February 9, 2010

Everett Pierce is the Director of Fire Science at Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts. Everett has been a member of the fire service for 45 years and has an extensive background in fire service education. He has taught at the university level for over 25 years, has held ranks as both Deputy Chief and Fire Chief and has taught as an adjunct instructor at the National Fire Academy for over 25 years. [15 min.]

For more information about the programs offered at Anna Maria College visit annamaria.edu or annamariacollegeonline.com

Talk about the fire science courses offered at Anna Maria College.

Anna Maria has a number of opportunities for those people who are seeking employment in emergency services who are currently employed in emergency services. We’ll start with those seeking employment in emergency services. We have a full-time fire science program that’s offered here in our Paxton campus. That program today has some 100 full-time students from freshmen through seniors, and results in a bachelor’s in fire science degree upon completion. Also, as part of that degree, we encourage all of our students to take the EMT Basic Program, which we have accredited by The Commonwealth of Massachusetts here on site, and that results as registration as an EMT-B. For those people who are currently employed in emergency services, we have a continuing education program that’s offered through Anna Maria College online. This basically picks up from the associate’s degree level, and continues a person’s education through to the bachelor’s degree level. We currently have approximately 100 people in that program, and that is totally online. We do not offer that on grounds. Information concerning that program can be found at annamariacollegeonline.com. In addition, for those who are looking to go beyond the bachelor’s and complete a master’s degree, we have a masters in fire science program that is also online, and we have a number of our fire and emergency services students who are taking a masters in public administration, with a concentration in fire service management. So there are a number of opportunities for those people interested in or currently working in fire and emergency services to continue their education here at Anna Maria College and achieve higher degrees.

Tell us about the prerequisites the college requires for entry into the fire science degree programs.

As far as the full-time program is concerned, that is pretty much on an individual basis. We would encourage anybody who is interested in the full-time program here in Paxton to visit www.annamaria.edu and speak with an admissions counselor. We have students from all over New England and up and down the eastern seaboard who come here for a variety of reasons. We are one of two full-time fire science programs that is offered here in the Northeast. As far as a person matriculating into the bachelor’s program, the student would be required to have a 2.0 GPA to get into the program. As I said, they must have a minimum of 60 credits, an associate’s degree to get into that. There are cases where additional credits can be accepted, but those are strictly governed and those people who may have a bachelor’s degree in another discipline and are seeking a bachelor’s degree in fire science are welcomed also under that program. We have a number of those students who are pursuing their bachelor’s degree in fire science. So I think the best advice here to give those who would be seeking to come into the program, it is individualized and it’s important to talk with an admissions counselor, either at Anna Maria College online or at Anna Maria College.

Do fire service certificates and national fire academy courses fulfill any of the college requirements?

Yes, they do, but this is very limited and that is a result of our regional accreditation through NEASC. We will give credit for firefighter I and firefighter II national certification. And I emphasize national certification, that is either through IFSAC or ProBoard. And we will give credit for EMT-B, EMT-I, and paramedics. Those are the four most common areas where we will allow the student to have non-traditional credits. There is one other area where non-traditional credits are accepted, and that is for any student that has completed the executive fire officer program at the national fire academy. They can receive, I believe, six credits towards their graduate degree for successful completion of the executive fire officer program at the national fire academy.

What makes the fire science degree programs at Anna Maria College unique?

Well, there are a couple of things that make them unique. First of all, Anna Maria College has been offering fire science programs since the early 1990’s. This is a proven program, this is a program that adheres to the FESHE curriculum—Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education Group Curriculum, and we support that initiative, that’s through the United States Fire Administration. Probably more importantly is the fact that we have faculty that are highly experienced, highly skilled, and for the most part, currently employed in positions at the executive or management level of fire service. There are a number of fire chiefs from Massachusetts that currently teach in the program. Through our online programs, we have access to a number of people who are nationally recognized that teach in fire science. So this affords the student a unique opportunity, I believe, to get an outstanding education. I’d also say that from the point of view of the upper level courses, and particularly when you get into the graduate level courses, you put a lot of emphasis on real world, and that is what is expected of fire officer’s or fire chief’s today. And how THEY will have to compete locally with other department heads. We utilize books and curriculum from the National City Managers Association, and other sources outside of the fire service to develop our courses to provide that information that we think is critical to being successful in leading a fire and emergency services organization.

