The homeland security enterprise (HSE) is facing a significant task in developing a skilled and diverse workforce that can address the complex and evolving threats to national security

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate awarded a 5-year, $1,000,000 Cooperative Agreement to the Dominguez Hills Foundation of California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) under the agency's Scientific Leadership Awards (CFDA 97.062) program. The award will fund CSUDH's Homeland Security Initiative, which aims to:

1. Develop new and update existing homeland security-focused curriculum, offer student scholarships, and provide experiential learning opportunities to recruit and support students towards STEM and homeland security degree completion.

2. Launch 14 interdisciplinary research projects on topics such as cybersecurity, maritime security, supply chain disruption, and disaster management, integrating student researchers and collaborating with the DHS Center of Excellence.

3. Establish workforce development programs including student internships, mentorships, career training, and professional development events to prepare a diverse pool of homeland security professionals, with a focus on the Los Angeles region.

The award leverages CSUDH's status as a Minority Serving Institution to build educational and research capacity to address critical homeland security workforce needs.

To be ready for future challenges, HSE requires a diverse and competent workforce that specializes in areas such as counter terrorism, border security, cybersecurity, supply chain management and disaster management. There is a particular need in the LOS angeles and southern california region, where the border, major ports (long beach and LA) and international airports (LAX) present critical security challenges such as international trade and immigration. The region also has a high likelihood of experiencing natural hazards like wildfire, earthquake, drought, heatwaves, and floods, with vulnerable populations and locations especially susceptible to these disasters. As a minority serving institution (MSI) in the region, csudh can play a critical role in training a qualified, more diverse HS workforce by creating evidence-based career pathways from community colleges to our campus, on to USC and beyond, as well as conducting state-of-the-art research alongside students on innovative solutions to inform regional HSE stakeholders. We propose launching the homeland security initiative at california state university, dominguez hills (csudh) to build our university capacity in interdisciplinary research, education and workforce development for homeland security enterprise (HSE) to serve the LOS angeles region. The initiative has three major goals: 1) recruit and support students towards completing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) or homeland security (HS) related degrees through improved HS-relevant curricula, experiential learning and integrated research 2) build research capacity in HSE topics at csudh through supporting innovative, interdisciplinary research projects and funding development 3) develop a diverse and qualified workforce that is ready for the future HS challenges, especially in the LOS angeles region. The first goal of educational outcomes is achieved through the following objectives: 1) developing 4 new courses for HSE that are designed to the latest pedagogical standards, incorporate experiential learning, and facilitate cultural competency 2) updating 17 existing homeland security-related courses in various degree programs to meet these same standards 3) student recruitment at partnering community colleges 4) awarding 20 DHS SLA scholarships over five years to support student learning 5) hosting 3 series of experiential learning and training programs.for our second goal of build research capacity in HSE, we will launch 1) 14 impactful interdisciplinary research projects, which covers topics including cybersecurity, maritime security, supply chain disruption, system engineering, disaster management, counterterrorism and social media analytics 2) integration of students and faculty in proposed research projects with 30 student RAS 3) research collaboration with DHS COE, USC center for risk and economic analysis of threats and emergencies (create) to support csudh student experiential learning and faculty development 4) incentives for grant development, conference presentations and other capacity building activities. The third goal is workforce development with a focus in the LA region. We will develop: 1) student internship program with regional partners (total of 15 internship stipends) 2) mentorship program for HSE working projects to provide career guidance to csudh and lasc students 3) career training and apprenticeship opportunities with south BAY workforce investment board (sbwib) in areas such as cyber security 4) professional development and networking events held regularly on campus.