The Texas A&M University System Integrative Center for Homeland Security (ICHS) has officially been transferred to the Texas Engineering Extension Service. TEEX has assumed the operational responsibility for the center, which was established by the A&M System Board of Regents in 2002.
Texas A&M University and A&M System officials approved the center’s transfer from the Texas A&M University Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies to TEEX in November. The center will continue to operate as an “umbrella organization that integrates activities in a diverse set of programmatic areas in homeland security across The Texas A&M University System,” said Bill May, Associate Director of TEEX and Director of the Integrative Center for Homeland Security.
TEEX has been a preeminent player in the area of homeland security since 1998, first with the Department of Justice and then through the Department of Homeland Security, May said. “TEEX has a 12-year track record in supporting the efforts of homeland security in the United States through training, exercises and technical assistance programs, and we have the experience to operate the center for the A&M System. This administrative transfer takes advantage of the national recognition and the relationships TEEX and its National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center have built with the nation’s emergency response community, the Department of Homeland Security and other members of the A&M System.”
May said the center will become the cornerstone for initiatives and programs focusing on homeland security within the A&M System, connecting its 11 universities, Health Science Center and seven state agencies.
“The center will emphasize the vast array of capabilities within the A&M System for research, education, policy development, training, technical assistance and response,” May added. “We are looking forward to the opportunity to work with other members of the A&M System to enhance our national security through prevention, protection, response and recovery.”