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The State of the Practice Integrating Security in ABET Accredited Computer Science Programs

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Conference

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Publication Date

June 22, 2025

Start Date

June 22, 2025

End Date

August 15, 2025

Conference Session

Software Engineering Division (SWED) Technical Session 1

Tagged Division

Software Engineering Division (SWED)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

19

DOI

10.18260/1-2--57271

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/57271

Download Count

3

Paper Authors

biography

Walter W Schilling Jr. Milwaukee School of Engineering

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Walter Schilling is a Professor and Cybersecurity Minor Coordinator in the Dwight and Dian Diercks School of Advanced Computing at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He earned his B.S.E.E. from Ohio Northern University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Toledo. Before returning for doctoral studies, he worked as an Embedded Software Engineer for Ford Motor Company and Visteon for several years. Schilling has also spent time at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and has consulted for various embedded systems companies in the Midwest.

In addition to holding one U.S. patent, Schilling has numerous publications in refereed international conferences and journals. He was awarded the Ohio Space Grant Consortium Doctoral Fellowship and has received recognition from the IEEE Southeastern Michigan and IEEE Toledo Sections. He is a member of IEEE, IEEE Computer Society, and ASEE.

At MSOE, Schilling primarily teaches in the software engineering program, where he coordinates courses in software verification, real-time systems, DevSecOps, network security, and other cybersecurity topics.

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Abstract

Within the computing fields, concerns related to security continue to grow. Since the early 2000’s, cyberattacks against deployed software systems have grown significantly. In 2017, recognizing this concern, a modification to the program accreditation criteria for computing programs was proposed and accepted which explicitly required topical coverage of security accredited programs. Since taking effect in 2019, all accredited computing programs have had to demonstrate proper coverage of the topic as part of the accreditation process. While the criteria require that the topic of security be covered, the implementation is left open to individual programs. This article will provide a snapshot of the state of the practice of how security is integrated into program curricula by analyzing a subset of the ABET accredited Computer Science programs. The article will identify at a high-level scope the topics that are covered in the programs, as well as provide an overview of other aspects of the institutions which impact the depth and breadth of security coverage available to undergraduate students.

Schilling, W. W. (2025, June), The State of the Practice Integrating Security in ABET Accredited Computer Science Programs Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . 10.18260/1-2--57271

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