Department of Security Studies

SCST 5320. Crisis Management Integration I. 3 Hours.

This course emphasizes efforts established to enhance the nation's capability to prevent, prepare for, respond to, mitigate, and recover from critical domestic incidents. Utilizing the all-hazard approach against natural, human-induced, and technological crises, this course highlights integration processes in command and control, planning, interoperable communications, community preparedness and participation, resource assessment, intelligence and information sharing, mutual aid systems, and interagency coordination in crisis. In this course, post 9/11 era threats and hazards are analyzed within a framework of resilience building at tribal and local community level.

SCST 5335. Global Perspec in Homeland Sec. 3 Hours.

Course will focus on meeting the changing demands of security in a global environment. Discussion emphasizing the understanding of how to design, implement, and intergrate the security function in an ever-changing world and the impact of major economic, demographic, and technological trends on developing strategies for security innovation and growth.

SCST 5336. Law and Ethics in Homeland Security. 3 Hours.

Focus will be on how the law impacts security in many diverse ways. Discussion will emphasize the concept of criminal intent, early criminal law and the emergence of law enforcement and private security, the difference between public policing and private security, and an overview of legal terms and issues with which the security manager must address.

SCST 5338. Security and Management. 3 Hours.

Students focus on managing the security organization and its human resources. Discussion and on results-oriented security management, the basic foundations of security, the importance of technology, and specialized security applications are addressed.
Prerequisite: Three hours of graduate-level Security Studies.

SCST 5339. Foundations of Homeland Secur.. 3 Hours.

Students focus on philosophies, tactics, and targets of terrorist groups, discussion of emerging terrorism trends and the roles of the private sector, and U.S. Government in responding to and preventing terrorism. Students also gain insight on how terrorism influences U.S. Foreign Policy.

SCST 5340. Intel & CounterInt in Nat Sec. 3 Hours.

Students focus on the roles of various national intelligence collection platforms and intelligence analysis, how national policy makers utilize intelligence, and Congress' oversight role. Counterintelligence is introduced as an example of an external threat to homeland security.

SCST 5341. Principles of Intellig Anlys. 3 Hours.

Students focus on new and alternative methods for conducting intelligence analysis as well as examine how analysis contributes to the overall understanding of intelligence and formulation of US national security policy. Analytic modeling techniques and the psychology of analysis in terms of analytic biases are covered. Credt 3.

SCST 5342. Law Enf Intell and Crime Analy. 3 Hours.

This course foundation is the diversity of mission and roles of crime analysts at the local, state and federal levels. Traditional crime analysis functions are reviewed, including temporal and spatial plots. linking modus operandi, and crime distribution forecasting. Additionally, the dynamics of both terrorist and criminal intelligence functions are emphasized, including database linkages, role of Federal Data Fusion Centers, the National Information Sharing infrastructure, and the elements of systematic threat assessment.

SCST 5344. Unconventional Threats. 3 Hours.

This course will focus on a range of threats (some of which exist and some of which are emerging) that impact, or are likely to impact, homeland security in significant ways. These threats will be addressed within the framework of three categories of threats based, respectively, on direct human action, technology, and the environment. Topics to be addressed will include: 1) terrorism, destabilizing crime, mass global migration (human-based threats); 2. cyber threats, engineered biological threats, nuclear warfare, and global supply chain vulnerabilities (technology-based threats); 3: limitations on access to natural resources, climate change, novel diseases, and food security (environmental-based threats).
Prerequisite: SCST 5339.

SCST 5346. Information & Intel Mgmt. 3 Hours.

This course explores interoperability, data fusion, and integrative decision making protocols and systems for Homeland Security information and intelligence sharing in the overarching process of managing the flow of information and intelligence across all levels and sectors of government and the private sector. The content to support the rapid identification of emerging terrorism-related threats and other circumstances requiring intervention by government and private sector authorities.

SCST 5348. Critical Infrastructure Protection. 3 Hours.

