The Certificate in Transportation Safety, Security, and Emergency Management (TSSEM) (formerly Transportation Security Management), offered by the Lucas Graduate School of Business  and supported by the Mineta Transportation Institute, offers students a unique opportunity to develop expertise across the three interrelated topics of transportation safety, security, and emergency management. Safety management protects from harm caused by non-intentional hazards, security management protects from intentional human behaviors, and emergency management prepares organizations for effective organizational response in the face of emergencies. 

While safety, security, and emergency management are each independently critical to protecting human life, property, and the environment, transportation professionals are much more successful at managing any one of the three when knowledgeable about all three topics.

Completing the certificate prepares students for careers across the transportation industry. Public-sector transportation organizations are required by law to have staff working on both safety and emergency management, and in recent years new federal mandates require public transit agencies to prioritize safety management. Students who complete the program would be well prepared for such positions as Chief Safety Officer of a public transit operator and emergency manager or security manager for a transit or transportation agency.

The program enables students to earn 9 units of course credit that may later be applied to the Master of Science in Transportation Management (MSTM) program. Additionally, students who complete the emergency management course (MTM 226A ) earn certification in the California Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS).  Students who complete the security course (MTM 226B ) also earn two certificates from the Department of Homeland Security/New Mexico Tech.

University Advanced Certificate Requirements​

Advanced certificate programs offer post-baccalaureate students coursework leading to a specific, applied, focused goal. In order to be eligible for admission to an advanced certificate, students complete an intake form or apply through CalState Apply and submit an official transcript(s) (noting the completion of a U.S. bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution or the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree from an accredited and/or recognized institution from a foreign country). To be admitted, students must have a minimum of 2.5 undergraduate GPA.

Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 in all advanced certificate coursework, and no course with a grade less than “C” may be counted toward the certificate. A maximum of 4 units of coursework with a grade of “C” can count toward an advanced certificate. A maximum of 4 units of coursework may be repeated. Undergraduate lower division courses are not applicable to advanced certificates.

Generally, a maximum of 33% of advanced certificate units (e.g., 3 units for a 9-unit certificate) can be completed in non-matriculated status at SJSU with approval from the department or school. In some cases, an advanced certificate may be completed entirely in non-matriculated status if the student has received approval from the department or school and the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs in the College of Graduate Studies.

A maximum of 30% of any graduate degree program units (e.g., 9 units for a 30-unit Master’s degree) can be completed from another institution and/or units from Open University (including advanced certificate courses) at SJSU with approval from the department or school.

The choice of grading requirements may have implications for transferability to degree programs (University Policy S16-17). 

The advisor/director of the program is responsible for verifying a student’s satisfactory completion of the academic requirements established for the program and for forwarding a copy of the certificate audit completion form to the Office of Graduate Admissions and Program Evaluations. The Office of the Registrar records the completion of the program on the student’s transcript.