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The CAE-CD Community Outreach Competition Committee was established by the CAE-CoP-CD Steering Committee to encourage and promote cybersecurity awareness and online safety practices by taking advantage of the October Cybersecurity Awareness month and all throughout the year. As a CAE-CD, all institutions are conducting outreach and community activities, while most are enhancing such activities during the month of October to provide further support for the Cybersecurity Awareness month, others are continuously providing outreach activities to their community throughout the year. The CAE Program of Study (PoS) Validation and CAE Designation requirements are calling for outreach activities by all CAE-CDs to engage faculty members and students in extracurricular activities such as “experiential learning activities, local/regional/national cyber exercises and competitions, outreach to community colleges and high schools, computer check-up days, summer internship program, industry guest lectures …” (CAE-CD Requirement Document, p. 12), and “outreach activities allow the cybersecurity program to engage with the government and industry to provide pathways for graduates while maintaining an appropriate curriculum to place graduates into those jobs” (CAE-CD Requirement Document, p. 20). This initiative was formed to showcase the CAEs who are doing above and beyond of their call for duty by recognizing the outstanding outreach work performed. Thus, the CAE-CD Community Outreach Competition will challenge CAEs to submit their activities to the CAE-CD Outreach Competition Committee based on the criteria noted below and will be evaluated for recognition of their outstanding outreach work.

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To read more about this initiative, check via: 

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  • The Criteria, Rule, and Submission Instructions for the 2025 CAE-CD Community Outreach Competition (Deadline: February 22, 2026) - Click here!

  • Submission Template (Excel file) - Click here!

  • Submission site - Click here!

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Additionally, the committee conducted sessions in early 2026 to solicit CAEs submissions of their 2025 Yearly (from Jan 2025 to Dec 2025) Community Outreach activities, following the information in the file above. During February 2026, the 2025 Award Committee reviewed all submissions and recommended the top CAE-CDs who provided the most impactful outreach activities to their community during the 2024 calendar year. 

  • Xiuwen Liu - Florida State University, Award Committee Co-Chair

  • Wei Li - Nova Southeastern University, Award Committee Co-Chair

  • Bei-Tseng Chu - University of North Carolina at Charlotte

  • Michael Kelly - Community College of Rhode Island

  • Tahir M. Khan - Western Illinois University

  • Stanley Kostka - Moraine Valley Community College

  • Stanley Mierzwa - Kean University

  • Mandy Reininger - Chemeketa Community College

  • Michael Tu - Purdue University Northwest

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We want to thank the 2025 Award Committee members for their dedication and hard work! 

2025 CAE-CD Community Outreach Award Winners:

The winners of the 2025 CAE-CD Community Outreach Competition will be announced during the 2026 CAE Symposium in Pittsburgh. 

 

 

The 2025 Submitting CAE-CD Institutions (total submissions: TBD):

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​List of all submitted CAE-CD institutions will appear here shortly before the 2026 CAE Symposium.

The CAE-CD Community Outreach Competition - 2024 Award Committee: 

  • Xiuwen Liu - Florida State University, Award Committee Co-Chair

  • Wei Li - Nova Southeastern University, Award Committee Co-Chair

  • Bei-Tseng Chu - University of North Carolina at Charlotte

  • Michael Kelly - Community College of Rhode Island

  • Stanley Kostka - Moraine Valley Community College

  • Stanley Mierzwa - Kean University

  • Idongesit Mkpong-Ruffin - Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University

  • Mandy Reininger - Chemeketa Community College

  • Michael Tu - Purdue University Northwest

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We want to thank the 2024 Award Committee members for their dedication and hard work! 

2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Award Winners

  • University of Colorado at Colorado Springs - 1st Place 2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Award

  • University of West Florida - 2nd Place 2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Award

  • University of Alabama at Huntsville - 3rd Place 2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Award

  • Coastline College - 4th Place 2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Award

  • Michigan Technological University - 5th Place 2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Award

  • Tennessee Technological University - 6th Place 2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Recognition

  • California State University, San Bernardino - 7th Place 2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Recognition

  • Indiana University of Pennsylvania - 8th Place 2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Recognition

  • Florida State University - 9th Place 2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Recognition

  • Purdue University Northwest - 10th Place 2024 CAE-CD Community Outreach Recognition

The 2024 Submitting CAE-CD Institutions (Total Submissions: 57)

  • Alamo Colleges District

  • Assumption College

  • Bismark State College

  • Bowie State University

  • California State University, San Bernardino

  • Coastline Community College

  • College of Western Idaho

  • Community College of Baltimore County

  • Community College of Rhode Island

  • County College of Morris

  • Dakota State University

  • Florida State University

  • Forsyth Technical Community College

  • Glendale Community College

  • Hennepin Technical College

  • Illinois State University

  • Indiana University

  • Indiana University of Pennsylvania

  • Kean College

  • Loyola University Chicago

  • Mercer University

  • Michigan Technological University

  • Middle Georgia State College

  • Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

  • Montgomery College

  • Murray State University

  • North Carolina Central University

  • Norwich University

  • Nova Southeastern University

  • Purdue University Northwest

  • Regent University

  • Rowan College

  • Saint Cloud State University

  • State University of New York at Buffalo

  • Tallahassee State College

  • Temple University

  • Tennessee Technological University

  • Terrant County College

  • United States Air Force Academy

  • United States Naval Academy

  • University of Advancing Technology

  • University of Alabama at Huntsville

  • University of Arkansas - Little Rock

  • University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

  • University of Memphis

  • University of Nevada, Reno

  • University of North Carolina at Wilmington

  • University of North Georgia

  • University of Puerto Rico

  • University of San Diego

  • University of Tampa

  • University of West Florida

  • Wayne Community College

  • Webster University

  • Western Illinois University

  • Wichita State University

  • Wilmington University

Updated: January 16, 2026

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