Program Description

The graduate certificate program consists of 15 credit hours of required courses. Admission to the graduate certificate program in Computer Forensics requires admission to the MS Computer Science or MS Electrical Engineering (with Computer Engineering major). One wishing to complete only the Certificate must still be admitted to the MSCS or MSEE programs. Please see the requirements for the MS Computer Science or MS Electrical Engineering.

The purpose of the certificate program is to:

1. Provide further education to computer professionals with technical undergraduate degrees to enable them to track and protect institutional computer and cyber crime. This knowledge in corporate settings should lead to better protection of company computer assets, company intellectual property, and company data and financial assets. These professionals should be able to support law enforcement in detection and prosecution cyber-crime when needed.

2. Provide further education for those technical individuals who work in law-enforcement. It is expected that these would be highly technical people with bachelor's degrees in either computer science, computer engineering, or software engineering.

Many (if not most) of the students expected will be full time and pursuing a Master of Science degrees in Computer Science or Computer Engineering. Other students may come from industry and law enforcement. These students will achieve the Certificate as another resume item that will improve employability while supplying a demand for computer people with such backgrounds. Some students may choose to pursue the Certificate with no intent of completing a Masters degree but will have achieved significant competence in this field.