BA in Emergency and Disaster Management

The Emergency and Disaster Management major offers preparation and qualifications for work in government, non-profit, and private emergency response organizations. Fieldwork within a rigorous academic program helps ensure graduates are knowledgeable, proficient, and experienced.

Objectives:

On completion of this major, students should be able to:

• Evidence competence in the field of emergency and disaster management in preparation for private or public-sector employment.
• Apply theoretical and practical knowledge of emergency and disaster management for saving lives and property from the impacts of crises, emergencies, and disasters.
• Integrate a Christian worldview into critical thinking and decision-making related to the field of emergency and disaster management.
• Analyze the existing and desired structure, climate, and culture of organizations whose focus is emergency and disaster management.
• Analyze an organization’s operation and provide recommendations for improvement.

MAJOR42 Hours

• EMT1010 Introduction to Emergency and Disaster Management3
  This course is a prerequisite for all other courses in the program. This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the field of emergency management. Students will gain a general understanding of the threats faced by communities by exploring the four phases of emergency management (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery). Topics covered in the course include the history and development of emergency management, hazard identification, risk analysis, an all-hazards approach to planning, and the future of emergency management.
• EMT2020 Phases of Emergency Management3
  This course will introduce the basic concepts of response and recovery phases of emergency management. Areas of response will include Incident Command System protocols with an emphasis placed on the actions necessary for incident stabilization required under the National Incident Management System and National Response Plan. Areas of recovery will include, damage assessment procedures; state and federal assistance programs; and the management of reconstruction projects.
• EMT3010 Crisis Management3
  This course will focus on the contingency planning process for business restoration following a crisis due to a natural or man-made incident. Students will learn a step-by-step approach for developing a business continuity plan.

  Prerequisite: EMT1010
• EMT3030 Social Issues in Emergency and Disaster Management3
  This course explores an approach to understanding hazards and disasters grounded in social vulnerability analysis. From a multi-disciplinary approach, it will explore historical, geographical, social, and cultural factors that put people at risk before, during, and after disasters.

  Prerequisite: EMT1010
• EMT3510 Terrorism and Homeland Security3
  See CJU3510
• EMT3050 Politics and Policy in Emergency Management3
  This course provides a foundation of the politics associated with disaster management with a focus on the political and policy environment in which emergency management is practiced.

  Prerequisites: EMT1010
• EMT3650 Trauma Informed Care3
  See SAC3650
• EMT4010 Exercise Planning, Design, and Evaluation3
  Knowledge and skills for implementing a Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program, including exercise design, development, and evaluation, and effective response to all types of crises. Design and development of a tabletop exercise is executed at the end of the semester.

  Prerequisites: all EMT 3000-level courses
• EMT4020 Managing Emergency Response Operations3
  This course examines the multiple facets of emergency planning and response. It will include the fundamentals of planning as they apply to the four phases of emergency management and how the phases overlap, interrelate, and complement each other. Participants will create an Emergency Operations Plan.

  Prerequisites: EMT1010, EMT2010, EMT2020
• EMT4030 Hazardous Materials Response3
  Hazard mitigation in emergency and disaster management. Properties of hazardous materials, development and implementation of plans and programs required for safe response, and the use of tools and techniques for responses to spills and releases.
• PSY1020 Introduction to Psychology*3
  A survey of the field of psychology, including historical and theoretical foundations, with special emphasis on contemporary scientific research and empirical applications within a Christian perspective and a biopsychosocial approach.
• PSY3060 Statistics for the Social Sciences3
  An introduction to basic psychological research techniques and methodology including collecting, organizing, and analyzing psychological data for quantitative research, and an introduction to statistical reasoning with a focus on fundamental concepts and statistical methods for psychological research. Recommended

  prerequisite: college level math course
• SOC1020 Introduction to Sociology*3
  The scientific study of society, institutions, and group interaction, with focus on the sociological imagination and core theories. Topics include the sociological perspective, the individual in society, stratification and social inequality, social intuitions, human ecology, and social change, with special attention to issues of diversity.

*May be applied toward Social & Behavioral Sciences requirements in the GenEd core.

Please choose one of the following:

• EMT4800 Emergency and Disaster Management Capstone3
  The purpose of this course is to integrate and synthesize theory, concepts and principles presented in the core classes of the EM major. The course will examine and assess various disaster case studies; evaluate different policy options facing decision makers; and think critically about future approaches to emergency management. The course will also aid in career development in the field of emergency management.

  Prerequisites: EMT4010, EMT4020
• EMT4900 Emergency and Disaster Management Internship3
  Placement in an area of the world affected by a foreign or domestic disaster. This 90-hour internship includes all phases of emergency management: preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. Students gain valuable experience and apply knowledge gained in course work. To enroll, students must complete the internship package provided by the Emergency and Disaster Management program director. Students are responsible to arrange the internship.