DWC to offer homeland security degree

SUZANNE BATES Union Leader Correspondent

October 22, 2007

NASHUA -- Business and government heavyweights were at Daniel Webster College yesterday for the announcement of a new bachelor of science in homeland security degree, the first of its kind in New Hampshire.

The program will prepare students for jobs in the growing national security market, said College President Robert Myers.

"Homeland security is among the nations leading growth sectors," said Myers. "Employment in all areas of the homeland security field is expected to continue to rapidly expand through the coming decade." There are only around 80 homeland security programs in the nation. Daniel Webster's program will allow students to choose aeronautical science or computer science concentrations.

Students will also be able to design their own concentration and the college plans to add concentrations in communications and intelligence.

Besides the core curriculum, students in the program will be required to study a second language or another area of the world, although the college does not offer any language courses. Students will also have to complete an internship.

The college aims to begin enrolling students in the new degree program in the fall of 2008.

Daniel Webster Provost Michael Fishbein said the program is also designed to give students an understanding of the challenges faced by homeland security decision makers.

"Sought or unsought, our nation finds itself at this moment in a war unlike any other in our experience," he said. "It requires us to balance our need for security against the liberties basic to our democracy and the freedom we cherish." Officials from the public and private sectors who came to the announcement, including representatives from Raytheon and BAE Systems, were lining up to partner with the college.

Shelia Bauer, the National Aviation and Space Education Program manager for the Federal Aviation Administration, said Daniel Webster showed "foresight" by offering this degree.

The workforce in aviation jobs is aging and it is challenging to get young people interested in such a technical field, she said.