M.S. in Emergency Services

The Master of Science in Emergency Services (MSES) degree program is designed for individuals seeking advanced all hazards-based knowledge in emergency services, emergency management, and homeland security, which include disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. With its emphasis on critical thinking, leadership skills, and current research, the degree prepares students for advanced careers and trains them in evidence-based decision-making and defensible analysis related to natural and technological disasters at local, regional, national, and international levels. The degree will prepare students for careers in first responder organizations, emergency management organizations, civil and homeland security agencies, research institutes, public and private sectors, and non-governmental organizations. 

The program has incorporated elements to assist students to earn the Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) and Associate Emergency Manager (AEM) certificates from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). Newly developed Emergency management courses have been added to the curriculum that can be considered as parts of the required professional training. Contents of these courses also will prepare students for the certification exam.

Current faculty research areas include the following: disaster recovery and mitigation, firefighter health (e.g., quality of sleep), disaster response (e.g., Incident Command System), immigration and homeland security, disaster preparedness (e.g., policies and planning), community resilience, and emerging technologies (e.g., how Artificial Intelligence facilitate disaster response).

Estimated Cost of Attendance

Students will:

• Critically evaluate emergency services rules and regulations to construct appropriate recommendations for developing new, improved emergency preparedness measures.
• Demonstrate problem-solving abilities, teamwork skills, communication competence and ethical leadership when managing complex emergencies through theoretical and simulated exercises.
• Develop advanced decision-making skills to respond to emergency situations using emerging technologies.
• Examine the global challenges of disaster aid, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and humanitarian crises systematically to develop a critical awareness of how current problems contribute to innovative solutions to common emergency services responses.
• Formulate principles and policies for making critical decisions while mitigating risk in a rapidly changing, complex emergency environment.
• Investigate strategies for managing a diverse workforce of emergency responders to evaluate the effectiveness of current leadership and management policies and procedures.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
Core/Major

Electives