Program Overview

Bachelor of Science in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity

Program Overview

The Bachelor of Science in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at UAlbany prepares students to assess risks and vulnerabilities, plan, prepare for, and mitigate hazards, and respond and recover effectively.

Program of Study

Core Courses

• Introduction to Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity
• Critical Inquiry and Communication in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity
• Cybersecurity OR Cybersecurity Basics
• Homeland Security
• Emergency Preparedness
• Leadership and Ethics in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity
• Research Seminar in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity

Concentration

Select one concentration:

• Emergency Preparedness Concentration (General Program BS)
  • Preparedness and Response
  • Mitigation and Recovery
  • Two additional courses from approved list as advised
• Homeland Security Concentration (General Program BS)
  • Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism
  • Homeland Security Risk
  • Two additional courses from approved list as advised

Training

100 Hours of Approved Training

• Foundation: 30 hours
• Professional Development: 20 hours
• Community Engagement: 15 hours
• Concentration Specific: 35 hours

Experiential Learning

Choose two:

• Contemporary Issues in Security and Preparedness
• Washington in Perspective
• Washington Internship
• External Internship Experience in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity
• Research Internship Experience in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity
• Exercise Design and Implementation
• Experimental and Service Learning in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity
• Capstone Project in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security & Cybersecurity
• Special Topics in Research, Applied and Experimental Learning
• Independent Research

Honors Program

The Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity Honors Program engages well-qualified majors in more immersive research and writing. The coursework provides students with the tools and strategies needed to complete an independent and original honors thesis project.

In addition to the regular requirements for the EHC major, students in the Honors Program complete an additional seven credits:

• Research Seminar in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity
• Research Methods Course
• Senior Honors Thesis Project

Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Options

You can save time and money by beginning your graduate degree coursework while still enrolled as an undergraduate student. Up to 12 academic credits, billed at the undergraduate rate, will count towards both degrees – so you’ll complete your combined program in only 5 years and spend less than you would if you completed each program separately. Choose to combine your Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity undergraduate degree with the following graduate programs:

• MS in Emergency Management and Homeland Security
• MPA in Public Administration and Policy
• MIA in International Affairs
• MS in Information Science

Alumni Outcomes

Through coursework, training and experiential learning, UAlbany’s Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity program prepares you for careers in government agencies at the federal, state and local levels, as well as private sector and nonprofit organizations.

Recent alumni employers include:

• Central Intelligence Agency
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• New York State Police
• New York State Department of Transportation
• New York City Human Rights Commission
• Bank of America
• Deloitte
• PwC
• Broadcom/VMware
• Capgemini
• FTI Consulting
• Starr Insurance Companies

Student Learning Objectives

• Risk Management: Conduct a comprehensive assessment of risks, generate an analysis of options for mitigating risks, select the most appropriate mitigating actions for each risk, develop contingency and crisis response plans, communicate the risk assessment to a variety of audiences and evaluate risk management plans.
• Critical Thinking: Critically analyze arguments by identifying assumptions, understanding claims, evaluating evidence and drawing a conclusion.
• Communication: Recognize and formulate effective written and oral communication, giving appropriate consideration to audience, context, format and textual evidence.
• Problem Solving: Design and implement strategic plans and creative solutions in novel and evolving circumstances.
• Ethical Analysis: Demonstrate understanding of ethical principles in general and the ability to recognize, articulate and apply ethical principles in concrete situations related to emergency preparedness, homeland security and cybersecurity.
• Diversity: Demonstrate an understanding of diversity and the ability to assess social equity in management and policy decisions through courses that focus on topics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, physical ability, language and/or social class.
• Teamwork and Project Management: Work effectively in teams in evaluating policies, managing projects and implementing programs as well as effectively managing conflicts, optimizing resources and meeting deadlines.
• Demonstrate a solid foundational knowledge of the architecture of computer and networks hardware and software, how that is the basis of vulnerabilities to these systems. From this foundation, be familiar with the tools and techniques used to defend such systems from attacks.
• Understand how risk management, the use of cybersecurity policies and related tools can help an organization prepare for, remain functional during, and recover from cyber incidents.