Many people are not aware of how significant a role two-year institutions play in training emergency first responders. Community colleges play a key role in training the nation's police officers and other public safety employees, such as firefighters and emergency medical technicians (EMTs). The demand for these programs is high. There is a…

Certificates are nondegree awards for completing an educational program of study after high school. Typically, students finish these programs to prepare for a specific occupation. And they do so in a relatively short period of time: Most certificates take less than a year to complete, and almost all are designed to take less than 2 years. Among…

The apprenticeship movement is reshaping skills, policies, and programs in the United States at a critical moment in our country's history. This reader offers a chorus of voices emanating from different countries and populations, echoing commitment to bright, sustainable workforce futures through a well-crafted approach to this talent development…

Opportunities abound for prospective employees in the protective services. On the surface, it appears that few employers require a college education as a condition of employment at the state or local level. But the reality is that many employers use at least some college as a screening tool for prospective employees. Although the federal…

Community colleges' partnerships with other organizations give students opportunities to gain a realistic understanding of what will be expected of them upon graduation, and they help create a seamless path from college to career. This chapter describes how the Administration of Justice (AJ) Department at East Los Angeles College has partnered…

There was rapid growth of Alabama community colleges in the late 1960s. At the same time, there was rapid growth nationally of fire science associate degree programs. With these concurrent events, one would expect fire department personnel in Alabama to benefit from new community college opportunities in fire science and fire administration.…

This article discusses Monroe Community College's CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), a program designed to help neighborhoods and work sites prepare for effective disaster response through training and planning. The program requires 24 hours of theoretical and hands-on practice in self-help and mutual-aid emergency functions. CERT personnel…

This booklet is comprised of eight courses for fire science which were identified as common-core by a statewide fire science education advisory council composed of experts in the field of fire science education in Arizona. Common-core courses included are (1) Introduction to Fire Protection, (2) Introduction to Fire Prevention, (3) Introduction to…

The possibility of using the vocational/technical instructors of the California Community Colleges as a fire-prevention-education resource was explored. A questionnaire was sent to 99 California community colleges, of which 71 replied. The questionnaire addressed the following questions: (1) Is the topic of equipment or machine-caused fires…

This handbook is intended as a guide for community college administrators in setting up human services programs. (Human services programs refer here to training programs for paraprofessionals involved in helping people.) Data were gathered from 176 two-year colleges regarding the human services curricula offered in 1970-71. In Part I, the survey…

This is a description of the Maryland system which was created to evaluate local fire-rescue education and training needs and capabilities and to assist local authorities with fire-rescue education and training. In the first of four parts, an historical presentation is used to identify and describe in general terms the state fire, rescue, and…