Public workers seek updated educations

Local government officials today face many situations, from terrorist attacks to disease outbreaks, that are not included in traditional public administration courses. As a result, many state and local government employees are seeking training on the latest trends in public administration in college-level courses.

To address public safety threats from food poisoning and salmonella bacteria outbreaks, Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., developed an online course titled “Professional Masters in Food Safety.” The course trains public managers how to effectively respond to food-based bacteria outbreaks and protect the public from risks of improper food storage and preparation. “Programs like this have provided valuable skills training to our organization in an area where we were lacking expertise,” says Cindi Beadle, public health analyst for the Virginia Department of Health in Richmond. “Our rural location restricts our staff’s access to the state and local colleges, so non-traditional programs like this are the only viable options.”

In 2006, Long Island University in New York began a graduate program in Homeland Security Management. The program — offered in a classroom and online — was formed in response to research conducted by the university’s Homeland Security Management Research Institute after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Students come from a diverse range of professional and occupational specialties, including city management, law enforcement and fire protection. “Local governments like ours are faced with some complex challenges related to homeland security and public safety beyond what is offered in traditional law enforcement programs,” says District of Columbia Police Detective Arthur Brook.

Prescott College in Prescott, Ariz., offers a series of courses in environmental management, sustainability development and public policy as part of its distance learning doctoral program on community sustainability development. Through the program, experienced professionals design a concentrated course of study on popular political topics like conservationism, global warming and recycling policy development. “[The college also offers] a self-designed master’s degree program where students can combine courses in academic areas like community policing and criminal psychology in one program,” says the college’s Director of Admissions Abbey Carpenter.

Darrell Burrell is a faculty member at Averett University in Danville, Va.