When Northern Essex Community College listed “Response to Terrorism” as one of its fall course offerings, so many students enrolled that another section of the course had to be added.

Today some 40 NECC students are learning the fundamentals of preparing an organization or community for an act of terrorism in the 21^st century from NECC Criminal Justice Program coordinator Paul Cavan and associate professor Scott Joubert.

“It is an historical overview of terrorism as it relates to what we experience today,” says Cavan.

The focus of the course is to provide an understanding of the tools and methods used to plan for, respond to, and deal with the consequences of a domestic terrorist incident involving nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons of mass destruction.

“We are trying to keep our students current and up-to-date with criminal justice program offerings,” says Cavan, “This subject seemed like a great fit…due to the popularity of the course, a second section was opened.”

NECC will continue to offer this course for the “foreseeable future” says Cavan.

“It was so well received,” he says. “We feel it is filling a need.”

He noted that the course transfers well into UMass Lowell’s criminal justice program which is where 40% of NECC criminal justice students transfer.

While “Response to Terrorism,” is a new elective in the Northern Essex criminal justice program, Joubert says students in other majors are enrolling too.

“It was our goal to have this course be of interest to a wide variety of majors including business management, psychology, sociology, and engineering; we should never forget that many fields are impacted by terrorist incidents and the planning for potential threats that terrorist organizations pose to society,” Joubert says.

Northern Essex offers an associate degree in criminal justice and a certificate in law enforcement.

For additional information contact Cavan at pcavan@necc.mass.edu or 978-738-7551.