Course Listing For Master of Science Emergency Management Courses

This course examines the role of the public sector in the role emergency management including the role and relationship of each level of government in a natural or manmade disaster. The role and interaction of government emergency management agencies at the local, county, state, and federal levels will be investigated.

This course will give the student a deep understanding of the fundamentals of the emergency planning process and how to manage disasters with precision and skill. Students will achieve a new level of disaster preparedness, learn the holistic recovery process, proper mitigation procedures, planning considerations and the importance of both public and private sector involvement. Real life experiences will be examined and utilized to reach that high level of learning. Skills Learned: Emergency Management

This course examines the governmental positions and roles specific to the management of emergency situations through the emergency management cycle. The gap that can exist between emergency managers and operational personnel as well as approaches to narrowing the gap will be discussed.

This course focuses on the legal aspects of Emergency Management through identification and study of controlling constitutional, Federal and State Statutes along with current case law. Know and understand the legal aspect working with (national security entities, domestic security entities, state and local emergency managers and the military including National Guard). Skills Learned: Emergency Management, Federal and State Statutes.

Students will complete a planning project that identifies lessons learned from a past disaster relative to the effectiveness of planning and resource allocation. This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 500 & MSEM 510.

Create a fictional company of minimum 500 employees in an environment with a population of at least 250,000 citizens. The goal of this project is to identify the basic preparations the company has/should have for an event where emergency management is needed. This will include the identification of risk, strategic planning and BCP (preparation, response and recovery). Skill Learned: Strategic Planning Prerequisites: This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 501 and MSEM 511

This course examines the role of the private sector in emergency mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. The specific role of hospitals, transportation, utility and other businesses as well as non-profit organizations will be discussed.

This course will give the student the understanding of disaster resiliency. Disasters of all types present multiple social impacts on communities, businesses, and the population impacted by these disasters. Disaster response professionals use their knowledge of these social impacts to reduce the potential for extreme impacts before disasters occur and to assist communities in most efficient and effective recoveries. The concept of resiliency will be used to explore social impacts from disasters, along with strategies to enhance resiliency and mitigate the impacts of the social impacts of disasters. Skills Learned: Disaster Response, Emergency management, Resilience and Resilience Planning

This course examines crisis management thinking and steps for defining a business continuity plan to meet a private organization's needs. The importance of understanding the risks, impacts and consequences of an emergency event will be distinguished. Strategy selection, salvage, restoration and long term continuity will be discussed.

This course serves as an advanced exploration into ill-structured situations requiring strategic plans and effective resource management. Students develop strategies around personnel management, budget allocation, performance metrics and goal setting. Skills Learned: Goal Setting, Management, Performance Metric, Resource Management and Strategic Planning

Students will develop and present a business continuity plan aimed at the needs of a particular organization in the private sector. This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 530 & MSEM 540.

With the framework of your company created in Part 1, how would you benchmark your company with other private sector companies in your geographical footprint? This would include comparing and contrasting their BCP/EM plans for preparation, response and recovery with these partners (a minimum of 3). Benchmarking with these partners on their preparation, response and recovery and how they strategically plan for emergency events through metric comparison. This would include exterior real life outreach to companies within the geographical footprint. Skill Learned: Benchmarking Prerequisites: This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 531 and MSEM 541

This course examines leadership strategies and management techniques supportive of emergency managers during emergency planning and disaster response. Models of leadership and contemporary theories of leadership will be discussed.

Students explore issues and challenges in disaster response and recovery, including evacuation or relocation in the aftermath of a crisis. Using a case-study approach, students analyze real-world critical incidents requiring fast response measures and recovery support and determine the degree of success, in part, on the coordination and cooperation of various departments and agencies. Topics include National Response Framework (NRF), National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), and resource management, stakeholders, infrastructure, leadership, communication and mitigation activities. Students completing the course have a broad view of a response and recovery mission from beginning to end. Skills Learned: Communications, Cooperation, Coordinating, Disaster Recovery, Disaster Response, Infrastructure, Leadership, National Response Framework and Resource management

This course examines the ethical issues of disaster related to all phases of the emergency management cycle. Ethical risks, principles and obligations during times of disaster will be discussed.

Students focus on the concepts, tools, and best practices of project management. The course adopts a managerial process approach to Project Management, which consists of initiating, planning, executing and closing the project. Major topics will include project scope, project time, project cost, project quality, project risk, project resources, project communications and to be an effective project manager. Cases are utilized to integrate the learning in the course and provide decision- making experience for the student. Skills Learned: Decision Making, Project Communications, Project Management, Project Resources, Project Risk management and Scope Management

Students will complete a project that identifies lessons learned from a past disaster relative to the influence of legal and ethical issues in the success or failure of the disaster response. This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 600 & MSEM 610.

With the framework of your company created in Project 1, how would you benchmark your company with public sector resources (local, state and federal) to assist you in an emergency management event and how those resources would be allocated and allocated to your region that would assist your fictional company? Benchmarking with these partners on their preparation, response and recovery framework and how they strategically plan for emergency events through metric comparison. What processes do these public resources offer private sector entity as compared to the general public? Skill Learned: Benchmarking Prerequisites: This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 601 and MSEM 611

This course examines the complexities of resource allocation and availability. Memorandums of understanding and joint purchasing will be explored. Locating sources of grant funding will also be addressed.

This course provides a thorough grounding in risk management theory and its application to real world problems. It will provide the opportunity to engage in a wide-ranging interdisciplinary analysis of the extent, effects and explanations of crisis and disaster, and the use of risk theory. Skill Learned: Risk Management

This course examines the process of writing and obtaining a grant. Grant writing submission guidelines and writing techniques will be examined. Purchasing, monitoring and reporting requirements for complying with the requirements of grant funding will be discussed.

Social media is a critical source of information and communication tool during emergencies. As emergency managers, students will learn proper ways to leverage social media to improve situational awareness, engage with the public, and share important information. Additionally, students will learn how to create a Disaster Preparedness Budget designed to assist in preparing their companies finances to withstand small to large-scale emergencies. Skills Learned: Communications and Emergency Management

Students will write and present a grant aimed at attaining funding specific to the needs of a particular organization. This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 630 & MSEM 640.

Table Top Exercise. Based upon the complication of the past 3 projects, you will use the information gathered in each project to formulate a table top exercise for your fictional company. This table top will include the members from the private sector, public sector as well as the internal stakeholders for your company. For example, this would include your HR, legal, corporate communications, security, facilities, IT and any other groups that you feel should be included. Skill Learned: Corporate Communication Prerequisites: This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 631 and MSEM 641.