Three new grants are helping the College of Liberal Arts & Education further its educational opportunities for students and also to provide resources so that the College can better meet the needs of the community.

Information Assurance Program

The Information Assurance Program recently acquired a more than $550,000 grant from the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), through the Department of Defense, so that faculty and students in the UDM program can "develop a body of knowledge and nationwide educational capability for secure software assurance," explains Daniel Shoemaker, chair and professor of Computer and Information Systems (CIS).

The grant was made possible because members of the CIS faculty serve on the Department of Homeland Security's National Workforce Training and Education Taskforce, a group that works on the national level towards cyber security. Shoemaker, who wrote the grant proposal, is the taskforce chair. Shoemaker adds that "software defects in our (the United States) infrastructure make the nation vulnerable to attacks from everybody from foreign nations to organized crime."

What is the University's role in all this? Teach students and others how to create more secure software, which requires developing a valid body of knowledge. Research in this area will make it possible for the University to work toward becoming the national leader in secure software assurance education.

Shoemaker says the grant, which he expects will be renewed for three more years, will also be used for equipment and technology such as a distance delivery system and web-based communities of practice.

Counseling Clinic

The Counseling Clinic received two grants this past summer, which are being used to improve the counseling experience for the clinic's approximately 400 annual clients, most of whom come from the community. Most clients are court-referred, have no insurance or are on a long waiting list at their community health center. Read more about the UDM Counseling Clinic.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation awarded the clinic $22,400. The money will be used to purchase items such as therapeutic tools, electronic equipment, as well as furniture, paint and window coverings to improve the look, comfort and privacy for the clinic's clients.

A $4,500 Verizon Wireless Foundation Grant is being used to convert one of the Counseling Clinic therapy rooms into a Play Therapy room to attend more effectively to the needs of the clinic's young clients. "Counseling children is significantly different than counseling adults," says Nancy Calley, chair of the Counseling and Addiction Studies program and associate professor/director of the Community Counseling Program.

"Whereas adults largely engage in clinical work cognitively through talk therapy, children require specific settings and mediums (clinical toys, board and computer games) in order to engage in the therapeutic process." Calley says the therapy will particularly be used to address the needs of children impacted by domestic violence, which comprise a significant portion of the clinic's client population.