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2/22/2012
EGSI: Emerging Global Security Issues Fellowship Program
Overview
As part of START's mission to ensure the successful transition of students from their undergraduate experiences to professional positions in the homeland security science and technology arena (HS-STEM), the center has recently developed a two-year program called EGSI: Emerging Global Security Issues Fellowship Program. This program will provide tuition and stipends to six high-achieving undergraduates interested in social science research, terrorist, and homeland security for their final two years in a University of Maryland bachelor's degree program.
Student Learning Outcomes:
The EGSI Fellowship Program, is a comprehensive, two-year program designed for six undergraduate students at the University of Maryland. Students will enter the program at the beginning of their junior years, and their program experiences will center upon a four-semester, intensive, research-training course designed to introduce them to social science research methods on terrorism and counterterrorism and to allow them to develop robust area studies and conflict-specific expertise in one of three regional specialties, chosen because of the strategic threat of terrorist activity in the area: Pakistan; Somalia and Yemen; and the Caucasus.
As part of the program students will receive:
- A traditional classroom learning component, in which students will enroll in 6 credits of coursework on terrorism, 6 credits of coursework in an appropriate language and 6 credits of quantitative research methods courses.
- An experiential learning component, in which students will work on two academic research projects relating to one of the regions listed above and will participate in an internship at START.
- An integration of traditional classroom learning and experiential learning in a practicum focusing on their professional development and analysis of contemporary problems in homeland security.
Participant Benefits and Requirements:
Each selected student for the program will receive:
- In-state tuition and mandatory fees for two academic years (four semesters).
- Salary for a 10-week summer research internship at a START-affiliated campus other than UMD;
- Support to attend the 2012 DHS Career Pathways Conference and 2012 and 2013 DHS University Summits;
- Support to attend the 2012 and 2013 START Annual Meetings; and
- Support to attend the EGSI Capstone Conference (to be discussed in more detail below).
In return for the generous support that EGSI students will receive, they will be required to participate in START programming designed to best prepare them for successful transitions to positions in the HS-STEM arena following graduation.
Year 1: 2012-2013
- Completion of two three credit courses, "Terrorism and Emerging Global Security Issues, Parts 1 and 2"
- Students will register for one three credit course in the Fall and one in the Spring
- The Fall course will be formatted as a weekly seminar during which students will focus on three regions identified as emerging global security problems with discussion of readings each week: Pakistan; Yemen and Somalia; and the Caucasus
- During the spring course, the students will focus on one of these regions while coding terrorist attacks in the region for the Global Terrorism Database. At the conclusion of the practicum course each student will give a presentation summarizing their findings and aspects of security issues relating to the above regions.
- Students will register for one three credit course in the Fall and one in the Spring
- Completion of one three-credit course related to terrorism studies
- Courses will be drawn from departments throughout UMD, with special emphasis on courses offered by START faculty members.
- Completion of two three-credit language courses
- Students focusing on Pakistan will study Urdu; students focusing on Somalia and Yemen will study Arabic; and students focusing on the Caucasus will study Russian.
- Attendance and participation at 2012 START Annual Meeting
- Students will network with other START researchers and attend faculty research presentations on a variety of topics related to the study of terrorism.
- Attendance and participation at 2012 DHS Career Pathways Conference and 2012 DHS University Summit
- Students will apply to present their research-in-progress in the University Summit’s poster session.
- Participation in two half-day Career Exploration Days
- Students will network with and shadow government employees and contractors working with a wide array of government activities in order to increase their exposure to the roles and working environments within the homeland security enterprise.
- Participation in suite of START professional development activities
- Students will participate in START Career Profile Sessions, a speaker series in which individuals from the homeland security community discuss their professional biographies and the skills necessary for their work
- Students also participate in START Research Roundtable Series, in which START faculty and students present their research-in-progress Summer 2013.
- Completion of a 10-week, full-time, summer research internship on a START-funded project at a non-University of Maryland location
- START will leverage its robust network of partner institutions to connect students with external projects that will broaden their exposure to research within the HSE and that will enable them continue to develop their area studies expertise.
Year 2: 2013-2014
- Completion of two three-credit courses, “Terrorism and Emerging Global Security Issues, Parts 3 and 4”
- Students will register for one three credit course in the Fall and one three credit course in the Spring.
- The Fall course will be formatted as a weekly seminar during which students will focus on one of the three regions studied over the previous year, allowing them to develop expertise on Pakistan; Yemen and Somalia; or the Caucasus
- During the spring course, the students will focus on one of these regions while coding terrorist attacks in the region for the Global Terrorism Database. At the conclusion of the practicum course each student will give a presentation summarizing their findings and aspects of security issues relating to the above regions.
- Students will register for one three credit course in the Fall and one three credit course in the Spring.
- Completion of one three-credit course on terrorism studies.
- Attendance and participation at 2013 START Annual Meeting
- In addition to the level of participation in year 1, students will present a poster on their 2013-2014 research.
- Attendance and participation at 2014 DHS University Summit
- Participation in two half-day Career Exploration Days
- Participation in suite of START professional development activities
- Attendance and participation in Capstone Conference
- Students will participate in a one-day Capstone Conference at the end of the fellowship term, to be held in May 2014
- Students will deliver briefings on their year-long research projects to both START faculty members and to homeland security and defense practitioners who will provide extensive feedback on the students’ work
- Conference will end with networking session for students with the faculty members and practitioners
Post-Graduation
- Completion of one-year “service commitment” to work in HSE after successful graduation from UMD.
UTAT Application Process
Eligibility and Application Process
To be eligible to apply for the program, students must demonstrate the following:
- Will be entering their junior year in Fall 2012 (with intentions to be enrolled at Maryland full-time until graduation in Spring 2014).
- Have and maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher, averaged over the student's full undergraduate career.
- Be pursuing a major in a priority HS-STEM area.
- Successful completion of social, behavioral, or economic science coursework related to the study of terrorism.
- Willingness and ability to complete all of the EGSI requirements presented above, including a commitment to one year of professional employment at a HS-STEM venue following graduation; and
- U.S. citizenship.
Students who meet these eligibility criteria are invited to submit a written application to be considered for the UTAT program – applications must include the following (incomplete applications will not be considered):
- Three copies of the application form and essays – click here for the application form.
- Three copies of your unofficial transcript.
- Three copies of your resume, which should present your experiences relevant to homeland security.
- Submit two letters of recommendation, one of which must be from a faculty member from the University of Maryland.
All application materials must be submitted by 5 PM Friday March 9 2012.
