UT Austin creates graduate degree in identity and security
29 May, 2015
category: Corporate, Digital ID, Financial, Government
A new Master’s degree program, touted as the first of its kind in the country, will launch at the University of Texas in Austin next spring.
It’s officially known as the Master of Science in Identity Management and Security (MSIMS) program.
“We’re partnering with the Center for Identity here at UT in order to provide what we see as a necessary education for a new kind of profession,” says Andrew Dillon, dean of UT’s School of Information. “Identity management is a hugely important issue now in many corporate and industrial settings. But the skills that are needed to provide these kind of secure environments are not really well developed and not necessarily tied to any one discipline. So, we definitely felt there was a need in this space.”
The program features nine courses with names like Identity Security and The Policy of Identity. “This really is a response to an identified need in government, law enforcement, and in the business world,” says Suzanne Barber, director of UT’s Center for Identity. “The key words for this program are multidisciplinary, unique and designed for the working professional.”
Barber says the focus will be on personally identifiable information (PII) and solutions to better manage it. “There is a high demand for folks who truly understand all the ways that information needs to be managed, used to the best benefit of the organization as well as secured and protected against theft and fraud,” Barber says.
UT plans to accept 25 students into its first MSIMS class in the spring of 2016. Up to half of the students will be able to take the courses online. The two-year program is geared toward those already in the workforce, so courses are scheduled one weekend a month.