135 Students Now Pursuing Careers in the $45 Billion Homeland Security Market with Courses at Universities Across the State
CHICAGO – Continuing his ongoing efforts to make Illinois a leader in the growing homeland security industry, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich highlighted today the impact of a $75,000 grant awarded to Northern Illinois University (NIU) last year to develop a homeland security foundations course that will be used at universities across the state. The funding was provided through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s (DCEO) Homeland Security Market Development (HSMD) Bureau.
“Events like the terrorist attacks of 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina have clearly demonstrated the importance of having professionals with specialized training in how to prepare for, react to and recover from all types of disasters. Investing in this talent is a critical step in creating more opportunities for our young people and attracting new homeland security-based business and jobs to Illinois,” Gov. Blagojevich said.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that positions for emergency management specialists alone will grow nearly 30 percent by 2012, with growing demand for individuals with strong homeland security backgrounds in areas such as biochemistry, environmental hazard risk assessment, health sciences and industrial risk management. Until now, few college-level education programs have been created to meet that need.
The course, developed by NIU and pilot-tested by both NIU and the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), has enrolled 135 students that are now pursuing homeland security certificates in four different specialty tracks, including biochemical sciences, environmental and hazards risk assessment, health sciences, and manufacturing and industrial technology.
The NIU foundations course offers a blend of interactive, online and face-to-face instruction. It provides a comprehensive overview of issues that threaten public safety and commerce, including natural disasters, terrorism and business interruption – providing an interdisciplinary background for multiple career tracks. The online version of the course has been made available to all public universities in Illinois to augment homeland security programs at those institutions.
“There is a vital need for more trained professionals with updated skills to help government, business and industry across the state in case of disaster in all its many forms. We're proud that Gov. Blagojevich through DCEO asked NIU to help accomplish this goal by taking a leadership role in the creation of homeland security programs in Illinois," Northern Illinois University President John Peters said.
"My professional experience has given me a solid, practical understanding of issues relating to hazardous materials. However, the certificate courses have provided me with a better understanding of the logic behind those issues. It's a more academic understanding of the subject matter, which provides an invaluable context," NIU student and professional firefighter and paramedic Matthew Knott said.
“This is such a new and wide-ranging field that there is no text book out there upon which you can model a class on. NIU did an excellent job, not just in selecting the content for the course, but also in the way it engages students. The use of Flash movies and other tools put it on the cutting-edge of interactivity in online training,” Dr. Kevin Croke, UIC School of Public Health said.
"The course material, and the way it was delivered, went far beyond what you find on most emergency management Web sites. It was far more interactive and engaging. The course employed a lot of examples from recent real-world events and did a great job of boiling down the principles into easy to understand concepts,” said Steve Mier, UIC Student and Director of Administration City of Chicago Department of Public Health.
In recognition of the pressing need for highly trained professionals to help Illinois prepare for and respond to disasters of all types, Caterpillar Corporation created a series of scholarships to support students pursuing Homeland Security Certificates at NIU, UIC, Western Illinois University, University of Illinois at Springfield and Eastern Illinois. The scholarships, which can be used to defer the cost of tuition, books and fees, will help facilitate the creation of a new generation of professionals with the specialized knowledge and skills required to help Illinois businesses, municipalities and agencies protect themselves from, and recover from, all types of disasters, whether natural or man-made.
Last year, NIU and Western Illinois University jointly sought and received from the Illinois Board of Higher Education a $100,000 grant to help establish the Illinois Homeland Security Education Alliance (IHSEA). Building on the momentum established by the Governor, IHSEA's mission is to create seamless course-sharing between and among all Illinois universities offering homeland security programs. To date, more than half of Illinois' public universities have expressed strong interest in joining IHSEA. IHSEA universities will be able to access the NIU pilot-tested foundations course later this year.
“We would like to thank Gov. Blagojevich for setting this important initiative in motion. The Board of Higher Education is excited to partner with the Governor and Illinois colleges and universities to help grow and develop the state’s homeland security industry. The newly created Illinois Homeland Higher Education Alliance will develop a model for course-sharing that is unprecedented in Illinois for cooperation in creating and delivering academic programs by expert faculty,” said IBHE Executive Director Judy Erwin.
“We are making investments today that will save millions of dollars and untold numbers of lives tomorrow. Gov. Blagojevich, with the support of numerous state entities, is working to make access and efficiency the trademarks of Illinois homeland security. We also understand that strategic investments in collaborative homeland security training help position the state to take advantage of unique opportunities to attract new security-based businesses and jobs,” DCEO Director Jack Lavin said.
For more information on the Illinois Homeland Security Foundations Course, or specific NIU homeland security certificate programs, go online at: http://www.niu.edu/HomelandSecurity/ or call toll-free at 1-866-885-1239.
DCEO’s Homeland Security Market Development bureau is focused on supporting businesses engaged in the homeland security industry, and the bureau offers a variety of investment tools designed to help existing Illinois companies expand operations and utilize available state and federal programs and services. DCEO’s Innovative Product Grant (IPG) Program is the nation’s first state-funded grant program for private sector homeland security product commercialization, providing up to a $150,000 grant to companies or joint ventures that bring new products to market. For more information on HSMD, visit www.hsmd.illinois.gov.