WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Naval Academy dean said Monday that he hopes cybersecurity, a field of increasing importance to national security and civilian computer networks, can be accredited as a major by the time the academy’s first cybersecurity students graduate in 2016. The academy wants to be among the first to receive such accreditation.

Andrew Phillips, the academy’s academic dean and provost, updated members of the academy’s Board of Visitors about efforts to create criteria for accreditation. Board members, who include members of Congress, have encouraged the academy to increase its cybersecurity training.