Faculty from five participating higher education institutions were recently asked to answer the following question posed by U.S. Coast Guard Forum editor Maura McCarthy:
Coast Guardsmen already possess significant hands-on experience promoting homeland security. How can a degree or certificate in homeland security equip Coast Guardsmen with the education needed to complement their experience and advance in rank or transition to a civilian career?
Featured in an issue of U.S. Coast Guard Forum magazine in the "Charting a New Course" column, Dr. Jeremy Plant from the World Campus Homeland Security Base program spoke of the collaborative nature of the program as its biggest asset:
Before 9/11, the security missions of the Coast Guard and other armed forces were well-defined within each service’s mission profile. That is no longer true. Today, Coast Guardsmen, military servicemembers and law enforcement personnel face multifaceted, constantly shifting threats from individuals, groups and natural forces.
“The nature of our security challenges in the post-9/11 environment is dramatically more complex,” said Admiral James M. Loy, former U.S. Coast Guard commandant and currently senior counselor with the Cohen Group. Loy, who serves on Penn State’s Advisory Council for Homeland Security, added, “We’ve got to prepare people to be very collaborative in the prosecution of their responsibilities.”
That’s the goal of Penn State’s homeland security programs, which are delivered online. Programs include a graduate certificate in homeland security, undergraduate minor in homeland security, and Intercollege Master of Professional Studies in homeland security, with four options: homeland security base program, public health preparedness, geospatial intelligence, and information security and forensics.
Coast Guardsmen are getting a tactical perspective on various aspects of homeland security as practiced in the Coast Guard. In our program, students get a more strategic sense of policy, policymaking and implementation, plus perspectives from students involved in different aspects of homeland security.
Penn State’s homeland security programs are designed for people already working in homeland security and those interested in preparing for state and federal positions. Faculty in five colleges developed a coordinated homeland security portfolio of programs. They chose online delivery through Penn State’s World Campus as the optimal way to reach working professionals. “The master’s program offers an extraordinary opportunity for Coast Guardsmen to be dramatically better prepared for homeland security responsibilities—without interrupting their careers,” Loy said.
Thomas Arminio, Penn State Harrisburg instructor in the base homeland security program, said, “Everything we cover in the master’s program is relevant to and complements the Coast Guard’s mission at the tactical level. We give students a homeland security overview, focusing on strategic thinking and policy. Coast Guardsmen considering transitioning to a civilian homeland security career will find the program enormously helpful, because the goals are the same as their military goals, and the roles and responsibilities are broadly the same.”
Paul Thompson, Penn State Harrisburg senior lecturer of political science and homeland security, teaches one of the three core courses in the master’s program and views the 162 students who have already completed Homeland Security Administration: Policies and Programs as “enlightened practitioners.” He said, “They are currently in the military or working in intelligence or law enforcement agencies and have similar tactical and operational experiences to junior officers and senior enlisted members of the Coast Guard. As a result of the course, they have become more aware of policy and what’s happening on the ground, from the perspective of strategic thinkers to those of local first responders.”
If you would like to read the full article, which begins on page 24, view the full issue of U.S. Coast Guard Forum.