Just weeks after announcing the development of a Homeland Security in Public Health Preparedness degree, two new similar graduate certificates will soon be available, officials announced yesterday.

The two 15-credit online certificates, Disaster Readiness and Bioterrorism Preparedness, have been created as a result of current threats to national security. "All you have to do is look at the challenges of the 9/11 attacks, the tsunami in Southeast Asia and the recent hurricanes to know there are many things to learn about disasters and bioterrorism attacks," Program Chair Dr. Robert Cherry said.

Associate Vice President for Outreach Gary Miller said the certificate programs were created to reinforce the foundation of adult students who already have experience with homeland security.

"It gives adult learners, who may not be immediately able to get a degree, the ability to accomplish a credential to get more skills for their job," Miller said.

The certificate program, which will be offered through the College of Medicine, will teach students to challenge the reactions of such events.

"It is not just enhancing their knowledge, but teaching them to think critically of existing models of response," said Cherry, who also is a medical director of Penn State Shock Trauma Center.

He added that the response to Hurricane Katrina was a recent example of an unprepared disaster response since emergency responders not only had to react to the actual hurricane, but also faced the ensuing flooding and societal unrest. "Experience is not the way [to discover shortcomings]; we need to learn to anticipate problems so we can react effectively," Cherry said.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said the new certificates were a logical next step, with the recent announcement of the homeland security degree. "The country has come under a threat in recent years that has changed the security of our nation," he said. "It's natural for Penn State to be involved because we have leading knowledge in research in a broad range of fields."

He added that the university holds expertise in long-distance education, which is more than a century old.

Required classes for the Disaster Readiness certificate include Geosciences 402Y (Natural Disasters), Homeland Security 515 (Disaster Psychology) and Homeland Security 530 (Critical Infrastructure Protection of Health Care Delivery Systems).

Required classes for the Bioterrorism Preparedness certificate include Homeland Security 520 (Agricultural Biosecurity: Protecting a Key Infrastructure), Homeland Security 527 (Public Health Evaluation of Disasters and Bioterrorism) and Homeland Security 530.

The two certificate programs, which have been in the works since May 2003, will be available beginning in the spring.

"In such a short period of time, there has been a strong response," Cherry said, adding that there are already 60 applicants to the entire homeland security program.

Although other programs have been criticized over the use of online courses for a degree, Cherry said there are various formats for effective education. "It doesn't mean it's a substitute for hands-on, but many of the students already participate in disaster drills [through their daily jobs]," Cherry said.

He added that he is "quite amazed" with the number of opportunities available for interaction, including student/professor chats, group projects and critiques.

Miller said the online courses provide a more flexible way for adult students to gain valuable credentials.