Department of Human Services & Counseling
Fire and Emergency Response Administration
MSU Denver is one of only a few college and university programs in the country to carry the "Certificate of Recognition" from the National Fire Academy-Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education for every FESHE course offered by the university.
Fire and Emergency Response courses at MSU are part of a nationally standardized curriculum based on the National Fire Academy-Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) Model Curriculum and are intended to meet higher education criteria set forth by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC).
The mission of the MSU Denver Fire and Emergency Response Administration (FERA) degree program is to promote higher education and to enhance the value of the fire and emergency response professions in order to promote a safer community and to reduce the loss of life, property, and the number of physical and emotional casualties from fire and other life-threatening events.
The Fire and Emergency Response Administration Major supports the overall MSU Denver mission in the following ways:
- High-Quality Education: Educational coursework is based on research-based, best practice models to provide Fire and Emergency Response Administration majors with opportunities to broaden their understanding of the fire and emergency services within the information age in order to contribute to their academic and professional development while encouraging lifelong learning and contributing to the diverse communities to which they will belong to and serve. A focus on excellence in learning is one of the key features of this major.
- Successful Careers and Employment Opportunities: This program prepares students for successful entry into a career in the fire and/or emergency services or a related emergency response-related career field. The classroom provides students with an opportunity to network with other students and professionals currently working in the field, and the faculty is comprised of professionals who not only are scholarly in their particular field of study, but also have significant hands-on experience and/or are currently working as firefighters, fire officers, fire investigators, or other first responders.
- Community Engagement in Application of Knowledge: This program engages the community through a number of service-learning opportunities in which students combine their time in the classroom with field experiences in which they interact directly with the community in a variety of settings with a number of our community partners that include fire and emergency awareness exercises, arson investigation, the American Red Cross, the Center for Excellence in Aerial Wildland Firefighting, and many of the metropolitan area fire departments.