Homeland Security Policy (HSP) Graduate Certificate
The Center for Public Administration and Policy offers the Homeland Security Policy (HSP) Graduate Certificate focusing on domestic security and emergency management issues. Taught by a mix of scholars and practitioners, the certificate addresses issues of homeland security strategy, policy design and implementation, planning, operations, and management across and among governmental and private-sector levels and networks. Designed for both working professionals and current graduate students, the HSP Graduate Certificate is a flexible program that positions you as a leader from day one.
The VT HSP Certificate Advantage
Gain comprehensive exposure to the entire lifecycle of emergency and hazard management—spanning prevention, mitigation, interagency response, and long-term recovery.
Learn from leading public administration scholars alongside seasoned practitioners with experience across federal defense, intelligence, emergency management, and state/local governance.
Anchor your studies at the Virginia Tech Research Center in Arlington, directly adjacent to federal agencies, national security think tanks, defense consultancies, and regional emergency management authorities.
Learn from Experts in the Field
Dr. Patrick Roberts
- Faculty Advisor for HSP Graduate Certificate
- Professor in CPAP at VT SPIA
High-level federal policy advisor to Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and the U.S. State Department
Dr. Patrick S. Roberts is Professor in the Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech's School of Public and International Affairs. His research and teaching focus on homeland security, emergency and crisis governance, public management, and innovation and artificial intelligence in the public sector.
He is the author of Disasters and the American State (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and his articles have appeared in Public Administration Review, American Review of Public Administration, Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, Government Information Quarterly, Journal of the American Planning Association, Journal of Public Policy, Political Science Quarterly, and Disasters, among other outlets. His current research examines how public servants can maintain autonomy and competence in an age of thinking machines.
Roberts also works in practice. As a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow, he was senior foreign policy advisor in the State Department's Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. He has been principal or co-principal investigator on more than $1.3 million in grants, and he comments regularly in outlets including NPR and the Washington Post.
Dr. Joshua Sinai
- Developed specialized counterterrorism curricula at VT's Center for Technology, Security, and Policy
- 30+ years, including roles at DHS, the Library of Congress, the FBI’s Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force, and a White House OSTP working group
Dr. Joshua Sinai has more than 30 years' experience in homeland security and counterterrorism, specializing in countermeasures against terrorism, active shooters, and insider threats. At the US Department of Homeland Security, he served as a rotating watch officer for the Science & Technology Directorate at the National Operations Center, then as an S&T project manager from 2004 to March 2005 on the social and behavioral components of terrorism. He represented the department at a White House OSTP interagency working group on the social sciences' contribution to counterterrorism. He has also been a senior intelligence analyst at the Library of Congress and a contractor supporting DoD, DHS, and the FBI's Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force, and previously served as associate professor/research at Virginia Tech's Center for Technology, Security, and Policy in Arlington, developing a new educational program on terrorism and counterterrorism studies. In Fall 2025, while Dr. Patrick Roberts was on sabbatical, he guest-taught the Master's level "Homeland Security and Counterterrorism" course. He has published more than 100 articles and book reviews in the field and writes the "Counterterrorism & Homeland Security Bookshelf" review column for the quarterly "The Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International." His Active Shooter: A Handbook on Prevention was published by ASIS International as a second edition in 2016 and is currently being updated for its third edition. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.
Dr. Jeffrey Glick
- 25 years in Emergency Mangement at FEMA
- High-level federal policy advisor in the White House & DHS
Senior Policy Advisor at VT SPIA
Until his retirement in the summer of 2019, Dr. Glick was a Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications in the Department of Homeland Security. He was responsible for review of federal cybersecurity preparedness and response capabilities in regards to major cyber events or possible attacks in coordination with the private sector.
Previously, he directed communication technology experts across the nation developing and strengthening emergency communications at the federal, state, local, tribal and territorial governmental levels, and with non-governmental organizations and the private sector. He also worked as a Senior Policy Advisor for Emergency Programs in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House and in DHS, where he led an office responsible for coordinating communications response during Presidentially declared disasters with federal agencies and the private sector. Dr. Glick worked for 25 years at the Federal Emergency Management Agency developing and directing a wide range of emergency management programs and has directly responded to a wide variety of disasters, technological and terrorism events.
