Mar 28, 2024  
University Undergraduate Catalog 2017-2018 
    
University Undergraduate Catalog 2017-2018 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Security Studies Certificate Program


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The Security Studies Certificate Program is a campus-wide multi-disciplinary baccalaureate certificate program that is administratively nested within the Department of Political Science and housed in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at North Carolina Central University.  Launched in Fall 2016, the mission of the Security Studies Certificate Program is to prepare students for the Twenty-First Century globalized job market and security environment.  By the same token, the Security Studies Certificate Program dovetails with the new Global Politics Concentration in the Department of Political Science.  The goal is to take a cultural approach in preparing students for an evolving job market.  The Security Studies Certificate Program (SSCP) incorporates five departments at North Carolina Central University (NCCU):  Political Science, Criminal Justice, Environmental, Earth, and Geospatial Sciences, History, Language and Literature.  A student can complete SSCP both while pursuing a degree at NCCU or as a stand-alone certificate program.  With a total of 24 semester credit hours, students should be able to complete all required courses within one academic year for a stand-alone certificate.  In addition to traditional students at NCCU, community college graduates and transfers, “part-way home” students (some college credits, but no degree), veterans, and adult learners will benefit from SSCP.  It will have an inherent appeal for employment opportunity with government agencies, military and diplomatic services, multinational corporations, and non-governmental organizations.  SSCP will ground students in historical and cultural knowledge with special attention to language skills, and augmented with analytical and quantitative skills.  With distinct regional foci SSCP will concentrate on the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, but is open to specialization in other regions of the world.  Students will be expected to complete 6 semester hours of a foreign language beyond the General Education Curriculum requirement.  The foreign language must be related to a regional specialization.  SSCP is particularly interested in students willing to learn “critical language.”  Funding can be found for those willing to embark on that rewarding journey.
 
NCCU is a partner with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and Duke University for a $1.86 million grant (FY2014-FY2018) from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for establishing the Triangle Institute for Security Studies Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence (TISS-IC-CAE) in Intelligence and Security Studies.  For its share NCCU received $246,506 as a sub-award from UNC-CH.  As part of the grant NCCU has committed to developing five new courses and modifying two existing courses.  DIA funding will also open up opportunities for students to visit the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Tennessee) and intelligence agencies (Washington, DC), participate in simulation exercises and summer seminars, attend professional conferences, hear guest speakers, and meet practitioners and recruiters.
 

Admission

Students interested in SSCP fall into two categories:  “Certificate adding” and “Certificate only.”  

“Certificate adding” students:  Those who are already currently enrolled students at NCCU and pursuing a degree.  

“Certificate only” students:  Those who are not currently enrolled students at NCCU, but wishes to pursue SSCP as a stand-alone certificate.  

ALL students must be admitted to the Security Studies Certificate Program (SSCP) in completing the NCCU Undergraduate Application (and using the Certificate option).

https://www2.cfnc.org/exclusive.html#/applicationlogin/NCCU/Undergrad/NCCUUndergradApp

Admission Requirements


  1. Students seeking admission will complete and submit an application to Undergraduate Admissions.  Applications are welcome from any student who falls in one of the following three categories:
    1. Completed the requirements for a first undergraduate degree from any accredited US institution of higher education or an associate degree from a US community college with an overall GPA of 2.75 or higher.
    2. Is in or about to begin his or her senior year of coursework for a degree meeting requirements in any US institution of higher education or an associate degree from a US community college with an overall GPA of 2.75 or higher.
    3. Is an international transfer student who, after a degree/credentials audit to be conducted by the Security Studies program, is found to have appropriate equivalent credentials as noted in (1) or (2) above.

Curriculum Requirements


1. 24 Semester Hours


2. Required Courses:


Students must complete two required courses in Security Studies and one required course in Area Studies listed below.

3. Elective Courses


Note:


For additional information, please visit http://www.nccu.edu/sscp.

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