| Semester 1 – 14 Weeks Total | |
|---|---|
| Constructive Action I: Identification of Organizational Disaster Needs (14 weeks / 3 credits) | |
| Session 1 (7 weeks) | Session 2 (7 weeks) |
| Values & Ethics for Administrative Decision Making (3 credits) | Foundation of Business Continuity Management (3 credits) |
| Preparing & Planning for Disasters (3 credits) | Research & Analysis Methods in Disaster Management (3 credits) |
| Semester 2 – 14 Weeks Total | |
|---|---|
| Constructive Action II: Implementation of an Emergency Management Plan (14 weeks / 3 credits) | |
| Session 1 (7 weeks) | Session 2 (7 weeks) |
| Public Health Preparedness and Response Implementation (3 credits) | Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP) (3 credits) |
| Economic & Social Trends & Implementing Social Services (3 credits) | Enterprise Risk Management (3 credits) |
| Semester 3 – 14 Weeks Total | |
|---|---|
| Constructive Action III:Evaluation and Improvement of an Emergency Management Plan (14 weeks / 3 credits) | |
| Session 1 (7 weeks) | Session 2 (7 weeks) |
| Information Technologies & Cybersecurity in Disaster Planning (3 credits) | Advanced Business Continuity Practicum (3 credits) |
| Evaluating Cultural Competencies & Community Resilience (3 credits) | Homeland Security Policy & Procedures (3 credits) |
Values and Ethics for Administrative Decision Making MPA 710 VAL (3 credits)
The primary focus of the class for the Values and Ethics Dimension is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the major traditions of ethical reflection and implications for the manager who is working with citizens in crisis to improve service delivery.
Through a series of lectures, discussions, and case studies, students will be challenged first by arguments for and against ethical relativism and pluralism. Students will be encouraged to examine how their values affect their decision making. They will learn the ethics of international disaster relief, the importance of cultural competence, and ethics of disaster spiritual care and inter-religious engagement. Additionally, students will be taught the most important classical and contemporary ethical theories: ethical egoism, utilitarianism, the ethics of duty and respect, and nature and value of management. Finally, they will become skilled at developing their own organization code of ethics.
Foundations of Business Continuity Management MPA 710 SKI (3 credits)
This course is designed to provide an overview of national and international Business Continuity standards and frameworks including: Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRI) Professional Practices Body of Knowledge, ISO22301 Business Continuity Management, and NFPA1600: Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs. Students will explore the holistic approach to Business Continuity Management (BCM) and the integration of various disciplines such as: Emergency Response, Crisis Management, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity. Students will be introduced to the various professional certifications they can pursue.
Preparing and Planning for Disasters MPA 710 SYS (3 credits)
This is a fully online course with the content and online lectures provided by a pioneering leader in the Field of Emergency Management.
This course is designed to provide students with an overview of how policy and politics affect the process of preparing for disasters. Students will be introduced to a number of significant disaster management case studies, their After Action Reports, and in many cases will study the governmental review process, with a focus on how and why various policies are created and existing policies modified. Analysis of how political counter-weighting affects outcomes, efficiencies, and the availability of resources will be discussed.
Building on that foundation, the second half of the semester begins with an introduction to the increasingly important role of public/private relationships in emergency management and moves to the heavily debated topic of price controls during emergency and disaster events. Students will then review the rights of property owners from the perspective of those either indirectly or directly affected, examine the roles of employees, employers and the government and conclude with an investigation into the impacts of natural disasters.
Research and Analysis Methods in Disaster Management MPA 710 SEL (3 credits)
The course will give students the tools to research emergency and disaster management problems as diverse as the social aspects of hurricane evacuation, behavior change in employee emergency preparedness programs, and applying a cost dimension to traditional risk assessment. Students will also learn to apply quantitative and qualitative research methods from a range of disciplines, such as sociology, psychology, political science, public administration, and criminal justice to contemporary and traditional emergency management problems.
Additionally, this course will help students to be able to think critically and creatively about solving the challenges faced in a dynamic emergency management environment. Students will acquire the ability to conduct comprehensive and in-depth analyses of complex scenarios, allowing them to adopt a more well-rounded view of the field.
Public Health Systems Preparedness and Response Implementation MPA 720 VAL (3 credits)
This course deals with public health and mental health issues involved in crises and emergencies presented for the non-clinical emergency/disaster manager. The wide range of medical and mental health issues inherent to crises and emergencies are described and reviewed using past events in which public health and mental health issues were encountered. The course covers topics such as: differentiation between natural and man-mediated outbreaks in the community (H1N1, avian flu, SARS, pandemic influenza, smallpox, Ebola, etc.); There will be case studies of real events and review of public health and mental health consequences of those events. The following topics will be covered: methods for integrating medical, public health, and psychological processes into disaster management and review of health systems implications of nuclear, biological, and chemical disasters. This course is designed to meet the need for a recognized curriculum in the public health aspects of disaster care and organized emergency medical services systems while simultaneously considering the mental health needs of the affected communities and emergency responders.
