Emergency preparedness has always been a critical aspect of governmental policy at the federal, state and local levels. Response to natural disasters — floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, outbreak of infectious disease — requires predisaster planning, mid-disaster operations and postdisaster reconstruction that can only be carried out successfully through a partnership between all levels of government and between the public sector, private sector and civil society. Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania the concept of emergency preparedness has been expanded to include the task of homeland security — protecting the U.S. from terrorist-caused disasters. Policy planners and operational responders at all levels of government who had previously focused upon natural disasters now have the added responsibility of preparing for and mitigating the effects of politically inspired terrorist violence.

The program in homeland security and emergency preparedness recognizes this dual nature and is designed to give students both theoretical and practical knowledge that will prepare them for the following: 1) private- or public-sector employment in the expanding area of homeland security as it relates specifically to international and domestic security, as well as emergency preparedness for both security and nonsecurity-related incidents and/or 2) further study in government, international affairs, law enforcement, policy planning or law.

Students will study homeland security and emergency preparedness from a number of perspectives: emergency planning/management principles and practicalities; the nature and effects of natural disasters; the nature of the terrorist threat to the U.S. from both foreign and domestic organizations, including terrorist motives, methods and history; counterterrorism policies ranging from law enforcement to intelligence to the use of military force; vulnerability assessment of public and private infrastructure and institutions; critical infrastructure protection; ethical, constitutional, law enforcement and civil liberties issues related to the prevention of terrorist attacks through surveillance, immigration restrictions and detention; public safety legal questions that arise during governmental responses to natural disaster; intelligence analysis of domestic and international threats; and policy-making topics, such as organizational design and management, interagency processes, and intergovernmental coordination and cooperation within emergency preparedness and counterterrorism institutions at the local, state, federal and international level.

The knowledge and skills acquired through this course of study will enable students to continue their studies at law school or graduate school in a number of areas: business, criminal justice, geography, international affairs, political science, public administration, sociology and urban planning. Students also will be able to pursue employment opportunities in various fields, such as within the government at the local, state and federal level in homeland security and emergency planning/response; law enforcement; intelligence; for-profit and nonprofit research and consultancy; and private sector employment with any business that requires emergency planning expertise to protect critical infrastructure.

Degree requirements – Bachelor of Arts in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
Collateral requirements
Honors in homeland security and emergency preparedness

Degree requirements – Bachelor of Arts in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness

The curriculum for the Bachelor of Arts in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness requires a minimum of 120 credits, with at least 36 of those credits in homeland security and emergency preparedness.

Along with the general education requirements of the College of Humanities and Sciences and Monroe Park Campus requirements, students must complete the following 30 credits of core courses. Students are required to take HSEP 101 Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, POLI 103 U.S. Government and POLI/INTL 105 International Relations as prerequisites to HSEP 301/CRJS 367/POLI 367 Terrorism and HSEP 302/CRJS 368 Emergency Planning and Incident Management. HSEP 301 and HSEP 302 are prerequisites to all other upper-level HSEP core courses. These prerequisites can be waived with permission of the instructor.

HSEP core courses
HSEP 101 Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
POLI 103 U.S. Government
POLI/INTL 105 International Relations
HSEP 301/POLI 367/CRJS 367 Terrorism
HSEP 302/CRJS 368 Emergency Planning and Incident Management
HSEP 310 Risk and Vulnerability Assessment
HSEP 311 Strategic Planning for Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
HSEP 320/CRJS 375 The Intelligence Community and the Intelligence Process
HSEP/CRJS 330 Legal and Constitutional Issues in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
HSEP 490 Senior Seminar

Students must then select their remaining six credits from the following course list. Students also may count three credits of internship and three credits of independent study toward the degree requirement.

HSEP elective courses
CRJS 300 Forensic Criminology
CRJS 320 Principles of Criminal Investigation
CRJS 370 Criminalistics and Crime Analysis
CRJS 373 Crime Scene Evidence: Law and Trial Procedure
CRJS 463 Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
CRJS 475 Case Studies in Criminal Procedure
FIRE 330 Regulatory Aspects of Safety and Risk Control
FIRE 332 System Safety
FIRE 333 Risk and Insurance
FIRE 334 Incident Investigation and Analysis
FIRE 430 Issues in Risk Management and Insurance
GVPA 493 Government and Public Affairs Internship
HSEP 391 Topics in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
HSEP 491 Advanced Topics in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
HSEP 492 Independent Study
POLI 310 Public Policy
POLI 322 State and Local Government and Politics
POLI 329 Intergovernmental Relations
POLI/INTL 351 Governments and Politics of the Middle East
POLI/INTL 353 Latin American Governments and Politics
POLI/INTL 362 International Organizations and Institutions
POLI/INTL 363 U.S. Foreign Policy
URSP 310 Introduction to Public Planning
URSP/ENVS/GEOG 332 Environmental Management
URSP 413 Policy Implementation
URSP/ENVS/GEOG 521 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
URSP 552 Urban Transportation Systems

Collateral requirements

In addition to the homeland security and emergency preparedness courses required for the Bachelor of Arts degree, students must complete the study of a foreign language through the intermediate level (202 or 205) through courses or placement. As a prerequisite for HSEP 310 Risk and Vulnerability Assessment, STAT 210 should be used to fulfill general education requirements for statistics.

Honors in homeland security and emergency preparedness

Homeland security and emergency preparedness majors can earn honors within the program by completing HSEP 490 Senior Seminar with an “A” grade and graduating with an overall 3.0 GPA and a 3.3 GPA in courses credited toward the 36 credits of the homeland security and emergency preparedness major.