HOMELAND SECURITY(CJ-439)

(Section 730)

COURSE SYLLABUS

Spring Semester 2010

Faculty Contact Information:

Phillip D. Schertzing, Ph.D. (lead instructor)

MSUSchool of Criminal Justice

Room 430 Baker Hall

East Lansing, MI48824

(517) 432-3156 (MSU office)

(primary e-mail address)

(alternate e-mail address)

Mustafa Bulent Halicioglu (Ph.D. candidate/TA)

(Turkish National Police captain)

MSUSchool of Criminal Justice

Room 139 Baker Hall

East Lansing, MI48824

(517) 353-5150 (MSU office)

(517) 272-9115 (cell phone)

(primary e-mail address)

(alternate e-mail address)

The faculty will log into ANGEL and check our e-mail on a regular basis. Please use the e-mail feature in ANGEL as the primary means of contacting us. Unless you want the message to go to a specific faculty member, please click on “all course faculty” when you compose and send an e-mail message in ANGEL. That way, any of us can read and respond to the message and copy each other so that we know someone has responded.

We have adjusted our settings so that all e-mail messages sent through ANGEL will be forwarded to our regular MSU accounts. You should also adjust your personal settings under the Preferences/ System Settings links in ANGEL so that e-mail messages generated in ANGEL will be forwarded to your preferred e-mail account (e.g., MSU Mail, Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, Earthlink, AOL, etc.).

Office Hours:

I am fully committed to being available to all my students. For those of you on campus, my regular office hours in Room 430 Baker Hall will be Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:00-3:00 p.m. However, because I am often required to attend meetings or travel out of state, I strongly recommend that you schedule appointments to meet with me to avoid wasting trips to Baker Hall, only to find that I’m not in.

You are also always free to call me at my posted MSU office number if the matter is something you prefer to discuss by phone. I have voicemail, and usually check for messages every weekday. As a general rule, I will try to respond to e-mail or voicemail messages by the next day. I do not use a cell phone on a regular basis.

I am also available for personal meetings on campus by appointment at the MSU Library, Union, International Center or other appropriate location if that would be more convenient for those of you who reside at or near the MSU campus or in the local area. This is not intended to slight those who live too far away to visit MSU in person. Because all coursework and communication is conducted online, there should be no relative advantages or disadvantages for local or distance-learning students, so there is no reason to deny local students this access.

Required Textbook:

One textbook isrequired for this course:

Bullock, J.A. and Haddow, G.D. (2009). Introduction to Homeland

Security: Principles of All-Hazards Response,3rd ed. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann (Elsevier).

This is the second semester in which this 3rd edition will be required for this course, so used copies should be available. Copies of the older 2nd edition are also available, but even though chapter organization is the same, page numbers and some content are different. One copy of the required textbook will be available at the Reserved Reading Desk on 2 West of the Main MSU Library on 2-hour check-out for the convenience of on-campus students who can’t find or afford the textbook.

A variety of other electronic resources will be used to supplement these texts, and will be provided through ANGEL at no additional cost to you. These include PowerPoint presentations, and links to relevant URLs, electronic libraries or databases, articles, case studies, and official government documents posted in ANGEL.

Course Description:

This course provides both traditional students and current practitioners with a broad, up-to-date, multidisciplinary overview of homeland security as a contemporary subject of intense interest and inquiry, and as an emerging academic discipline. The course synthesizes a variety of sources, themes, methodologies and online learning activities, including presentations, assigned readings, Internet research, assessments, informal class opinion polls, threaded discussion forums, and case studies. Issues of public policy, public administration, law, criminal justice and the social/behavioral impacts of terrorism and homeland security will be considered throughout each module.

Homeland Security (CJ-439)is one of three core courses in the graduate-level, online Certificate in Homeland Security Studies offered by the MSU School of Criminal Justice. The other two courses areIssues in Terrorism (CJ-838)and Public-Private Sector Partnerships in Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security (CJ-491/809). Enrollment is open to both graduate and upper-division undergraduate students, including current MSU students and Lifelong Education students not currently admitted into any degree-granting program at MSU. However, eligibility for the certificate is limited to graduate and Lifelong education students. The application for the certificate is accessible at

Course Goals and Objectives:

This course will provide both traditional students and professionals currently working in the field with a comprehensive overview of, and an opportunity to evaluate and critique, the major themes and issues considered essential for understanding homeland security.

You should derive a “big picture” view through exposure to multi-disciplinary perspectives on a variety of topics through access to primary sources and recent scholarship in this field. Even students with advanced degrees or extensive professional experience in some specialized field related to homeland security should benefit from exposure to a generalist perspective. Students will also learn from each other through sharing experiences and dialogue in online discussion forums. Consistent with adult learning principles and also with MSU’s land grant mission and practitioner-oriented focus on outreach and applied research, students with “real world” professional experience are strongly encouraged to draw from their own experience and apply course concepts and research to their own jobs and organizations.