Foundations of Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP) MPA 720 SKI (3 credits)
Continuity of Operations (COOP), as defined in the National Continuity Policy Implementation Plan (NCPIP) and the National Security Presidential Directive- 51/Homeland Security Presidential Directive- 20 (NSPD-51/HSPD-20), is an effort within individual executive departments and agencies to ensure that Primary Mission Essential Functions (PMEFs) continue to be performed during a wide range of emergencies, including localized acts of nature, accidents and technological or attack-related emergencies.
Economics and Social Trends and Implementing Social Services MPA 720 SEL (3 credits)
This course examines the history of both disaster preparedness research and planning, and culminates with a review of contemporary disaster planning processes and how they can be applied to real-world experiences via the examination of meaningful and purposeful case studies.
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the economic aspects of hazards and disasters through a review of the concepts, analytical tools and policies that exist to aid emergency managers before, during and after emergencies. The course offers a broad perspective on the various facets of emergency management, the value systems in different work environments, and how emergency managers get resources when competing against other demands. The class examines the major emergency management settings, including government presentation from federal, state, local, private sector and not-for-profit perspectives.
The course commences with an overview of present-day emergency management, and proceeds to the concepts of business continuity, vulnerability analysis, risk management and the development of a Business Area Impact Analysis (BAIA). From there, students will review the economic costs of disasters, and the underlying perceptions associated with the notion of risk and learn ways to communicate risks effectively with stakeholders and the public. The first half of the course concludes with an examination of business contingency planning, its vices and virtues.
Building on that foundation, the second half of the semester begins with an introduction to the increasingly important role of public-private relationships in emergency management and moves to the heavily debated topic of price controls during emergency and disaster events. Students will then review the rights of property owners from the perspective of those either indirectly or directly affected, examine the roles of employees, employers and the government and conclude with an investigation into the impacts of natural disasters.
Enterprise Risk Management MPA 720 SYS (3 credits)
This course aims to provide students with the fundamental principles of risk management. It will provide the relevant knowledge and skills required to manage risk systematically to improve performance within all areas of an organization to maximize all opportunities and minimize all threats. This course will therefore examine the management issues involved with uncertainties and in assessing risk environments in order to assure continuous system wide operations. The course studies the elements of risk assessment and operational continuity using the project management framework of planning, organizing and control.
Furthermore, students will learn how to address these risk elements in an integrated manner, ensuring that trade-offs are understood, acknowledged and accepted by the enterprise and its management.
Students will also be exposed to the role of the organization especially as it relates to crisis response and management and as it pertains to the field of disaster and emergency management.
Topics include: the role and need for comprehensive strategy and planning, an overview of the system wide structure, as well as the organizations within that structure, designed to plan for and respond to local or national crisis, the social and emotional impact on operations and productivity. Additionally, students learn gap analysis to identify gaps and areas in need of improvement with regards to compliance to the relevant standards identify, and correct gaps between desired levels and actual levels of performance.
Information Technologies and Cybersecurity in Disaster Planning MPA 730 VAL (3 credits)
The nature and complexity of emergency management has grown significantly in the past two decades. Along with this growth has been an even greater growth in solutions based on information technologies (IT) and the need to protect them. Foremost has been the use of computers for emergency planning, regulatory compliance, response to disaster situations, and recovery. This course provides the student with an overview of the use of IT in emergency management. The course will discuss IT challenges in all emergency planning phases and the impact of the wide spread adoption of social media as well as mobile technologies on the way we approach emergency management. Geographical Information Systems and decision support systems will be explored as they play an important role in the decision making process during disasters. Emerging technologies and trends such as Internet of things will also be discussed.
Advanced Business Continuity Practicum MPA 730 SKI (3 credits)
This course is designed to prepare students to pursue the ISO 22301 Lead Auditor certification. Students will be taught the principles of the operation of the Business Continuity Management System, understand the operation of the BCMS in accordance with the ISO22301 standard, and practice of becoming an independent auditor (i.e. how to plan, conduct, and report internal and certification audits). Students will analyze and interpret the content within the ISO22301 standard and discuss how the relationships and interdependencies between a Business Continuity Management System (e.g. risk management, compliance)
Evaluating Cultural Competencies and Community Resilience MPA 730 SEL (3 credits)
This course is designed to equip the student with an overview introduction to the theoretical foundations of individual and community resilience in the context of emergency management. We will explore the impact of various types of disasters on individuals, groups and communities, with a focus on vulnerable populations and various cultural groups. Students will develop an understanding of the science of risk communication and its efficacy in emergencies and disasters. We will also review the primary domains or dimensions of resilience and develop an expanded awareness of the strategies and methods for increasing adaptive capacities within these groups.
Homeland Security Policy and Procedures MPA 730 SYS (3 credits)
This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the Federal Government’s role in planning, mitigating, preparing for, and responding to all disasters. This course will focus on analysis of the social, psychological, and political ramifications of Man Made vs. Natural Disasters. Students in this course will get an overview of the function of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its programs, with a specific focus on the Federal Emergency Management Agency, students will get an overview of FEMA and its programs. This course will provide a comprehensive overview of counter-terrorism and homeland security while offering explanations to assist students understand the role of law enforcement agencies in emergency and disaster management.