University Park, Pa. -- The Sept. 11 terrorist attack, the tsunami in Asia and recent U.S. hurricanes are testing the skills of disaster planners and first-responders worldwide. What is clear from these tragedies is that well-trained emergency personnel are critical to preparing for and responding to disasters.
Penn State now has two new, completely online, homeland security programs that will make it easier for first responders and others to acquire the latest knowledge and skills they need to handle natural disasters and terrorism.
The certificate in disaster readiness and certificate in bioterrorism preparedness join Penn State's master of homeland security in public health preparedness in providing graduate-level education and training for federal, state and local public health officials, public affairs administrators, emergency management professionals, health-care professionals, first-responders, criminal justice and law enforcement personnel, military staff and members of corporate security.
Offered by Penn State College of Medicine, all three homeland security programs now are accepting students for the spring semester, which begins Jan. 9, 2006.
"Communities depend on well-trained and highly educated leaders to maintain safety and security," Robert A. Cherry, lead faculty member for Penn State's homeland security programs, said. "These programs will help prepare community leaders to respond to threats from both natural disasters and terrorism."
Cherry, medical director of Penn State Shock Trauma Center and chief of the Section of Trauma and Critical Care at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, was a municipal hospital trauma director in New York City when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred. He said the terrorist attack made him aware that "our health-care system was underprepared for the effects of terrorism."
Now the nation faces a new public-health challenge: replacing the rapidly aging public-health workforce, which will begin retiring next year, based on national workforce surveys. The result will be the loss of nearly half the current workforce in the coming years. The same trend is predicted for other emergency services fields, as well.
Penn State's homeland security programs will help prepare the people who will fill these positions.
According to Gary E. Miller, associate vice president for Outreach and founding executive director of the World Campus, "The blend of Web technology, print and other media creates a rich, diversified anytime, anywhere learning environment, so students can learn new knowledge and skills while continuing their careers and family and community commitments."
The homeland security programs are the result of collaboration among Cherry, Peter Forster, associate director for international and corporate partnerships, program planning and management for the World Campus, and faculty from eight academic departments in six colleges located on three Penn State campuses.
"Penn State has brought together expertise and resources from many academic and support units to meet this emerging workforce education need," Forster said.
Penn State's 15-credit homeland security certificate programs provide students with the flexibility to further their education in a specific area of homeland security, or they can use a certificate program as a first step toward completing the 30-credit master of homeland security in public health preparedness. Information about the master's degree program is at http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/wc/HomelandSecurity online.
Disaster readiness certificate
The five courses focus on designing and coordinating effective disaster plans, estimating and minimizing the burden of disease, and planning for the impact of disasters in different economic, cultural and social conditions. Program information is at http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/wc/DisasterReadiness online.
Bioterrorism preparedness certificate
The five courses explore exposure assessment for disasters and terrorism, the threat of bioterrorism to animal, agriculture and food safety, and the role of federal, state and local government in biosecurity. Program information is at http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/wc/BioterrorismPreparedness online.
Penn State is contributing to the nation's homeland security efforts in other ways:
-- Penn State's Applied Research Laboratory serves as a university center of research excellence in naval science and technologies, with a focus on undersea missions and related areas, and supports five institutes and centers involved in military and industrial research.
-- For nearly 20 years, Penn State has had a strategic partnership for education and training with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, whose mission is to safeguard the nation's interests from weapons of mass destruction.
-- Penn State is the lead institution for the Keystone Alliance in Pennsylvania, a consortium that includes the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. The partners are involved in research and education projects for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
"Penn State's homeland security programs are the newest addition to the University's portfolio of workforce research, education and training initiatives," said Craig D. Weidemann, Penn State's vice president for Outreach. "Penn State is committed to helping the nation meet the challenges of protecting the homeland from all disasters."
The project is funded, in part, under a grant with the Pennsylvania Department of Health in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Cooperative Agreement on Public Health Preparedness and Response for Bioterrorism.