I know that there are more than three FFN members who have a college degree or want one

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Permalink Reply by O'Kitty on September 12, 2008 at 4:56pm

Hi Ben.
I'm not sure what exactly was the intent of the group's creator.
Is he referring to firefighters who are college educated with emergency services degrees or any degree?
I don't have a degree, but I do have an RN diploma, which is basically the same as having an associate degree in nursing, except it is obtained through a hospital based nursing school.
I had to attend a university to get my prerequisites for the program.
After obtaining my diploma, I took my boards. I hold a valid RN license in two states.

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Permalink Reply by Capt 723 on September 12, 2008 at 5:04pm

Okay, I'll bite. I too am not sure what the intent was; I have BA - Accounting and am a CPA. Not too long ago I pondered a Masters or even a second BA - Secondary Education. I pondered long enough to talk myself out of it.

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Permalink Reply by Peter Lupkowski on November 12, 2008 at 4:13pm

And I thought that I was the only number cruncher in the bunch! BS in Accounting, and Masters in Health Care Admin have pulled me into the EMS side more than I originally wanted, but we're fire based and it's all good.
I am constantly amazed by the greeting I get when I speak at any gathering: "you're a fireman and you have a Masters?" I always hope that I use my brain much more than my brawn.
Stay Safe

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on September 12, 2008 at 5:18pm

Kitty, I'm not sure about the exact rules - if there are any, but my take is that if you have education that exceeds a high school diploma or a GED, then you're "college educated".

My wife is a R.N. with an Associate's of Applied Science through a junior college. That translates pretty equally to a R.N. that recieved the same education through a diploma program, in my book anyway.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on September 12, 2008 at 5:20pm

Cap,

I didn't talk myself out of grad school and look where it got me...off of the street and into an office where I have lots more stress, less physical danger, and way less fun.

Some days I wonder if it was worth it.
The ones when it hurts just to get out of bed, I'm convinced I made the right decision.

Ambivalence is a wonderful sport if you like playing it...LOL.

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Permalink Reply by Capt 723 on September 12, 2008 at 5:22pm

I was between jobs at the time and really thought about a career change. There were some extenuating circumstances that made me change my mind.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Brierton on September 21, 2008 at 4:07pm

I was just wandering through and I came across this group. Do I have a degree? Not yet. It's in progress but with limited funding I can only take one or two courses a year. I do have a certificate in Public Fire Protection from the University of Maryland. I have a ways to go but maybe I'll get lucky and be able to finish it before I get too old.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on September 21, 2008 at 10:03pm

Bill,

Good luck, and let us know if we can help.
Look up the Degrees at a Distance program from the National Fire Academy if you're not already in this program. I believe that U of M is the Mid-Atlantic degree institution for this program.

Ben

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Permalink Reply by Andrew M.D. on September 26, 2008 at 10:44pm

Well, Apparently the creator of this group, me, has been asleep at the wheel. One. There are no rules. My main question when I created this group was to findout how many fire service/emergency service personnel have college degrees (Be it A.A. or B.S. or B.A. or plus)? With finding out if they had degrees, I was hoping to start discussing on the pros/cons of that degree, be it fire scienced based non-fire scienced based. The cost? Was there a benefit for achieving this degree? The location? Local or distanced based? I, myself, have a degree from Eastern Kentucky University (BS) in Fire and Safety Engineering Technology with a concentration in Fire, Arson, and Explosion Investigation. As of last year, EKU has a BS in Fire Admin online as well as a Master's.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew M.D. on September 26, 2008 at 10:48pm

and Mr. Waller, thank you for speaking the obvious. I should have posted when I created the group. Oh, and you have more brass then me. :-D

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on September 26, 2008 at 11:47pm

The clanking when I walk isn't my spine of steel, yanno. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on September 26, 2008 at 11:47pm

My department usually hires two or three summer interns from college fire science programs. We had two from EKU and one from New Haven this summer. One of the EKU interns worked for me and did an outstanding job on a big training project, a couple of smaller training projects, and a few other things. He got to go to several fires and a bunch of EMS calls as well.

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