{"id":70654,"date":"2025-12-04T05:50:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T05:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/70654\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T05:50:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T05:50:11","slug":"famu-cyber-policy-institute-expands-ai-cybersecurity-initiatives-with-hewlett-foundation-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/70654\/","title":{"rendered":"FAMU Cyber Policy Institute Expands AI, Cybersecurity Initiatives with Hewlett Foundation Support"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Cyber Policy Institute at Florida A&amp;M University (FAMU) is strengthening its academic,<br \/>\n                        research and community impact through a growing portfolio of initiatives supported<br \/>\n                        by a $5 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>Reporting to the Office of the Provost, the Institute is jointly housed within the<br \/>\n                        College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities (CSSAH) and the College of Science<br \/>\n                        and Technology (CST). Under the leadership of Interim Director\u00a0Darryl Scriven, Ph.D., the Cyber Policy Fellows advance programming to elevate the University\u2019s leadership<br \/>\n                        in cyber policy, artificial intelligence, digital innovation, and education.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"FAMU AI Community Learning Series\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1024x768_IMGECyber.jpg\" alt=\"Cyber Policy Fellows\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The 2025-2026 faculty fellows represent several of the University\u2019s colleges and schools<br \/>\n                        and include Chiquita Brown, Ph.D., Deanna Burney, Ph.D., Tejal Mulay, Ph.D., and\u00a0Phylicia<br \/>\n                        Taylor, Ph.D. The Institute also launched its first cohort of\u00a010 AI student interns<br \/>\n                        from various academic disciplines. During their internship, the students participated<br \/>\n                        in technical and policy teams to develop an AI-driven business solution for the CSI<br \/>\n                        companies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Cyber Policy Institute, its faculty fellows, and AI student interns are making<br \/>\n                        a lasting impact on FAMU\u2019s institutional ecosystem and showcasing the high caliber<br \/>\n                        education that FAMU continues to provide,\u201d said Scriven.<\/p>\n<p>The FAMU AI Community Learning Series, one of the Institute\u2019s signature accomplishments,<br \/>\n                        is a yearlong public education initiative envisioned by Provost\u00a0Allyson Watson, Ph.D.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFaculty excellence drives high-impact student preparation and research development,\u201d<br \/>\n                        said Watson. \u201cThis fellowship will cultivate academic strength across disciplines,<br \/>\n                        empowering our faculty to learn, lead, and share innovative approaches to solving<br \/>\n                        tomorrow\u2019s challenges today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Developed in collaboration with the Teaching and Learning Center, the series features<br \/>\n                        12 one-hour sessions designed to boost digital literacy and broaden public understanding<br \/>\n                        of AI. Sessions have included topics explaining artificial intelligence, its concepts,<br \/>\n                        and its significance in higher education. <\/p>\n<p>Since its inception, the Institute has also hosted several workshops designed to expand<br \/>\n                        engagement by helping community members navigate challenging conversations using evidence-based<br \/>\n                        communication, respect and clarity.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1024x768_IMGEAdobe2.jpg\" alt=\"Male student at the computer\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\"\/><\/p>\n<p>For those interested in pursuing careers in this burgeoning field, the Institute is<br \/>\n                        currently developing a new\u00a04+1 Bachelor of Science degree in cyber policy while also<br \/>\n                        launching two interdisciplinary certificate programs in\u00a0cyber policy\u00a0and\u00a0AI. These<br \/>\n                        academic pathways will prepare students to lead in rapidly evolving technology fields<br \/>\n                        while emphasizing ethics, governance, interdisciplinary learning, and responsible<br \/>\n                        digital practices.<\/p>\n<p>The Institute is deeply engaged in research opportunities, has submitted multiple<br \/>\n                        external grant proposals to support faculty-led projects, and has implemented national<br \/>\n                        partnerships focused on cyber governance and AI readiness. In the upcoming year, the<br \/>\n                        Institute will begin producing a series of white papers and advising University leadership<br \/>\n                        on emerging cyber and AI policy development.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/secureaieducation.org\/internship-famu\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Applications<\/a> are now available for the second cohort, which will begin in Spring 2026. This team<br \/>\n                        will continue the work of the current cohorts and create AI business solutions for<br \/>\n                        real-world industry challenges.<\/p>\n<p>For more information about the Cyber Policy Institute, call (850) 599-8697 or email<br \/>\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/news.famu.edu\/2025\/mailto:cyberpolicyinstitute@famu.edu\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">cyberpolicyinstitute@famu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Media Contact<\/p>\n<p>Rachel James-Terry<br \/>Senior Director of Strategic Communications<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.famu.edu\/2025\/mailto:rachel.jamesterry@famu.edu\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rachel.jamesterry@famu.edu<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Deidre Williams<br \/>Director of Communications, Office of the Provost<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.famu.edu\/2025\/mailto:deidre.williams@famu.edu\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">deidre.williams@famu.edu<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                     <a class=\"back__button\" href=\"https:\/\/news.famu.edu\/index.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Back to Stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cyber Policy Institute at Florida A&amp;M University (FAMU) is strengthening its academic, research and community impact through&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70655,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-70654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}