Moreno Valley College Showcase Connects 21 High Schools to Public Safety Careers, New Bachelor’s Degree

Students from 21 high schools across the Inland Empire gathered March 12 at Moreno Valley College’s Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, where helicopters, horses, emergency vehicles and specialized teams turned career exploration into a hands-on introduction to public safety.

About 800 students attended the annual Ben Clark Education Center Public Safety Showcase, connecting them with professionals from CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office and American Medical Response while giving them an up-close look at careers in law enforcement, fire service, emergency medical services and emergency management.

But beyond the day’s demonstrations, college leaders said the event also highlighted something bigger: Moreno Valley College’s expanding role as a pipeline into public safety careers, including a forthcoming bachelor’s degree in emergency management that officials say will be transformative for the region.

Dr. Rudy Besikof, president of Moreno Valley College, said the showcase gives students an unusually direct and memorable introduction to the field.

“We’ve got officers on horseback. We’ve got our demonstration jail open for students to walk through, as well as obstacle course opportunities,” Besikof said. “This is about as hands-on as a hands-on outreach event can be.”

He said the energy from students was evident from the moment they arrived.

“I’ve never been to a high school outreach event where students are lining up the way they did,” Besikof said. “Just the vibe has been incredible. Students have been asking me questions, stepping out of line to say hello. I sense a genuine desire to learn as I walk around here.”

One of the most significant developments highlighted during the event was Moreno Valley College’s forthcoming Bachelor of Science in Emergency Management, which officials described as a major step forward for both public safety education and economic opportunity in the Inland Empire.

Dr. Charles Wilhite, associate professor of emergency management, said the degree was designed after college leaders asked public safety employers exactly what they want future workers and leaders to know.

“We went to the people, the employers, and said, ‘What do you want your employees to know?’” Wilhite said. “And that’s how we built the program.”

Wilhite said the program was created to fill a major gap. According to Wilhite, most emergency managers need a bachelor’s degree, yet no college in California has offered that specific bachelor’s degree. Private options can cost between $50,000 and $100,000, while Moreno Valley College’s full four-year program is expected to cost about $8,500 before financial aid.

For the Inland Empire, he said, that affordability could open the door to stable, well-paying careers close to home.

“We need opportunities for people in the Inland Empire to get high paying jobs within the Inland Empire,” Wilhite said. “Emergency management starts at an entry level between $80,000 and $100,000 a year with a bachelor’s degree.”

The degree is designed for students entering emergency management as well as working professionals seeking advancement in fire, law enforcement, Emergency Medical Services and related public safety leadership roles. Wilhite said internships and direct ties to agencies will help students build the relationships needed to enter the field.

Besikof said the new program reflects Moreno Valley College’s broader mission to connect students to meaningful careers, not just short-term employment.

“We are the doorstep to opportunity,” he said.

Andrew Graham, Moreno Valley College’s enrollment service coordinator, said the showcase serves both students already involved in law academies, fire academies, cadet programs and explorer programs, and those encountering public safety careers for the first time.

“What gets me most excited about the showcase is that this is an introduction and an enhancement to what students are already experiencing,” Graham said.

Students rotated through law enforcement and fire-emergency services programming throughout the day, but Graham said one of the most important lessons is that public safety reaches far beyond the most familiar roles.

“A lot of people don’t understand that in the field of public safety, there are other careers,” Graham said. “You even have civilian roles too. So there might be a secretary. We have a dispatch program. For firefighters, you might go into forestry, you might go into media.”

That message was echoed by John Begg, a CAL FIRE captain and fire academy coordinator, who said Ben Clark’s partnership model gives students access to working professionals, specialized equipment and direct workforce pathways.

“The resource availability that we open up with that cooperative agreement is phenomenal,” Begg said.

Begg said the goal is not simply to expose students to public safety, but to prepare them for employment.

“At the end of the day, our job here at the college is to make them ready at the end of this, and we want them to apply and get those jobs,” he said.

He said the field offers far more options than many students and parents may realize, including dispatching, mechanics, inspections, fire prevention and law enforcement roles within CAL FIRE.

“Anything that we consider to be in the compassion, empathy realm — nursing, doctors to a certain degree, EMTs, paramedics, firefighters — I don’t see this field of work diminishing much in the future,” Begg said. “I think there’s always going to be a need for us.”

Bob Fontaine, professor, Emergency Medical Services director and department chair for public safety programs at Ben Clark, said emergency medical services remain one of the clearest entry points into the field, especially for students pursuing fire service careers.

“When people call 911, 85% of the calls are sick people, injured people, car accidents,” Fontaine said. “It’s not structure fires.”

Fontaine said the EMS program is built around both technical preparation and the human side of the profession.

“We have three core values in our program,” he said. “That’s competent, compassionate, and character.”

At Ben Clark on March 12, that opportunity was not presented as an abstract promise. It arrived in the form of live demonstrations, working professionals and a clear message to Inland Empire students: public safety offers many paths, and Moreno Valley College wants to help them reach them.