UCCS part of nation’s 1st homeland security Ph.D.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, college degrees in homeland security have ridden a wave of popularity fueled by the promise of jobs in a growing, lucrative field.

Now there’s a doctorate in the subject.

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, CU-Denver and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., have teamed up to offer the nation’s first doctoral program specializing in homeland security and defense. It’s funded by $1.9 million in federal defense money, and classes could begin as early as this fall, said Steve Recca, director of the Center for Homeland Security at UCCS.

Program officials have not decided which campus will host classes or how management of the program will be delegated, Recca said. Those decisions will be made when the federal appropriations are received this summer.

Meanwhile, 50 applicants are anxiously waiting for a place among the first class of 15. They include congressional staffers, military officers, emergency managers and fire department officials.

Educators say the doctorate is targeted at three kinds of employees:

- Instructors who will be qualified to teach master’s programs, which have multiplied in

recent years.

- Researchers who can help influence policies and work through the theoretical and political challenges associated with the field. They might be employed at think tanks and government agencies that help shape public policy.

- Workers in the field, from high-level emergency directors to military brass, who could apply the broader academic knowledge to real-life situations.

Recca expects other doctoral programs to follow.

The idea was first discussed at UCCS after hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005. The campus’s Center for Homeland Security was concerned with the lack of research in homeland security issues.

“The heat and light was generated here to push for a graduate program,” Recca said.

The proposal won the support of Admiral Timothy J. Keating, the commander of U.S. Pacific Command, who at the time was head of Springsbased U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command. The concept expanded to share resources among the other two campuses.

The degree will be offered by CU-Denver’s Graduate School of Public Affairs, and most classes will likely be taught there, Recca said. UCCS may host other classes, and the Naval Postgraduate School could provide instructors and dissertation advisers for the program.

David Holm, interim director of the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, said the

demand for people who have a deeper understanding of homeland security issues is high, and with academic programs growing, the need for teachers will be especially strong.

Richard White, an expert in homeland security who has published two textbooks on the subject and teaches introductory classes on homeland security and defense at UCCS, is one of the 50 students waiting to get into the program. He wants the credentials to back up his expertise, and he’s interested in doing the research required for a dissertation.

Eventually, with the help of the program, White hopes to influence public policy, instruct others, and help shape the educational standards for the subject.

“That’s one of the cool things of being on the ground floor of this stuff,” he said.

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