It has been my privilege to be in the forefront of a number of different educational efforts within the fire service which have long held up the goal of professionalizing our field of endeavor as its primary goal. Many have been the battles with folks who never could see the need for fire service people to have a college education. However, that did not stop those among us who felt the need for advancing our chose career field.
The battle to raise the profile of knowledge within the fire service has been fought in a variety of places. The progress has come in an uneven fashion. Some of our earliest victories evolved into the fire programs at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Oklahoma State and the University of Maryland. More than that a wide range of programs have been developed over the years which range from the associate's level, through the bachelor's level and on up to the master's degree level.
Last year the bar of excellence was raised again when Oklahoma State University (OSU) approved a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree program in Fire Service Administration. Mike Wieder, Assistant Director and Managing Editor at OSU Fire Protection Publications told me recently me that the OSU Political Science Department has 4 separate degree programs. They are Master's and PhD's in either Fire Service or Emergency Management. It should not be too very long before we are all able to benefit from the doctoral research performed within our field.All of these successes have come about through the efforts of many dedicated people in our nation who saw a need in their area and labored mightily to meet those needs. One of my earliest successes involved the development of a Fire Science program back in 1977 at the Ocean County College (OCC) in Toms River, New Jersey. Local leaders saw the need and worked to convince the college to step up to the plate and meet those needs. It is a source of personal pride that the program is still ongoing today.
Not long before my work at O.C.C. began, it was my privilege to be one of the first four people in New Jersey to earn bachelor's degrees in the field of Fire Safety Administration at what was then known as Jersey City State College. It was an honor to be out front on this important educational front. The program is moving along quite nicely these days at the school which is now known as the New Jersey City University. A number of its graduates have move on to positions of leadership within the American Fire Service.
Back in 2005 I completed the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree program in Organization and Management at Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Capella University is a regionally-accredited on-line university dedicated to providing excellence in distance learning at the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels. The challenges to me were daunting, but the support network at the school and the help of fellow learners in the school assisted me in making the grade.
It was my good fortunate to be hired last year to teach on the faculty at Capella teaching within their School of Public Safety Leadership. My work there involves teaching emergency management and leadership in their doctoral programs in Emergency Management and Public Safety. A number of folks within the school have been lobbying for a fire service component to be developed within the existing public safety framework. Our efforts were rewarded recently when school approve a concentration in Fire Service Administration.
The concentration will be targeted to students at both the master's and doctoral levels. It was my good fortunate to be selected to develop the concentration for the University. I will also be involved in the program development phase for the courses which will make up this new for a new doctoral-level concentration in Fire Service Administration at Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Capella is an on-line institution dedicated to providing excellence in distance learning.
Our school is looking to provide a series of courses that will equip learners with a core set of practical skills which will allow them to be better leaders and managers. In addition, our program will be looking to providing challenging research opportunities to our learners. A number of folks and I have long discussed the fact that a great deal of what we do in the fire service is based upon an analysis of anecdotal reflections on how the fire service has developed. We have shared the view that we need to create research into the "how-to" aspects of fire department operations.
It is with these thoughts in mind that I am working with the Capella University development staff to create a concentration that will address this need. The courses should be in place by the end of 2009 and the concentration should be available for the second quarter of the 2010 academic year which begins in April.
Let me share a bit of a secret with you. Truth be told, I have long nurtured a dream. That dream involves the creation of an on-line doctoral program at a regionally-accredited university. It is something which I surely would have loved to have been able to pursue as a young fire officer on the way up through the ranks. My affiliation with Capella is allowing me to make a beginning toward fulfilling that dream. It is my hope that future fire officers will benefit from our work.
It has long been my belief that education is a critical element within the career-related success which each of us wants to experience in life. For those folks who wish to broaden themselves into the challenging world of academic rigor, the opportunities to broaden and deepen your knowledge in the world of public safety leadership and emergency management, Capella is the place to be. For information on our programs, please visit us at www.capella.edu.
