SRU creates academic department for homeland and corporate security programs

Slippery Rock University has officially launched the Homeland and Corporate Security Studies Department. Degrees programs in homeland security and corporate security were previously housed in the former Criminology and Security Studies Department.

June 14, 2018

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - After two years of offering bachelor's degrees in homeland security and corporate security, Slippery Rock University has officially christened an academic department, Homeland and Corporate Security Studies, to house the programs. Previously, the programs were offered within the Criminology and Security Studies Department, which has been renamed Criminology and Criminal Justice.

"This gives us our own identity," said Susan Lubinski, associate professor of homeland and corporate security studies and chair of the new department. "We now have the ability to market and brand the programs independently. With the growth of the majors, the University determined that it was feasible to have a separate academic department."

   LUBINSKI

More than 100 students were enrolled in the homeland security and corporate security majors during the 2017-18 academic year. Since they were first offered in fall 2016, both programs have exceeded their recruitment goals, including the homeland security program more than quadrupling its target with 78 students. In May, four SRU transfer students were the first to graduate from the program.

"Security is one of the fastest growing industries, generating more than $400 billion in revenue each year in the United States," Lubinski said, noting that the creation of the department will particularly help when her department collaborates with Career Education and Development to attract employers seeking graduates with security degrees. "Whether in the public or private sector, security is a top priority in our society. Security jobs are in demand, especially when you see private security professionals elevated to the executive, or C-suite, level in companies."

SRU was the first the institution in Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education to offer a bachelor's degree in either homeland security or corporate security, the latter of which is particularly rare for on-campus programs, Lubinski said.

SRU students in the security studies program are trained to work in fields such as intelligence, immigration, emergency response, fraud prevention, anti-money laundering and compliance.

The corporate security program has two major concentrations, fraud and organizational security. The department also offers three minors: fraud, homeland security and organizational security. Certificates are also available in those respective fields. The minors, Lubinski said, add value to other SRU majors, such as computing (with a concentration in cybersecurity); resort, recreation and hospitality management; and health care administration and management, because employers in the private sector are putting more of an emphasis on security and fraud detection.

Lubinski, who also serves as the adviser to the Security Studies Club, has expanded student learning opportunities, bringing professionals to campus with a Security Studies Speaker Series, and taking students to tour facilities and meet with professionals in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Washington, D.C.

For more information about SRU's Homeland and Corporate Security Studies Department, click here.

MEDIA CONTACT: Justin Zackal | 724.738.4854 | justin.zackal@sru.edu