About

Background

Established by EDUCAUSE and Internet2 in July 2000, the Higher Education Information Security Council (HEISC) mission is to improve information security, data protection, and privacy programs across the higher education sector through its working groups of volunteers and professional EDUCAUSE staff that coordinate activities and collaborate with partners from government, industry, and other academic organizations. Through the annual Security Professionals Conference and other EDUCAUSE conferences and websites, HEISC actively develops and promotes leadership; awareness and understanding; effective practices and policies; and solutions for the protection of critical data, IT assets, and infrastructures.

The Information Security Council's goals and objectives for 2012–2013 are outlined in its strategic plan. Two programmatic themes that have emerged in 2012, and will continue to be a priority for the council, are the security and privacy issues surrounding Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and the cloud.

HEISC Leadership Team

The HEISC Leadership Team is responsible for ensuring progress in meeting the strategic goals of the council. To accomplish this, it creates and monitors working groups and sponsors other activities; annually reviews the strategic goals to see if changes are needed; and annually sets objectives for the working groups that will produce tangible outcomes furthering the goals of the council.

• Cathy Bates, Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer, Appalachian State University
  2014 Security Professionals Conference Program Committee Chair
• Joshua Beeman, Chief Information Security Officer, University of Pennsylvania
  Governance, Risk, & Compliance Working Group Co-Chair
• Tom Davis, Chief Security Officer, Indiana University
  Information Security Guide Editorial Board Co-Chair
• Cathy Hubbs, Chief Information Security Officer, American University
  Governance, Risk, & Compliance Working Group Co-Chair
• Lori McElroy, Information Security Officer, Texas State University-San Marcos
  Awareness & Training Working Group Co-Chair
• Christopher Misra, Associate Chief Information Officer for Security, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  Internet2 Salsa Chair
• Kris Monroe, Information Security Officer, Ithaca College
  Awareness & Training Working Group Co-Chair
• Doug Pearson, Technical Director, REN-ISAC, Indiana University
  REN-ISAC Liaison
• Theresa Semmens, Chief IT Security Officer, North Dakota State University
  Technologies, Operations, and Practices Working Group Co-Chair
• Miguel Soldi, Assistant CISO, The University of Texas System
  Information Security Guide Editorial Board Co-Chair
• Joseph E. St Sauver, Nationwide Security Programs Manager, Internet2 and the University of Oregon
  Internet2 Staff Liaison
• Marcos Vieyra, Director, Information Security, University of South Carolina
  Technologies, Operations, and Practices Working Group Co-Chair
• Ann West, Assistant Director, InCommon Assurance and Community, Michigan Technological University
  Internet2/InCommon Staff Liaison

HEISC Executive Committee

The HEISC Executive Committee is a subset of the Leadership Team and is charged with: identifying and obtaining the resources needed to accomplish the goals of the council, including recruiting the human resources; developing and implementing strategies to engage higher education institutional leadership, association executive leadership, and corporate leadership in furthering the goals of the council; ensuring effective communication and collaboration with Internet2 working groups; and periodically assessing the functioning of the council and, when appropriate, overseeing the change process.

• Robert F. Brammer, Senior Advisor to the CEO, Internet2
• Fred Cate, Director, Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research & REN-ISAC Executive Director, Indiana University Bloomington
• Elias G. Eldayrie, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, University of Florida
• Kenneth J. Klingenstein, Director, Middleware and Security, Internet2
• Peter J. Murray(HEISC co-chair), Vice President and CIO, University of Maryland, Baltimore
• Michele Norin (HEISC co-chair), Chief Information Officer, University of Arizona
• Rodney J. Petersen, Senior Government Relations Officer and Managing Director, EDUCAUSE
• Valerie M. Vogel, Program Manager, EDUCAUSE

HEISC Working Groups

The Higher Education Information Security Council has established a number of working groups and committees to pursue projects and initiatives that are part of a coordinated strategy for higher education. You can help the council organize and coordinate efforts to improve cybersecurity in higher education–consider volunteering for a working group. Learn more about each working group or contact the council for more information.

• Awareness and Training (current members)
• Governance, Risk, and Compliance (current members)
• Technologies, Operations, and Practices (current members)
• Information Security Guide Editorial Board (current members)
• Security Professionals Conference Program Committee (current members)

HEISC Partnerships

• Center for Internet Security (CIS)
• InCommon
• Internet2
• National Council of ISACs
• National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA)
• REN-ISAC (Research Education Networking Information Sharing and Analysis Center)
• SANS Institute