SUNY Canton launches homeland security program

CANTON, N.Y.—The State University of New York in this city has created the first four-year homeland security degree program in the entire SUNY system.
 
SUNY Canton's new homeland security bachelor of technology degree expands upon its existing two-year associate degree program in criminal justice and its four-year programs in criminal investigation and law enforcement leadership, Gregory Kie, a school spokesman, told Security Director News. "Students are always looking for additional options after finishing a two-year degree program, and this new program is an extension of [the criminal justice] program and another option in the school overall," Kie said.

The SUNY system and the State Department of Education have both approved the new program, which is currently accepting students for the coming fall semester.

The homeland security program's curriculum will build off the school's existing programs and add several new classes to the mix. The school's eight existing full-time staff in the criminal justice department will support the new program, though Kie said there are plans to hire one additional full-time faculty member and possibly more in the future.

Enrollment numbers are not yet available, but Kie said interest in the program has been moderately high based on student feedback from the announcement. There are approximately 75 students in the three existing programs that have homeland security as a minor, Kie said.

Graduating students will be eligible for careers in the private security sector and federal, state, or local security-related agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the investigative branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; the FBI and the Transportation Security Administration.

"The homeland security major will prepare students to deter motivated attacks on private and public assets," Susan Buckley, an associate professor and the school's chair of the criminal investigation department, said in a statement. "They will learn how to protect people, property and infrastructures.”

Though the college has been around since 1901, criminal investigation was its first four-year degree when it was added in 1998, Kie said.