Homeland security educationUniversity's homeland security program comes with job guarantee
Misericordia University is introducing a new bachelor of arts degree program in Government, Law, and National Security; the program comes with a job guarantee;: if graduates of the program do not find a job or gain admission to a graduate school within six months of finishing the program, the school will pay for internships in their field of choice
The Center for Adult and Continuing Education at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania, is introducing a new bachelor of arts degree program this fall. The Government, Law and National Security program will be available for the fall semester of this year for adult learners with an associate’s degree in the area of criminal justice, business, and human services. This will prepare them to enter the expanding national and homeland security workforce within the government and private sector.
“Over the past decade, there has been an increased interest in national security studies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels,” said Brian Carso, assistant professor and program director at Misericordia. “The program is designed to appeal to students from a variety of academic backgrounds and to provide them with a specialization that is at once directed and focused, but broad enough to give them flexibility in this growing career field.”
The Times Leader’s Stephanie Markowski writes that the program will also be available for traditional students on the main campus beginning with the fall 2011 semester. “Students explore national security through case studies of Cuban missile crisis, 9/11 attacks and learn about peacemaking and peacekeeping,” said Carso.
Public safety and national security have been pushed to the forefront in recent years due to natural disasters, criminal activity and most importantly, terrorist attacks. “Because of these events, it has significantly changed the needs of security in office buildings, secondary schools and universities, airports, public transportation and shopping malls,” Carso said.
The national security rubric includes managing and responding to natural disasters, dealing with pandemic diseases, and the possibilities of debilitating infrastructure interruption, like cybercrime.
The program gives graduates a solid academic foundation for entry-level career employment in many areas of criminal justice, public safety, government, and security services. The curriculum is designed for professional first responders like police officers, EMTs and firefighters, just to name a few.
“We have designed a curriculum that assures each student considers the ethical issues involved in a situation and allows them to make reasoned judgment,” Carso said. “The employment opportunities related to the Government, Law and National Security program require individuals who can see the many facets of an issue and work to achieve an end result that is suitable to many constituencies.”
The courses combine a case study approach of post-Second World War national security events like the missile crisis, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. There is also focus on security strategy and theoretical explanations for the causes of war and peace.
“The program’s graduates will also think independently and analyze information critically with a view toward problem solving that takes into account respective cultural differences and global perspectives,” said Carso.
Markowski notes that when dealing with government, law, and national security, there is definitely a high rate of employment opportunities. With today’s economy, however, recent and future graduates are probably a little uncertain if they are going to find a job. With that in mind, Misericordia offers a Guarantee Placement Program for their students.
“It is an array of novel workshops, externships, internships, etc. that is designed to set MU graduates apart from others in the hyper-competitive job market,” said Paul Krzywicki, assistant director of marketing communications at Misericordia University.
The program comes with a job guarantee. “If the student completes the program and does not have a job in six months or is not accepted into graduate school, Misericordia will provide a paid internship in that student’s field of interest for three months,” said Krzywicki. “The program has been so successful to date that not one student has had to use the guarantee because they have all either found employment or went on to graduate school. It is that good.”
