Illinois Homeland Security Education Alliance
Conference Call, March 6, 2007
NIU Vice-Provost Earl Seaver welcomed the group and introduced the IHSEA Coordinator,
Ellen Parham. Participants in the conference call introduced themselves and briefly
summarized homeland security education activity on their campuses.
EIU
Jeff Cross, Associate Vice-president for Academic Affairs
Sue Harvey, Acting Registrar
One undergraduate and one graduate certificate in technology security
GSU
Eric Martin, Dean, Arts and Sciences
Steve Shih, Academic Coordinator, Computer Science
Homeland security related courses in biology, public administration,
criminal justice and public health.
ISU
Marilyn Morrow, Acting Associate Dean for Research
Homeland security related courses but no formal structure
NIU
Earl Seaver, Vice-Provost
Mary Pritchard, Associate Dean of Health and Human Sciences, co-PI
Ellen Parham, IHSEA coordinator
Alan Robinson, Outreach Director, HHS; NIU campus coordinator
Marilyn McConachie, NIU Outreach, for Vice-President Anne Kaplan, co-PI
Undergraduate and graduate certificates in homeland security in four areas
of concentration with a fifth being developed. “Foundations of Homeland
Security,” an online course, is available for delivery by any public
university in Illinois. See temporary IHSEA website for a demo and
ordering information.
SIU-C Thomas Calhoun, Associate Provost
Don Rice, Interim Provost
Array of courses but no certificate
SIU-E Paul Ferguson, Provost
Homeland security related courses in computer science, engineering,
nursing
UIC
Russell Betts, Vice-President for Planning and Programs
Certificate covers a broad spectrum of homeland security activities,
research, and courses, mostly in public health. Also involved – Argonne,
business and continuity planning.
UIS
Pinky Wassenberg, Interim Dean, Public Affairs and Administration
Graduate certificate in Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security;
risk assessment based; 20 hours.
WIU
Dan Clay, Associate Dean of Education and Human Services
B.S. in Emergency Management. Developing homeland security minor in
criminal justice. Fire science curriculum mostly available online.
Question: What is the distinction between university contacts and campus coordinators? What
are the participants doing to staff this project?
Answer: The university contact is a short-term appointment for purposes of organizing the
alliance. The contact has access to top administrative leadership, can make institutional
commitments, and may become a member of the IHSEA board of directors. The campus
coordinator, a long-term appointment, oversees IHSEA functions at the home institution.
Position descriptions are available at the temporary IHSEA website under IHSEA Documents.
Question: Where are the certificates housed on the campus?
Answer: At UIS, the certificates are in the Department of Environmental Studies; at WIU the
interdisciplinary degree is in the Department of Health Sciences; at NIU, it is in the
interdisciplinary section of the catalogs.
Each university answered the staffing question differently, ranging from official appointments,
additional duties, buy-outs, and course releases, to “still thinking.”
Discussion of Objectives for Year One of the Grant
 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) will be developed by the campus contacts with help
from the Great Plains Alliance and will be ready for signing early in the summer.
 A governance structure will flow out of the MOA, including a board of directors and a
network of campus coordinators.
 A temporary website is available. WIU will build a comprehensive, neutral site for the
alliance, which will include a clearing house of homeland security resources.
 Each alliance member will need an operations team of approximately six people who will
help build the alliance infrastructure. Registrars and admissions officers are meeting at
the end of March and will discuss IHSEA issues.
 A list of courses that have potential for sharing across institutions will be available at the
IHSEA meeting in Bloomington on April 13. University faculty at that meeting will identify
a list of courses that may be shared through the Alliance. The list will be submitted to
member institutions for approval through their curricular processes.
 Sharing individual courses comes first. In Year Two, faculty and the board of directors
will discuss possibilities such as shared certificates and degrees.
 The goal is to share one or more courses across the state in Fall 2007.
 DCEO workshops on homeland security research and development are being scheduled
for summer 2007.
Next Steps
1. Each participating university will recruit and organize its campus team.
2. Faculty members, contacts, and coordinators will meet in Bloomington from 10 to 4
on April 13, 2007
3. Each participating university will send to Ellen Parham a list of homeland security
assets.
Information sent to all participants in advance of the meeting
Agenda 3-06-07
Synopsis
List of campus contacts and coordinators
Proposed position descriptions
Recruitment of operations team members
Year One work plan