Illinois State Joins University Alliance to Increase, Improve Homeland Security Education

Illinois State University is one of eight public universities from across the state that have joined forces to create the Illinois Innovative Delivery of Education Alliance - Homeland Security (IDEA-HS), a step that pushes Illinois to the forefront of efforts to provide students and professionals with the education required to help America prepare for and respond to emergencies of all types.

Other institutions signing on as charter members of the alliance are: Northern Illinois University, Western Illinois University, Eastern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Governors State University and Chicago State University.

Under the cooperative agreement, a student at any alliance university will be able to enroll in online homeland security courses offered at any other member institution without concerns about billing, transfer of credits or other issues typically related to taking courses at another school. Students will not have to be admitted to, billed by or visit the institution offering the course.

NIU Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver was elected to serve as chair of the board that will oversee the alliance.

Members of the IDEA-HS chose to band together for several reasons. All faced the challenge of meeting an important educational need, and none had the resources to create a program to quickly meet that need from scratch. Furthermore, member institutions realized that by working together they would be able to provide their students access to top experts from around the state.

The goal of the alliance is to help meet the growing demand for individuals trained to prepare for, react to and recover from all types of emergencies -- from natural disasters, to pandemics, to terrorist attacks. Such individuals are needed to fill jobs with agencies at all levels of government and in private industry.  Job descriptions run the gamut from chemists trained in reacting to chemical attacks or industrial accidents, to architects and engineers who ensure the safety of infrastructure, to business operations experts who create and execute continuity plans to ensure that a company can remain viable during and after a major emergency, to name but a very few.

“It is important that Illinois State be among the state universities that respond to the need for educating and training individuals to help government and the private sector be prepared to respond to disasters,” said Illinois State President Al Bowman.  “Joining forces with the other universities and combining our resources allows all of us to efficiently and effectively serve our students and the public.”        

Currently, three of the alliance schools have programs in place that allow students to earn certificates or degrees in topics specifically related to homeland security:

• NIU –five graduate level certificates (biochemical sciences, cyber-security, environmental and hazards risk assessment, health science and manufacturing and industrial technology), with undergraduate certificates available in all of those areas except cyber-security
• EIU –  graduate level certificate in technology security
• WIU – bachelor’s degree in emergency management, minor in homeland security

Classes will be available online beginning in the fall semester of 2008, with offerings from several of the Alliance universities.  It is anticipated that more course offerings will be added in subsequent years.  Alliance schools are working to develop further online courses to expand the catalog.

The work of the IDEA-HS is funded by a grant from the Illinois Board of Higher Education.