Each of the ten sequential modules will include specific objectives. However, following are the major topics or issues to be covered:

  • The definition and historical evolution of homeland security from its origins in civil defense and emergency management.
  • The modern threat of international and domestic terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
  • Fundamental principles of emergency management and homeland security for all man-made and natural hazards and disasters, including terrorism and WMD.
  • The national homeland security system, including federal, tribal, state and local agencies, organizations and programs within the broader context of the American system of federalism and separation of powers.
  • The role of the military and National Guard in homeland defense and security, including military support to civil authorities.
  • The role of public health, medical response and environmental protection in homeland security.
  • Legal, legislative and criminal justice issues in homeland security, including the USA PATRIOT Act and the challenges of balancing security with constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties.
  • The challenges of harnessing the intelligence and law enforcement communities and functions for counterterrorism.
  • Special topics such as cyber-terrorism and cyber-security; food safety and security; supply chain and packaging security; critical infrastructure protection; and emergency management/homeland security program standards.
  • The importance of public-private sector partnerships in emergency preparedness and homeland security.
  • Science, technology and research issues in homeland security.
  • Public policy and public administration issues or perspectives.
  • Future or emerging trends in homeland security.

Course Schedule, Format and Methodology:

The course will consist of 15 weeks of instruction and coursework for the online equivalent of 45 total contact hours, plus one week for final coursework to be submitted. It is expected that you will spend a reasonable number of additional hours reading, conducting research, participating in online course activities, and typing exams or papers.A good estimate would be 2-3 additional hours for every contact hour, for an average combined total of 9-12 hours per week.

Recognizing that you all have other important obligations and demands on your time, every effort will be make the workload challenging, but not unreasonable or overly burdensome.

Following a brief orientation module, there will be 10 successive modules organized among four general units. You will complete these modules according to a progressive schedule, which is outlined in a separate attachment. Each module has its own checklist, introduction, objectives, presentation or resource links, tasks or learning activities. A new module will be activated in ANGEL and completed approximately every 10 days, usually on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays.

Drops and Adds:

The last day to add this course is the end of the first week of classes. The last day to drop this course with a 100 percent refund and no grade reported is Thursday, February 4. The last day to drop this course with no refund and no grade reported is Wednesday, March 3. As a courtesy, I would appreciate a short e-mail from you if you decide to drop the course at some point.

Online Delivery in ANGEL:

The course will be presented entirely online in asynchronous format, meaning there will be no class meetings required on campus and no requirement to log in on specific days or times for live chat rooms or other exercises. We will use MSU’s established ANGEL (A New Global Environment for Learning) course management system as our online platform. I will use ANGEL to maintain an electronic grade book and to generate useful reports such as attendance and tracking.

Technical support for ANGEL is available online or by phone nearly around-the-clock. You may always call the ANGEL Help Desk directly toll free at 1-800-500-1554 (from anywhere in North America), or at the local Lansing-area number of 517-355-2345.

Once you are enrolled in the program with MSU Net ID and PID #s, you will automatically have access to this course in ANGEL at:

If you are new to ANGEL or need an orientation to the current version (ANGEL 7.4), just click on the HELP key on the ANGEL home page (the Question mark icon in the button on the left side of the home page), then on the STUDENTS tab for further guidance.

You will use ANGEL for accessingPowerPoint presentations; linking to URLs and other electronic resources; sending and receiving e-mail messages; participating in discussion forums; posting announcements; submitting case studies; completing online assessments and informal opinion polls; and for submitting final essay exams(for undergraduate students) or research papers (for graduate students) into electronic drop boxes. Most of this content and these online activities will be accessed under the LESSONS tab for this course in ANGEL. Once activated, all content for each module will remain accessible until the end of the semester.

Computer and Technology Requirements:

The ANGEL website provides information on computer and technology requirements, including recommended browsers. Online activities for this course are based on the “least common denominator” of Internet access for students. Advanced features such as video-clips or web-streaming certainly add variety and vitality to delivery of online material, but not all students have T-1 lines, high-speed cable or DSL Internet access, or easy access to computers on campus. Thus, we will generally rely on text sources and avoid hi-tech “bells and whistles” to reduce frustration for those who would be unable to download videos or other sophisticated graphics. Most activities will involve linking to PowerPoint presentations (with the option to listen to corresponding audio presentations in Adobe Presenter), text files, PDF files or Web links that most students should be able to access.

Occasional or temporary computer hardware or software failures, Internet connectivity problems, and quirks or glitches in accessing ANGEL or its features are probably inevitable for everyone at some time during the semester. ANGEL is often “down” for routine maintenance for a couple of hours in the early morning each week. Each student ultimately remains responsible for notifying me of problems with securing reliable access to a computer and the Internet in order to keep up with the online elements of this course.