Education
- George Washington University - Ph.D., Engineering
- Industrial College of the Armed Forces - M.S., Science, Technology & Security
- University of Chicago - M.A., Public Administration
Monthly Information Sessions
Learn more about the homeland security program at our monthly CPAP info sessions on Zoom. Sign up for an information session here.
Alumni Spotlight
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Dennis Bahena , bioSupervisory Information Technology (IT) Program Manager for the Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM), U.S. Department of Homeland Security
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Lauren Failla , bioManagement and Program Analyst, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
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Luke Hendrixson , bioStaff Sargeant at Arms Protective Services, U.S. Senate
Explore the Curriculum
Course Modality: Hybrid
Course are offered in both an in-person and online format:
- Zoom/Virtual: Blacksburg, Arlington, and Virtual Students
- In-Person: Arlington (National Capital Region)
The certificate serves either as a stand-alone credential of advanced educational achievement for non-degree students or as a supplement to a master’s or doctoral degree. Students are required to take 12 credit hours of graduate level coursework.
Taking four homeland security courses will introduce students to the complexity and diversity of the homeland security environment. This includes:
- analyzing threats from terrorism, cyberattacks, and infectious disease, and the importance of critical infrastructures;
- considering questions of natural hazard (disaster) mitigation, preparedness, and resilience;
- and investigating response and recovery strategies and outcomes.
Each course is offered at least every third semester:
- PAPA 6264: Advanced Topics in Policy Systems Management (Prevention & Preparedness), when the topic focuses on homeland security
This course asks why countries and localities that have experienced major disasters remain underprepared, and how national and homeland security policies and operations can be integrated across federal, state, and local levels to build management systems that function in complex environments. Students undertake advanced study of information sharing, critical infrastructure protection, law enforcement, transportation and border security, and disaster prevention and mitigation policy.
PAPA 5354: Homeland Security Response and Recovery
This course examines how communities and societies respond to and recover from disasters in the United States and abroad, asking why some are better prepared than others and why some rebound quickly while others take years or never fully recover. Students engage core concepts including incident command, sensemaking, resilience, social vulnerability, and social capital. Through comparative analysis of actual disaster events, students assess how governance, coordination, communication, organizational capacity, and resources shape outcomes, and evaluate the roles and limitations of public, nonprofit, private, and international actors.
Students will select two courses (offered at variable times) from the following list:
- SPIA 5124: Decision Making, Reflective Practice, and Engagement in STEM-H Domains
- UAP 5214: Topics in Natural Resources Hazard Planning (3 credits)
- PAPA 5254: Homeland Security and the Terrorist Threat
- PAPA/STS 6664: Advanced Topics in Science and Technology: Complexity, Emerging Policy, Doctrine, and Reality
- PAPA 6254: Advanced Topics in Homeland Security Policy: Critical Infrastructure Protection and Resiliency
- GIA 5514/PSCI: Global Security
- PAPA 5904: Project and Report
- PAPA 5974: Independent Study
- PAPA 6254: Advanced Topics in Public Policy
- PAPA 6214: Public Policy Processes and Analytic Approaches
- PAPA/STS 6664: Advanced Topics in Science and Technology Policy
- TS 6664: Advanced Topics in Science and Technology Policy
Eligibility & How to Apply
The certificate is open to non-degree students (through the Commonwealth Campus program) as well as degree-seeking graduate students across Virginia Tech. Anyone wishing to apply for admission to the certificate program should use the Virginia Tech Graduate School’s application form or contact graduate student coordinator Elia Amegashie at elia@vt.edu or Certificate Faculty Advisor Dr. Patrick Roberts at robertsp@vt.edu.
Typically, one certificate core course is offered per semester. Students often complete the certificate while completing their degree requirements. MPA students may use the certificate as their concentration and reflect upon the certificate and homeland security issues in their portfolio or internship. Ph.D. students may use the certificate as a foundation for dissertation research in homeland security policy and management.
Please reach out to Faika Lore, faikalore@vt.edu, for any questions or comments. To take next steps or to receive updates on program developments, please fill out the form below: