Education & Distance Learning Enthusiasts- Ready and willing, but are they able?

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Ready and willing, but are they able?

Fire Chief - May 1, 2002

Byline: William Little

The need for an educated work force is no longer debatable in today's fire service. Our leaders now know that it's necessary to create an atmosphere which encourages and rewards the higher education of their firefighters. The problem now lies in ensuring that programs are available for firefighters who wish to participate in college classes and finding ways to motivate those who lack the desire to go to school. Here are eight suggestions to help establish an educational career development plan within your department.

* Responsibility

It's the responsibility of the department to provide the best and brightest firefighters to serve the needs of the citizens. Since the importance of education is now understood within the fire service, it's absolutely necessary for a fire chief to seek ways to increase the educational level of a department's members. The future demands that we upgrade our profession to ensure our members will be able to maintain their edge over new technological leaps and specialized training requirements. It's also our leaders' responsibility to make sure that their departments will have educated candidates ready to assume leadership positions.

* Recruitability

Make certain educational criteria part of the minimal eligibility requirements for employment in the department. Requiring new recruits to have completed college hours before becoming firefighters creates triple benefits for the department.

First, it instantly increases the educational level of the department with new educated members offsetting the non-educated ones. Second, these members are more motivated to continue their education since they already understand the benefits of an education. Finally, these members help to create a climate where education within the department is more accepted and desired.

* Availability

Work with local higher-education institutions or distance-learning institutions and ensure fire-related curricula are available to department members. The old adage, "build it and they will come" is very true within the fire service. The programs must be in place before anyone can take the courses.

Sometimes this requires you to meet with college officials to ensure that that there are fire programs available in your area. With distance-learning programs on the Internet, any size community can have college-level fire programs available for their members. [Ed.: See "E-learning for volunteers," pg. 36.]

* Credibility

Give institutions guidance and support to ensure fire programs meet the educational needs of your department. It's important to both your department and your members that any college programs available in your area truly educate the participants.

Firefighters want to be challenged and want to learn from their education. Programs can be customized for your department to ensure that your members meet certain educational needs when the program is completed. By providing the institution with feedback and advice, the credibility and success of the program can be more easily attained.

* Accessibility

Provide members with opportunities for time off to participate in classes. One of the obstacles facing firefighters who want to go back to school is their shift work. To attend college courses, firefighters must be allowed time off from their work shift on class days. This time off may come in the form of vacation or holiday hours, or it could even be in uncharged time off. Allowing firefighters time off to attend classes without charging them holiday or vacation pay can be a great motivational tool to encourage participation in education.

* Reliability

Promote an atmosphere that shows education is important to your organization by developing incentives for completing educational goals. It's important that members are rewarded for taking college courses.

These rewards can come in many different forms. Giving incentive pay to members who complete their college requirements can encourage participation. Giving free time off to attend classes or paying for the cost of the courses can also promote the desired behavior. Whatever the incentive, it shows that if the members do the work and receive the college credits, they will be rewarded.

* Promotability

Include education in your career development plans. Set minimum levels of education as part of your promotional system. Many experts agree that the ultimate educational level for fire service members is an associate's degree in fire technology for the rank of captain, a bachelor's degree in public administration or management for district chiefs, and a master's degree for upper management and fire chief positions.

You should strive for this ideal scenario by requiring incremental increases in education as a part of a member's eligibility requirements to promote to higher ranks.

* Acceptability

Make education an acceptable and even a necessary part of your department. The acceptance of education begins from the top of the department and works down. It is up to the leaders of the fire service to show in their actions that education is very important to them. Besides ensuring that the members get educated, think about taking some courses yourself. Try to create an atmosphere where educational accomplishments are given an almost heroic status.

The ultimate goal is creating an environment where good educational opportunities are in place and the department members are able and willing to seek them. Until this is a reality the fire service will lack the ability to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Using these eight "ability words" as a guide should help to set your department on the road to higher education.

William "Pat" Little is a 22-year veteran of the Houston (Texas) Fire Department. As assistant chief of professional development, he oversees the training of both the new firefighters and the members in the field. Little holds an associate's degree in fire science technology from San Jacinto College, a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Houston, and master's degrees in fire and emergency management from Oklahoma State University and public administration from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. He also is an adjunct professor at the University of Houston, Downtown Safety and Fire Emergency Technical Department.

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