Emergency Management

[MissMolly77]

I will be graduation this year with a BA in Poli Sci and Minor in Geology...I am very interested in Emergency Management and Disaster Relief, and am set on getting my MPA... does anyone know what schools (not online courses though) might offer such concentrations or might be more well known in this arena... I have found a few but they definately dont have the name recognition or the program I am looking for for my Masters

anything will help!

[riz1]

Hi Molly,

Have you looked into the MALD at The Fletcher School? Many students there go into disaster relief and global humanitarian work. Relevant fields of study (each of which has numerous courses) within the MALD curriculum include:

- International Organizations

- Law and Development

- International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

- Human Security

- Development Economics

- International Environment and Resource Policy

Students can also design their own fields of study, as well as take courses not offered at Fletcher at any other Tufts school, or at MIT or any Harvard graduate school (such as the Kennedy School).

Hope this helps!

[Leica]

Riz - it doesn't seem like the MALD curriculum offers the types of classes Molly's looking for, even within the Environment & Resource Policy concentration.

Molly, you might actually want to look into some Public/Global Health programs - quite a few offer a solid management component, too.

[UnlikelyGrad]

Believe it or not, I also seriously considered this as a career...I have spent hundreds, maybe thousands of hours volunteering with my city's Office of Emergency Services and other organizations dealing with disaster prep, so I thought maybe I'd be happy as an emergency manager. I did all the research...but that was 2 years ago, before I decided on a different career path, so I've forgotten the schools I located. I'll rack my brain and try to remember them, but don't keep your fingers crossed!

One thing you can do to get a headstart is to take classes through FEMA's emergency management institute: http://training.fema.gov/index.asp They have on-campus courses, of course, but they also have (FREE!!!) independent study classes available online.

They have a course which introduces you to the position of emergency manager, but I think the most critical course for starting is IS-100.a, Introduction to the Incident Command System. ICS permeates all levels of emergency management in the US; until you understand it, your career isn't going to go anywhere! It's pretty simple, though, so you'll probably pick it up quickly.

[Nikara]

I know this thread is pretty old, but I wanted to pull it back up to see if there is anyone else out there with this concentration!

I too was looking for emergency management programs that were in person, not online. This was a pretty big challenge, as it seems that many of the universities are only investing in online programs for this field. In the end, I applied to three schools- University of Delaware (Disaster Science and Management MA), Florida State University (MPA with concentration in Emergency Management), and North Dakota State (Emergency Management MA). One of the big challenges I have found with the field is getting any sort of idea of how well regarded any of the programs are. The issues with going into an up and coming field is that there isn't much precedent to look back on.

So, is there anyone else out there applying for EM Masters programs? I'd love to have someone to commiserate with!

[tj19]

Hey,

George Mason has an EM concentration. I think North Texas (go figure) is well regarded. The FEMA college list at http://www.training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/collegelist/ is starting to get a little dated but is still a good start. NASPAA has a search function where you can select "Emergency" as a filter for the Field of Study, which helps. Another poster pointed me to what sounds like a really interesting year long English language program at the University of Tel Aviv http://www1.tau.ac.il/emergex/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=44

But yeah, figuring out how good any of these might be is a big challenge. I'm applying to some of these, but I also am looking at policy/program analysis and/or planning/gis specialties since that's the area of EM work that I'm looking at (for now at least).

[Nikara]

Hey,

George Mason has an EM concentration. I think North Texas (go figure) is well regarded. The FEMA college list at http://www.training....du/collegelist/ is starting to get a little dated but is still a good start. NASPAA has a search function where you can select "Emergency" as a filter for the Field of Study, which helps. Another poster pointed me to what sounds like a really interesting year long English language program at the University of Tel Aviv http://www1.tau.ac.i...id=37&Itemid=44

But yeah, figuring out how good any of these might be is a big challenge. I'm applying to some of these, but I also am looking at policy/program analysis and/or planning/gis specialties since that's the area of EM work that I'm looking at (for now at least).

I must have spent 2 weeks over the summer working through that FEMA list. It's nice that a list exists somewhere, but it drives me crazy that there is no real method of sorting out those universities. I'll update you about how my app period goes. It's been an interesting few months.

[tj19]

You might want to check out Georgia State's new program as well. It's new, but the director has been involved in EM for a long time. http://aysps.gsu.edu...ter-policy.html

IAEM has a page where they list schools with student chapters http://www.iaem.com/...msachapters.htm I would guess that most of the schools with student chapters have an academic program in EM. Their job bulletin board also has a section for searching for internships.

Good luck!

[Nikara]

Update!

Got admitted to 2 programs today- Florida State University's MPA program, and University of Delaware's Disaster Science and Management program! I didn't interview for either application. I haven't heard from either about funding yet, but at least my first worry is taken care of!

A few notes on my background: I have around a 3.5 GPA and relatively high GRE scores. I didn't do any undergraduate work directly related to emergency management, but I have done lots of outside work and taken FEMA classes in the field.

So excited!

[tj19]

Congratulations!

And . . . uh, oh. I haven't heard from UDel for the same program. But I was just accepted today at UM-Baltimore County for their MPP. No Emergency Management track, though. I just liked that it was in the DC-Baltimore area.

Would you mind sharing when your application at UDel was complete, and they notify you via e-mail?

[Nikara]

Congratulations!

And . . . uh, oh. I haven't heard from UDel for the same program. But I was just accepted today at UM-Baltimore County for their MPP. No Emergency Management track, though. I just liked that it was in the DC-Baltimore area.

Would you mind sharing when your application at UDel was complete, and they notify you via e-mail?

I finished my app really early- It was submitted in late November. I received an email telling me to check the application website. When I scrolled down on that page, there was a link to the admission decision. I haven't yet heard anything from the department.

[tj19]

Rejected. I was hoping being a Delaware resident would help, but oh well.

[StellaHaiti2]

I applied to University of Pittsburgh because of their option to get a minor in civil security and disaster management.

http://www.cdm.pitt.edu/

[Authorization]

The people teaching the courses for Florida State's MPA concentration/certificate program in EM are great. I can't recommend them enough. Also, anyone interested in EM should definitely start with the free online courses through the FEMA Emergency Management Institute website. 

[spartuckeye]

If you haven't already, I would suggest applying for this program with FEMA http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/fema-corps

to gain some entry-level disaster management work experience and money for grad school. 

 

In addition to Georgia State, the University of Delaware hands down has one of the best programs in the country for Emergency Management and the program is quite well-known in the field. http://www.sppa.udel.edu/content/ms-disaster-science-and-management

 

However, I would say that the name of the school/program/and degree type are not barriers at all for moving up in this field....a Master's will be required to hold high level positions but ultimately work experience in disaster areas is the most important thing people in this field are looking for when hiring. An MPA from any school will be an asset.

[kiwifeliz]

This is an old post but I wanted to see if there's anyone else interested in this area and applying to programs. Yesterday I got admitted to George Mason University's Master of Public Administration (Emergency Management & Homeland Security) and University of Delaware's Disaster Science and Management MS but again, I'm not sure which programs are the best for this.... Delaware looks amazing so far, but I haven't heard from funding yet. I also applied to UNC Charlotte, University of South Carolina and University of Colorado, Denver: all of them are MPA programs emphasizing in Emergency Management.