Printing and Saving Course Documents/URLs:

We recommend that you print a copy of the course syllabus and schedule for reference throughout the course. You are not required or expected to print copies of any of the other electronic documents or Web pages used as resource material in this course, but many people feel more comfortable reading longer documents on paper rather than on a computer screen. It is your personal choice. Remember, if you try to print every document, this will run into potentially hundreds of pages, which may be costly and overtax your printer.

This course and its content will eventually become inaccessible to you after the end of the semester. Many of you will want to save or bookmark various URLs used as resources here as favorites on your own computer, but this is problematic when the link is made through ANGEL. Therefore, I have established each link to an e-resource using a new window so that you will be able to bookmark as favorites any links of special interest for future reference. Remember, the URLs and documents may eventually expire or change, including those on government Web sites.

Course Activities and Grading:

You will be expected to participate in and complete a variety of online activities that reinforce and demonstrate learning in place of the traditional classroom discussions and paper-and-pencil testing normally conducted in on-campus classes. Grading will be based on yourparticipation in ten module discussion forums, and your performance on ten module assessments, one case study, a final essay exam (for undergraduates) or final research paper (for graduate students), and your overall course participation. All these categories or assignments except the module assessments are scored on a subjective—but not arbitrary—basis according to detailed scoring rubrics(i.e., tools with specific criteria for helping instructors make more objective, consistent, qualitative assessments of student work), requirements and expectations. The ten module assessments are objective, multiple-choice quizzes, automatically scored by ANGEL.

Consistent with accepted standards for academic rigor, graduate students will be expected to demonstrate a higher level of critical thinking, theoretical analysis and conceptual skills in their work, and may be assigned different or additional readings or exercises than for undergraduate students.

The following is the breakdown of the basis and weights for grading:

  • Participation in Discussion Forums:(100 points)25%
  • Assessments:(100 points)20%
  • Case Study: (50 points)20%
  • Final Exam or Research Paper:(100 points)25%
  • Overall Course Participation: (25 points)10%

Total: (375 points)100%

Each area will be scored as points or percentages according to the default system in ANGEL. The course Grade Book feature in ANGEL will automatically convert the points to percentages and maintain a running overall average according to the weighting scale described above. You can view your own grades and instructor feedback at any time through the REPORTS tab on the course home page.

The grading scale or range of percentages used for calculating final grades is as follows:

  • 94 -100% = 4.0
  • 88 - 93% = 3.5
  • 82 - 87% = 3.0
  • 76 - 81% = 2.5
  • 70 - 75% = 2.0
  • 65 - 69% = 1.5
  • 60 - 64% = 1.0
  • 00 - 59% = 0.0

This is an accredited course that must meet acceptable academic standards, and credits earned for this course may be applied or transferred toward a degree program at MSU or another academic institution. Therefore, there are no differences in workload, grading standards or expectations for Lifelong Education students versus students enrolled in a degree-granting program at MSU.

Lifelong Education students who already possess a bachelor’s degree will be expected to complete the coursework requirements for graduate students (i.e., a final research paper); while those who have not yet completed a bachelor’s degree should complete the coursework required for undergraduate students (i.e., final essay exam).

Following are more detailed descriptions of the requirements and expectations for each of the five graded categories or assignments:

Participation in Discussion Forums:

A significant opportunity for peer-to-peer learning and critical thinking is provided in the module discussion forums. Each of the ten modules includes a discussion forum in which one or more questions is posed by the faculty to start a threaded discussion.

Depending upon the total enrollment and composition of the class, the class may be divided into two or moresmall groups or teams for the module discussion forums, each facilitated and scored by one of the faculty team. Graduate and Lifelong Education students may be grouped together, and may be assigned different readings and discussion forum questions than undergraduate students in the other groups. The group/team roster will be posted under the LESSONS tab by the first week of the semester, and may be revised or “reshuffled” at mid-term. You will be notified if groups/teams are changed.

Discussion forums for each module and group will be activated within the main folder for each respective module under the LESSONS tab in ANGEL according to the schedule posted in the Course Curriculum and Schedule. The schedule is designed to allow you sufficient time (about a week) to complete the assigned readings and assessment for each module before posting comments in the discussion forum. Considering that each module requires about ten days, in an effort to maintain some consistency, the schedule is designed so that original responses and replies to other students in discussion forums will always be due either on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, depending on the module.

You may earn a maximum of ten points for participation in each of the ten module discussion forums, for a maximum overall total of 100 points for all ten modules combined. Participation in discussion forums comprises 25% of your final overall grade for the course.

Following is a detailed description of the requirements, expectations, and guidelines participation in the module discussion forums: