Fire Officer Degree
Degree options
- Associate Degree
An Associate of Applied Science degree in Fire Officer Training will be awarded upon successful completion of all core, suggested elective, and general education list requirements.
ADVISORS
Eldo K. DeLong, Jr. – Executive Director, Thurston Fire and Rescue Training Consortium, 360- 596-5749
The Fire Officer Degree Program provides professional development to the fire service officer corps, consistent with the educational and administrative needs and expectations of today’s fire service leaders. A cooperative venture between local fire departments and South Puget Sound Community College, this higher education program is designed to develop the professional service careers of technically competent and highly skilled career and volunteer firefighters as future leaders of the fire service. The program focuses on developing the administrative, business, and management aspects of a fire officer’s responsibilities.
Upon completion of the Fire Officer Degree program the student will be awarded an Associate of Applied Science Transfer degree which can be applied to a four-year degree program at participating institutions. International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) certification testing will also be offered to students upon successful completion of each of the five core fire service courses.
A modern day fire officer must be able to manage a wide variety of duties under an even-greater variety of diverse circumstances. A fire officer’s greatest challenge is to make the transition from doing to supervising. Fire officers must learn how to influence others in a means that effectively achieves desired outcomes. To do this effectively, a fire officer must develop the character traits, knowledge base, and skills needed to apply their knowledge in a manner that produces positive results. This means that being an effective fire officer requires that a person be armed with much more than just the knowledge and technical skills gained in the classroom.
The Fire Officer Degree program incorporates a core believe that the theories taught in the classroom must be further developed with practical application. By design, the program incorporates a series of applied learning courses. Each course is intended to coincide with a prerequisite course. The prerequisite course teaches the theory and principles for a grouping of subject areas. The work-based learning course that follows is meant to provide the applied learning component that transforms theory into practice. This provides the practical application or experience, vital to the development of fire officers. A fire officer must not only know what to do; they must also be skilled at how to do it. This requires the acquisition of skills that can not be taught in the classroom; they can only be developed through the actual real life experience gained from doing.
Opportunities
This course of study is specifically designed for the career or volunteer firefighter to enhance and further their career. It is designed to introduce and teach the basic business acumen required of firefighters as they transition into the officer corps. Upon successful completion of this two-year degree the student will be prepared to apply the knowledge they have gained to a four-year degree in Business or Public Administration; broadening the scope of their management development while at the same time preparing them for future assignments as senior officers either in the fire or emergency medical service fields.
What You'll Do Here
The curriculum consists of three major components – general education, core fire service curricula, and work based learning. The general education requirements consist of math, English, history, and comparable electives, such as psychology, introduction to computers, etc. Students are expected to complete these requirements on their own.
Core fire service courses are arranged by the Thurston Fire and Rescue Training Consortium in partnership with the college. They are taught at local fire departments by experienced fire officers using nationally and internationally recognized curricula, approved by the NFPA.
Work based learning (WBL) encompasses three broad areas of essential student learning – mentoring, observation/familiarization, and application – to enhance the professional development of fire officer students. WBL couples the students’ formal training with applied learning for the purpose of developing essential workplace skills through on-the-job experience, preparing them with the skills necessary to obtain applicable IFSAC professional certifications, preparing students with the performance skills needed to successfully compete in a promotional examination process, and preparing students to effectively assume the duties of a commissioned fire officer. It also prepares aspiring fire officers to enter a four-year program of management, in anticipation of future promotions and responsibilities commensurate to their managerial abilities and knowledge.