This course provides an overview of the policy, strategy, and practical application of critical infrastructure security and resilience from the All-Hazards perspective. Students explore challenges and opportunities associated with: infrastructure-related public-private partnerships, information sharing, risk analysis and prioritization, risk mitigation, performance metrics, program management, incident management, and investing for the future.

SCST 5396. Research Methods - Homeland Security Studies. 3 Hours.

This course builds student competencies in key research philosophies, principles, and techniques which will enable successful design and implementation of research relevant to the field. Students will be exposed to various ways of managing, analyzing, and displaying data. The course will prepare students to establish an applied research portfolio and to compose and submit an applied research project to a journal or conference in Homeland Security.

SCST 6093. Independent Studies in Criminal Justice. 1-3 Hours.

This course is designed to give students flexibility to pursue study of a topic under the supervision of a faculty member where the topic will be studied more deeply than in a traditional course or where there are no available courses on the topic. Credit 1-3.
Prerequisite: Approval of the Department Chair and the instructor directing the readings.

SCST 6099. Thesis. 1-3 Hours.

This course encompasses completion and defense of the Thesis. (Student must be registered in SCST 6099 for the semester in which they receive the MS in Homeland Security degree.) Variable Credit (1-3).
Prerequisite: SCST 6398.

SCST 6320. Crisis Management Integration II. 3 Hours.

This course highlights the coordination and support of federal, territorial, state, regional, tribal and local efforts and resources used for complex incidents such as terrorist attacks, major disasters, or other high security and high consequence events. Specifically, federal coordinating structures, federal resource requests and deployment strategies, and regulations pertaining to federal assistance will be discussed. The role, function, and activation of federal operation centers, state level emergency operation centers, county emergency operation centers, as well as Multiagency Assistance Compacts (MACs) in support of tribal and local emergency response efforts will be analyzed.
Prerequisite: SCST 5320.

SCST 6360. Leadership in HSEM. 3 Hours.

Students examine the complexity of leadership in crises. They discern between decision-making models in naturalistic settings and evaluate cases and scenarios that highlight characteristics of successful leaders in events with high consequence outcomes. Students analyze organizational, political, and socio-cultural interdependencies that influence leadership in Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) settings and acquire stategies on how to reduce security risks through adoption of various decision support systems.
Prerequisite: SCST 5344.

SCST 6362. Critical Infrastructure Risk Management. 3 Hours.

This course addresses the complexities of critical infrastructure security and resilience from a "system-of-systems" perspective. Students explore the notion of a system and how it applies to explicate how our critical infrastructures function and how they can fail or perform less than optimally under stress. The learner is provided with tools to uncover and manage risks affecting systems.
Prerequisite: SCST 5348.

SCST 6364. Cybersecurity. 3 Hours.

This course focuses on policy, strategy, and the operational environment of cyberspace in the context of critical infrastructure security and resilience. Topics include: challenges presented by the 21st century risk environment, cyber-risk analysis and prioritization, government-private cybersecurity partnerships, and future cyber risks.
Prerequisite: SCST 5348.

SCST 6365. Doct/Praxis in Homeland Sec. 3 Hours.

This is a capstone experience research project containing a portfolio of reflexive elements on Homeland Security Doctrine, as well as an applied research product exploring contemporary topics in Homeland Security Studies of relevance to students? professional practice. The research product will reflect scholarship standards making it suitable for future presentation at a professional Homeland Security conference, symposium, or workshop. Credit 3
Prerequisite: SCST 5396.

SCST 6370. Internship in Security Studies. 3 Hours.

This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to synthesize theory and practice. It requires a placement of a minimum of three months at 40 hours per week in an approved criminal justice, critical infrastructure, or private security setting.
Prerequisite: Consent of the Department Chair or Internship Director.

SCST 6394. Special Topics in Sec Stud. 3 Hours.

This course offers students the opportunities for structured coursework on emergent issues or other topics for which courses do not exist in the course catalog.

SCST 6398. Thesis Practicum. 3 Hours.

This course encompasses an overview of research strategies; principles of research writing; and procedures for initiating, executing and completing a thesis. The course culminates in the preparation and approval of a prospectus.
Prerequisite: 12 semester credit hours of graduate work.