The University of the Virgin Islands is among 13 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country to receive a combined $25 million grant award to develop a Cybersecurity Workforce Pipeline Consortium.
UVI will receive $1.3 million over a period of five years and the funds are expected to be disbursed in fiscal year 2015.
The funding comes as part of an initiative by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Minority Serving Institutions Partnerships Program (MSIPP), which aims to create a pipeline of talent from Minority Serving Institutions to Department of Energy labs and production plants across the country, according to information released from Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett’s Washington, DC office.
UVI volunteered to participate in the partnership with the DOE/NNSA’s MSIPP program, though which it was selected to receive the funding.
The congresswoman has voiced the importance of STEM and STEM-related investments in the territory’s various educational institutions, and said she was pleased to see HBCUs considered for the funding.
“HBCUs have long been an important provider of higher learning for many and are an integral part of our nation’s history,” Plaskett said. “I am particularly proud as the representative of the district which is home to the only HBCU outside of the continental United States.”
“I wholeheartedly support initiatives like that of the DOE and NNSA,” Plaskett continued. “And as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, my colleagues and I are co-sponsoring on legislation that seeks to reauthorize funding for the HBCU Historic Preservation Program, something I am certain will benefit the University of the Virgin Islands.”
Tags: university of the virgin islands, uvi
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