For students who already have an associate’s degree in fire science, what are the next steps in advancing towards a bachelors or master’s degree?

Well, the first thing that they should do is they should go here and talk with an admissions specialist. 60 credits is required to get into that program, an associate’s degree. And there are a lot of different situations where they may be able to give credit for additional credits up to 75. So that is a very popular program, and continues to be a very popular program. The online program is six semesters per academic year, eight week semesters, so it’s an accelerated program, it moves along pretty quickly. So that person coming in with 60 credits, needing 30 courses, they can get that done in 5 years, which is pretty much an accelerated path. So any questions or anything concerning that, if you’ve got your associate’s degree or if you get your associate’s degree and additional credits, or if you have a bachelor’s degree looking for another bachelor’s degree, contact www.annamariacollegeonline.com and talk with an admissions specialist there.

What are some benefits of earning a degree online?

I think there are a number of benefits. We’ve had experience delivering courses, continuing ed courses and graduate courses, both on ground and online. Probably one of the greatest advantages to online courses is the fact that they are asynchronous, which means you don’t have to go online at any specific time. There’s the opportunity for tremendous interaction with people who are outside your regional area. For instance, our online courses currently have people certainly from New England, Massachusetts, but also from California, Texas, Florida, and places other states in the Union. That affords the student an opportunity to see how other places do things. I can just correlate that a bit with my experience at the national fire academy, and I think that most students at the national fire academy would tell you that probably the greatest part of that experience, going to the national fire academy, is talking with people from other states and other departments, hearing how they do things. The online piece affords the student that opportunity. It also affords the student the opportunity to get nationally recognized professors—we’re certainly not bound by any geographic boundaries when it comes to obtaining professors, so we’re able to reach out to those people who are considered experts and are qualified to teach online to teach our courses, so I think that’s another advantage. And another thing too, let’s face the reality—we all live very busy lives, and take time out of our lives to travel to and from class, one day a week or whatever it happens to be, is probably something that a lot of us don’t have the luxury of. So this way here, for a relatively small commitment of time, you can do the courses online. And I want to emphasize, this is certainly not a dilution of the academic experience. Online courses are challenging, they require a certain amount of work each week, and it requires a lot of thought and writing, so it isn’t what you would think of as the old correspondence course. These are meaningful courses with a lot of interaction, debate, and discussion.

For firefighters that have made the decision that going back to college is right for them, what is the next step?

Well, the next step would be, again, would be to contact an admissions counselor at either annamariacollegeonline.com or at Anna Maria College, and discuss what opportunities exist for them. There are a number of things that need to be considered as it pertains to what their academic experience has been, what they have for credentials there, financial aid, if they’re a veteran, veteran’s benefit—a whole number of things. I think it’s very safe to say that one of the things that we’re seeing in the fire service today is we’re seeing a significant swing towards more professionalism. More professionalism through education. I’ve been fortunate enough to work at both the state and national levels on the development of fire officers, professional development, and that is an exploding area where we have to be thinkers today, we have to be more in tune with what our environment is, about where we work, diversity, all of those things, so I think it’s really important that firefighters do consider extending their education, and just never stops, even though you may have your bachelor’s degree or master’s degree, it just doesn’t stop. There are other courses to study, and I happen to have a number of friends who have their PhDs in public administration or sociology, or what have you, but they would, without hesitation, tell you that that has helped them to do their job.

What types of support are available for students enrolled at the college?

We have a number of areas, as I mentioned briefly, we have a financial aid office that’s available to both on ground and online students. Veteran’s benefits, we have a veteran’s benefits specialist here on campus. We have various student support services that are available through our specialized area here dealing with just that issue for students struggling or they need some additional help, that is available both to online and on ground students. The library has resources both available for online and on ground students, so that they can access data, research, and various materials to help support their learning experience.