College
Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences
Date of Last Revision
2024-01-17 07:06:20
Major
Emergency Management and Homeland Security
Honors Course
EMHS 480 (Capstone)
Number of Credits
3
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Date of Expected Graduation
Fall 2023
Abstract
There are numerous threats to U.S. National Security within higher education. Through this paper, I will provide an analysis of current and future threats using a literature review and informational interviewing. The literature review revealed four major National Security threats facing higher education institutions due to Foreign Intelligence Entities (FIE): foreign recruitment of faculty and students, increase in foreign students and screening difficulties, campus openness/easy access to facilities and information, and foreign funding for research. A set of informational interviews were conducted with The University of Akron faculty, employees, and partners to evaluate whether these same threats were present. The results confirmed that many threats overlapped with the literature review. A risk analysis was conducted to connect each FIE threat with the vulnerability of UA, resulting in two categories of risk to U.S. National Security: intellectual property theft, and FIE infiltration and espionage. The University of Akron can close the education gap between faculty/researchers and the Intelligence Community (IC) to reduce vulnerabilities and threats.
Research Sponsor
Stacy Willett
First Reader
Jeffrey Pellegrino
Second Reader
Benjamin Rochester
Honors Faculty Advisor
Stacy Willett
Proprietary and/or Confidential Information
No
Recommended Citation
Back, Anna, "The Higher Education Risk to National Security: A Case Study of The University of Akron" (2023). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 1762.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/1762
Included in
Defense and Security Studies Commons, Emergency and Disaster Management Commons, International Relations Commons