A Diff erent SpinAn entrepreneur turns his passions for music and entertainment into a DJ business E4

The amount of employees who said they felt retaliated

against after reporting ethical

violations at their workplaces

last year, according to a new

study from the Ethics Research

Center. (THE WASHINGTON POST)

Every time I ask someone to invest in a mission I work for, it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with the lives of the people we impact.”

21%

— J E N N I F E R S I R A N G E L O ,PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE NATIONAL 4-H COUNCIL, ON FUNDRAISING

PAGE E3

express | February 2014 | Continuing education and career advancement guide

JASON HORNICK (FOR EXPRESS)

D.C. native Ebony Tillery knew she

was in the right town to pursue a

career in national security. She just

needed to select the right graduate

school — which meant finding a

program that could keep up with

the evolving field.

Careers in homeland security are

constantly adapting in response to

the latest security threats, techno-

logical innovations and policies. And

grad programs need to adapt, too.

Tillery, 22, was drawn to a pro-

gram at the University of the Dis-

trict of Columbia (udc.edu). With

just 30 students in a typical class,

the program allowed her to interact

with students and teachers, many

of whom are still working profes-

sionals with firsthand knowledge

of how the field is evolving.

“I like the personal feel of being

able to communicate with my teach-

ers and with my peers, who come

from various walks of life,” says Til-

lery, whose classmates have worked

for fire departments, police forc-

es and the military, among other

places.

She says the program frequent-

ly invites professionals in the field

to speak with the students. “We’re

able to ask questions, and we’re

able to exchange business cards,”

she says. “So we can keep up on

what’s going on.”

Tillery’s academic adviser,

Angelyn Flowers, is the co-direc-

tor of the University’s Institute for

Public Safety and Justice. In the

Degrees of ChangeHomeland security programs evolve to keep up with the field

Graduate Degrees

Continued on page E2

McLean, Va.-based hotel giant Hilton Worldwide has turned to digital video interviewing to better evaluate candidates, cut interviewing costs and speed up hiring. (THE WASHINGTON POST)

Ebony Tillery chose

a graduate program

with teachers who still

work in the homeland

security field.

E2 | E X P R E S S | 0 2 . 1 0 . 2 0 14 | M O N D AY

ahead

courses Flowers teaches she draws

from real-world examples. Her

class on disaster preparedness, for

instance, discussed lessons from

Hurricane Katrina.

The university even received a

grant from the Homeland Security

National Training Program to devel-

op a course on legal issues related to

disasters and emergencies

All of this is to prepare students

for the job market. “We maintain

contacts with homeland-security

E2 | E X P R E S S | 0 2 . 1 0 . 2 0 14 | M O N D AY

“We’re able to ask questions, and we’re able to exchange business cards so we can keep up on what’s going on.”— E B O N Y T I L L E RY, ON WHY UNIVERSI-

T Y OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPEALED

TO HER: SHE COULD CONNECT WITH PRO-

FESSIONALS IN THE FIELD SHE WANTED

TO WORK IN, HOMEL AND SECURIT Y

professionals to see what their evolv-

ing needs are in terms of the peo-

ple they are hiring,” Flowers says.

Some of those contacts are on

campus: Most of the program’s

adjunct professors are practitioners

in the field, Flowers says.

That’s also the case at Johns

Hopkins University (advanced.jhu.

edu), where the Master of Arts in

Global Security Studies program

is constantly evolving. A graduate

certificate in intelligence is in the

works based on input from teachers

and students about the fastest grow-

ing sector of homeland security.

“We go to the conferences and

conventions. We read the journals,

we participate in the practical and

political debates of our day,” says

Mark Stout, the program’s direc-

tor, who spent 13 years in intelli-

gence and three years as historian

at the International Spy Museum.

The vast majority of the 200 stu-

dents in the Johns Hopkins pro-

gram also work full time, includ-

ing 26-year-old Alisha Powell, who

is a policy analyst for the homeland

security and public safety division

of the National Governors Asso-

ciation. The Queens, N.Y., native

graduated from the M.A. program

in December.

Powell often found her class-

work and her job overlapping. Her

thesis — in which she argued that

the U.S. government overempha-

sizes terrorist threats that originate

abroad when domestic threats are

just as serious — was inspired by

interactions with state homeland

security advisers at her job.

“Hearing those conversations

got my mind turning,” Powell says.

Having classmates who worked

in other parts of the homeland secu-

rity industry also enhanced her

experience. “It was really interest-

ing to get everyone else’s perspec-

tives, where school and work life

converge,” she says.

Students like Powell help keep

Johns Hopkins’ curriculum rele-

vant by providing end-of-semes-

ter feedback on coursework. In

fact, a student who works for the

Department of Homeland Securi-

ty inspired a recent course addition,

“Cyberforce Superiority: Founda-

tional Elements,” which provides

an introduction to cyber opera-

tions for students who aren’t pur-

suing technical careers.

For American University Pro-

fessor Joseph Young, the value of

adapting coursework from the real

world hit home after last year’s Bos-

ton Marathon bombing. Young, who

teaches in American’s Master of

Science in Justice, Law and Crim-

inology program (american.edu),

happened to be teaching a course

on domestic terrorism for the first

time, after advocating for such a

class unsuccessfully for years.

“It was really readily apparent

why studying domestic terrorism

was critical in dealing with national

security threats,” Young says, not-

ing that the bombing made many

programs turn their focus from for-

eign threats to local ones. “Security

issues adapt and change.”

And so too must the gradu-

ate programs that study them.

AMBREEN ALI (FOR EXPRESS)

Continued from page E1

National Security

MEDICAL CAREER TRAINING!Train as a

MEDICALASSISTANT

Call Now!

877.874.5783

Computer NetworkingTechnologycareer training!

Call Now!

877.874.5783

DON’T WAIT! CALL NOW!Train for a career as a

Medical Billing& Coding Specialist!

Call Now!

877.874.5783

GET THE SKILLS TO HELP YOU SUCCEED!

Discover your future as an

ELECTRICALTECHNICIAN

Call Now!

877.874.5783

Baltimore • Beltsville Baltimore • Beltsville • Towson

Baltimore • Beltsville • Towson Baltimore • Beltsville • Towson

For more information on our programs and their outcomes visit www.tesst.com/consumer-info.TESST does not guarantee employment or career advancement. Programs vary by campus.

Career Education