The second graduate became the fire chief of a major city in Arkansas. I remember last year Jack Carrol from George Washington University talking about how his graduate students were getting offers before graduating just because they were enrolled in his programs. I also remember hearing how the program at Oklahoma State University became the University's largest graduate program within about a year's time of being established. The final and most important key to our success is the growing professionalism in the job. Increasingly, we have people who are going into emergency management who are actually emergency managers by degree, education, and life-long interest.
Children often say that about fire fighters and police officers.
If they say that about emergency managers, then I think our work will have been successful. More people in mid-career are returning to college or to EMI to enhance their skills and build their knowledge. That is a tribute to your hard work in this higher education project. In the meantime, we are working at FEMA, with the State emergency management systems. Eric Tolbert of North Carolina and Mike Austin of Arizona, who co-chair the preparedness committee of National Emergency Management Association, are leading the way toward an accreditation process.