Description

A focused course, tailored for you

CUI and CMMC Compliance for Defense Science Staff

How physicists and engineers on classified programs document, protect, and audit their technical work to satisfy DoD contract requirements.

You solved the physics. The contracting officer wants the compliance paperwork. Most defense scientists and engineers have no structured path from technical work to the CUI boundary documentation, SSP sections, and CMMC evidence packages that program offices and DCSA assessors actually require.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

Defense programs are increasingly requiring Level 2 CMMC assessments before option-year renewals. That means every person who touches CUI, including physicists and engineers who work with technical data, sensor specs, and classified algorithms, needs to understand what artefacts demonstrate compliance. The gap is not intent. It is that the compliance training ecosystem was built for IT administrators and contracting officers. Scientists and engineers are handed an NIST 800-171 spreadsheet and expected to figure out how it maps to their lab, their data flows, and their deliverable structure. This course closes that gap with practice-mapped content written for technical roles at defense primes and subcontractors.

What you walk away with

Identify which categories of your technical data qualify as CUI and apply the correct marking and handling controls.
Write the system security plan sections that cover lab environments, sensor systems, and engineering compute, not generic IT infrastructure.
Produce the evidence package a CMMC Level 2 assessor expects from a technical contributor, including access logs, data flow diagrams, and handling records.
Map your day-to-day physics or engineering work to the specific NIST 800-171 practices that apply to your role.
Navigate a DCSA facility review or CMMC third-party assessment as a technical subject matter expert, not just as a bystander.
Build a repeatable documentation habit that keeps your program audit-ready through option years and follow-on contracts.

The 12 modules

Module 1. What CUI Actually Means for Technical Staff

The CUI Registry categories that most often apply to defense science work: controlled technical information, export-controlled data, naval nuclear propulsion information, and sensor or signature data. This module maps each category to concrete examples a physicist or engineer would encounter, explains the marking requirements at the document and file level, and identifies the handling controls that differ from standard unclassified work. Practical focus: reviewing a technical deliverable for CUI content before it leaves the program.

Module 2. CMMC Level 2 for Non-IT Roles

CMMC Level 2 requires demonstration of all 110 NIST 800-171 practices. Most of those practices are owned or co-owned by technical staff rather than IT administrators. This module separates the practices that belong to scientists and engineers from those that belong to IT, maps each technical-owner practice to its evidence requirement, and explains how a third-party assessor will test them. The goal is that a technical contributor can read an assessment plan and know exactly what they are responsible for.

Module 3. CUI Boundary Documentation for Lab and Sensor Environments

Drawing the CUI boundary around a physics lab or signal processing cluster requires different thinking than a corporate network. This module walks through scoping methodology for non-standard technical environments: what constitutes the assessment scope, how to document the boundary to satisfy both DCSA and a CMMC assessor, and the common mistakes that cause assessors to expand scope. Includes a worked example for a lab spanning classified and CUI data flows.

Module 4. Writing SSP Sections for Technical Work

The System Security Plan is the spine of a CMMC assessment. For technical staff the hardest sections are those covering specific environments: the development lab, the data archive, the sensor data pipeline. This module provides a section-by-section SSP writing guide for technical environments, with annotated examples for each practice domain. Focus is on language that accurately describes technical realities while satisfying the assessor's need for specificity, traceability, and evidence references.

Module 5. DFARS 252.204-7012 Obligations for Technical Contributors

DFARS 7012 imposes incident reporting, cloud service requirements, and forensic preservation obligations that technical staff often encounter for the first time during an actual incident. This module covers what the clause requires from a scientist or engineer who handles CUI, the 72-hour reporting clock, how to preserve forensic evidence from a lab environment without destroying program data, and the contractor-to-prime-to-DoD notification chain.

Module 6. Data Flow Mapping for Physics and Engineering Programs

Assessors require a documented data flow diagram showing where CUI enters, rests, and exits the assessment scope. For defense science programs this diagram often has to capture: sensor data ingestion paths, processing pipelines that span classified and CUI environments, export paths to program offices and external labs, and the boundary between government-furnished equipment and contractor systems. This module teaches data flow mapping from the technical practitioner's perspective, with templates calibrated for radar, signals, and materials science program structures.

Module 7. Access Control Evidence for Technical Roles

Access control evidence for technical roles goes beyond user accounts. It includes physical access to labs, permissions on data processing systems that engineers administer themselves, and handling records for test equipment containing CUI. This module covers what a CMMC assessor will request from a technical team, how to produce access logs from scientific computing environments, and how to handle guest researchers and visiting program office staff.

Module 8. Incident Response from the Technical Side

When a CUI incident occurs in a lab or data system, the scientist or engineer typically knows before the ISSO. This module covers the technical contributor's incident response role: recognising what constitutes a reportable CUI incident, containment actions that preserve evidence, how to communicate the event to the security team within the required window, and the post-incident artefacts the program needs for the mandatory DoD report. Includes a scenario walkthrough for a data spill on a shared drive.

Module 9. ITAR and Export Control Intersection with CMMC

Defense science programs frequently operate under ITAR, EAR, and CMMC simultaneously. Technical staff often make the first determination of whether a dataset or algorithm crosses an export control threshold. This module maps the overlap between CUI categories and ITAR controlled categories, explains how CMMC access control and audit logging requirements satisfy or complement ITAR authorisation documentation, and covers evidence patterns assessors look for when both regimes apply.

Module 10. Configuration Management for Scientific Computing

NIST 800-171 configuration management was designed for enterprise IT, but scientific computing environments have different baseline and change patterns. This module translates the requirements into procedures that work for technical environments: establishing a CUI-relevant baseline for a physics workstation or lab server, documenting software changes to processing pipelines, and producing the change control records an assessor will request from a technical lead during the assessment.

Module 11. Audit and Accountability Records for Technical Programs

CMMC audit and accountability requirements cover more than server logs. Assessors look for evidence of who accessed CUI data files, who ran analysis scripts on sensitive datasets, and who transferred deliverables. This module covers audit practice requirements for scientific computing, logging configurations assessors consider adequate for lab systems, how to retain records without disrupting operational workflows, and how to present audit evidence during a technical assessor interview.

Module 12. Building a Repeatable Compliance Posture for Option Years

A CMMC assessment is a snapshot. The objective is staying ready through option-year renewals and program expansions that shift the CUI boundary. This module covers lightweight documentation practices for technical teams: periodic self-assessment against the 110 practices, change-triggered boundary reviews, an evidence maintenance calendar aligned to program milestones, and onboarding new technical staff quickly. Outcome: a living compliance package the scientist owns and can hand to an assessor at any renewal.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

Received a CMMC assessment notification and need to understand what the technical team is responsible for producing.

Writing or reviewing SSP sections that cover lab, sensor, or engineering compute environments.

Preparing for a DCSA facility review or supporting a CMMC third-party assessor who is interviewing technical staff.

Onboarding to a new program with DFARS 7012 or CMMC Level 2 contract requirements and needing to understand personal compliance obligations quickly.

What you get with this course

Twelve text-based modules covering CUI handling, CMMC practice mapping, SSP writing, DFARS obligations, ITAR intersection, and audit evidence for defense science roles.
Downloadable templates: CUI boundary diagram template, SSP section templates for lab and sensor environments, data flow mapping worksheet, access control evidence checklist, incident documentation record, and option-year self-assessment tracker.
Worked examples drawn from radar, signals intelligence, and materials science program structures.
Hand-built implementation playbook tailored to the purchaser's specific role, delivered alongside course access within 24 hours.

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.

Before and after

Before

Technical contributors receive a CMMC assessment notice or SSP writing request and have no structured path from their actual scientific work to the documentation artefacts the assessor requires. Time is spent guessing at what evidence looks like for a physics lab rather than producing it.

After

The technical contributor can identify CUI in their specific work, write accurate SSP sections for their environment, produce the evidence package an assessor will actually examine, and maintain a compliance posture through program renewals without relying entirely on the IT security team.

What happens if you do not address this

CMMC Level 2 certification is becoming a contract award and option-year renewal gate across DoD programs. Technical staff who cannot document their CUI handling and compliance posture become bottlenecks in the assessment process, create findings that delay program milestones, and expose the prime contractor to DFARS cure notice risk. The documentation gap is fixable before the next assessment cycle.

Who it is for

Physicists, engineers, and technical program contributors at defense primes and subcontractors who work with CUI, sensitive technical data, or classified adjacent information and need to produce or contribute to compliance documentation for DoD contract requirements including CMMC Level 2, DFARS 252.204-7012, and NIST 800-171.

Who this is NOT for. IT security administrators who already manage CMMC implementation plans. Contracting officers focused on FAR/DFARS legal compliance rather than technical documentation. Pure management roles with no hands-on technical data handling.

How it arrives

Text-based course in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every module, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.

Time investment. Each module is designed to be completed in 30-45 minutes. Total course time is approximately six to eight hours, self-paced across whatever schedule works with program demands.

Why $199 is the right number

CMMC training programs built for IT administrators and contracting officers leave technical staff to map the content to their own environments without guidance. Generic NIST 800-171 training covers the practices but not the evidence artefacts specific to lab and sensor environments. This course was built from the technical practitioner's starting point, not retrofitted from the IT security curriculum.

FAQ

Does this course require a security clearance or cleared facility to access?

No. The course content covers unclassified compliance requirements for CUI handling. It is accessible from any environment. The implementation playbook addresses your specific program context but does not require classified access.

Is this relevant for subcontractors as well as prime contractors?

Yes. DFARS 252.204-7012 and CMMC Level 2 obligations flow down to subcontractors who handle CUI. The course covers both prime and subcontractor contexts, including the flow-down documentation that primes require from their technical subcontractors.

How does the implementation playbook differ from the course modules?

The course modules teach the practices and documentation methods. The hand-built implementation playbook is a working document structured around your specific role, environment, and program context. It is the starting point for your actual SSP sections and evidence package, not a generic template.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.