Certificate of Achievement: Chief Fire Officer

Fire protection is a highly specialized professional field, requiring extensive knowledge and use of scientific principles. The Chief Fire Officer Certificate of Achievement option teaches successful application of the fundamental principles of fire protection including suppression of fires, rescue, emergency medical services, hazardous materials mitigation, disaster response/recovery, community risk reduction strategies, pre-planning for fire protection, and long-term community preparedness. Designed for the aspiring chief fire officer, this program provides managerial and leadership knowledge for the individual charged with supervising a battalion. While units in the program are transferable to many institutions, students should consult a counselor for information. While units in the program are transferable to many institutions, students should consult a counselor for information.

Career Opportunities

Career opportunities include promotional advancement into fire service administration for members currently employed in the profession. This certificate prepares company level supervisors (lieutenant and captain) for chief officer (battalion chief or higher) positions in fire service organizations.

This certificate will take one to two semesters for student to complete. We anticipate 30 students will complete his certificate per year. 

The Chief FireOfficer Certificate of Achievement (COA) is a Career Technical Education (CTE)program that prepares company level supervisors (lieutenant and captain) for chief officer (battalion chief or higher) positions in fire service organizations.

 

This program follows an industry specific curriculum outlined in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1021 standard and course plans developed by California State Fire Training (SFT). The curriculum provides a strong foundation in leadership; communications; personal and professional development; working in the community; intergovernmental relations; human resources; legal issues; strategic planning; emergency management; code enforcement and public education; data analysis; and budget/finance issues.

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

 Describe the roles and responsibilities of a chief officer

Describe emerging issues in today’s fire and EMS agencies.

Describe effective managerial and leadership principles for the chief fire officer.

 

 

Course #	Title	Units	Sequence
Major Core Courses
FISCI 236	Human Resource Management for Chief Fire Officers	1.5	Semester 1
FISCI 237	Budget and Fiscal Responsibilities for Chief Fire Officers	1	Semester 1
FISCI 238	General Administrative Functions for Chief Fire Officers	1.5	Semester 2
FISCI 239	Emergency Service Delivery Functions for Chief Fire Officers	1.5	Semester 2
Major Elective Courses
	Select five courses for 15-16 units from the following:
COMM 3	Introduction to Human Communication	3	Semester 1
COMM 45	Public Speaking	3	Semester 1
COMM 4	The Dynamics of Group Discussion	3	Semester 2
CIS 40	Database Management	3	Semester 2
CIS 42	Spreadsheet Application	3	Semester 2
BUS 52	Psychology and Human Relations	3	Semester 2
BUS 53	Personnel Management	3	Semester 2
Math 13	Introduction to Statistics	4	Semester 1
	TOTAL UNITS	20.5-21.5

To qualify for the Chief Fire Officer COA, a student must complete all of the required courses, totaling 20.5 – 21.5 units with a GPA of C or higher and with a grade of C or higher in all Fire Science courses. 

This is a stackable certificate that support an AS degree.

German Sierra Chabot/ Las Positas College District Fire program is in support of this curriculum upgrade. City College San Francisco has a program but are too far away to experience any impact. We are part of the Alameda County Fire Training officers group as well as the Fire and EMS RJV. All of our partners are aware that we are upgrading our curriculum.