Published September 26, 2025
MONROE, LA – The Computer Science program in the College of Business and Social Sciences at the
University of Louisiana Monroe has received funding from the Cybersecurity Education
Management Council of the Louisiana Board of Regents. The grant award of $129,532
will be used for a project titled “AI-Powered Cybersecurity Education to Address the
Industry Skills Gap.” The project is led by Dr. Prasanthi Sreekumari, Associate Professor
and Accreditation Coordinator for the Computer Science program.
The total cost of the project is $219,332, with $129,532 received from the Board of
Regents and $89,800 in matching in-kind support from AWS.
“The primary goal of the project is to reduce the growing skills gap in the industry
by equipping students with AI-driven security expertise, a strong foundation in ethics,
practical training in AI, cybersecurity, and cloud computing, as well as industry-recognized
certifications,” said Dr. Sreekumari, who serves as the Principal Investigator for
the grant.
The Computer Science program provides stipends to 150 students (undergraduate and
graduate) to support their participation in AI-powered cybersecurity training and
their completion of AWS AI and Cloud Practitioner certifications. Also, stipends are
available for computer science students interested in conducting research in AI and
cybersecurity.
For more information about the project, please contact Dr. Sreekumari at sreekumari@ulm.edu
