Technical and Professional Communication Students Write for Los Angeles Fire Department

CSULB students Jaimee Beck and Sharon Clark are both students in the English Department’s Technical and Professional Communication Certificate Program (TPC). With an emphasis in writing ranging from business, science, technology, government, public service, and freelance, the TPC program offers students the necessary skills and techniques for a career in professional writing.

In applying the knowledge gained from their TPC courses, Jaimee and Sharon currently intern for the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) in the Homeland Security, Grants Section for Battalion Chief of the LAFD, Corinne Tipton. The two have been working to write and develop effective courses for the LAFD’s Public Safety Dive Program.

As the Public Safety Dive program is an integral service provided for citizens, the LAFD recognized an important need to further develop the certification and training of Public Safety Diver’s. Following the LAFD’s decision to develop a curriculum for the program through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Jaimee and Sharon’s internship work has been instrumental to developing these courses.

“The interns have been incredible,” says Corinne Tipton. “They bring to the table the necessary professional training and experience in writing that we need to complete the development of these courses.”

The Dive courses will undergo an extensive approval process, from the State level to the Federal level, and will be used throughout the U.S. According to Tipton, this means the courses must be highly organized and professional and follow educational and instructional requirements for Firefighter training.

“The interns are making sure we meet those goals,” Tipton confirms.

Tipton expresses her appreciation of the students’ support, and she looks forward to continuing this internship opportunity for CSULB students in the future.

Over the course of the Certificate program, TPC students have obtained internships and employment with corporations and agencies throughout southern California. In the last 10 years, the TPC program has more than doubled and this Spring 2014 semester marks the largest group completing the Certificate since its inception.