Earn an MPA with a Homeland Security and Emergency Management concentration
The Homeland Security and Emergency Management concentration prepares students to be highly competitive for jobs in government agencies and other organizations that work strategically to prevent and mitigate natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and other issues related to public safety.
The concentration in Homeland Security and Emergency Management will specifically teach students to apply managerial skills to make informed decisions about how to promote safer communities, which includes emergency planning, hazard mitigation and avoidance, as well as emergency response planning.
When a natural or man-made disaster strikes, multiple entities respond. The management and coordination of those agencies is essential for effective and efficient disaster relief. The same is true for the planning and prevention efforts of such disasters from a policy level.
Strategic leadership is required for emergency management directors to understand how to approach these types of disasters and lessen additional damage and loss of life.
Learn to:
Develop emergency management policies, plans, and risk assessments
Apply knowledge of emergency planning and response guidelines consistent with the National Response Framework and the National Incident Management System
Prepare emergency situation status reports that detail response and recovery efforts, needs, and damages
Develop public-private partnerships by integrating engagement with business industries, public and private sector stakeholders, federal and state agencies, and key congressional and legislative bodies
Plan, organize, and implement national communications and engagement strategies to build strategic relationships with the private sector
Career opportunities
Emergency management director
Disaster recovery manager
Emergency response team leader
Environmental health and safety manager
Hospital emergency preparedness director
Counterterrorism analyst
Program analyst
Safety specialist
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent
Degree requirements
The core requirements of the O’Neill MPA prepare you to enter or continue work in public service, no matter your area of focus. Each student must also complete the requirements of their chosen concentration and the required number of electives to fulfill the MPA’s 39 credit hours.
O'Neill MPA core (15 credit hours)
All core courses must be complete before taking the capstone course.
Noncalculus survey of concepts in probability, estimation, and hypothesis testing. Applications of contingency table analysis and analysis of variance, regression, and other statistical techniques. Computer processing of data emphasized.
Explanation of law in society and its influence on public sector operations. Examination of some of the central substantive areas of the study of law, including regulatory processes, administrative adjudication, the Administrative Procedures Act, ombudsmen, and citizen rights, among others.
Examination of how the programs of public agencies are proposed, established, operated, and evaluated. Discussion of the role and conduct of research in the program evaluation process. In addition, techniques of effective evaluation and analysis are discussed.
This gateway course will increase the student’s appreciation of the role of the profession in governance across multiple sectors of society within the global context. Students will learn norms associated with effective practice and frame a professional development plan to acquire the leadership skills to support these norms.
Interdisciplinary course designed to expose students to the realities of the policy process through detailed analyses of case studies and projects. Course integrates science, technology, policy, and management.
Required courses (18 credit hours)
Analysis of concepts, methods, and procedures involved in managing public organizations. Problems of organization, planning, decision making, performance evaluation, and management of human resources are considered. Cases are drawn from a variety of public services found at federal, state, and local levels of government.
An examination of the role of public affairs professionals in policy processes. Focuses on relationships with political actors in various policy areas.
Learn about the fiscal role of government in a mixed economy, sources of public revenue and credit, administrative, political, and institutional aspects of the budget, the budgetary process, and problems and trends in intergovernmental fiscal relations.
The identification and management of criminal justice and public safety crises. Issues of psychological and behavioral responses to crisis, mitigation, contingency and response plans, coordination with governmental, nonprofit agencies and private corporations, crisis decision-making, communication, infrastructure and proactive planning. Practical crisis management techniques for use in public safety.
An examination of theoretical foundations of risk analysis including the history of risk analysis, risk assessment, perception and communications; models for decision-making, techniques for generating alternative courses of action and definitions of risk and opportunity within a context of local, state and federal regulatory guidelines, media and social context.
This course addresses federal policy and management issues related to preventing, mitigating, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from major catastrophic events; both natural and man-made, including acts of terrorism. Topics include emergency management, resource and response infrastructures, public health issues, best practices, crisis communications, and business and governmental continuity.
Homeland Security and Emergency Management students will also take two 3-credit-hour electives to complete the degree requirements.
Solve problems at the crossroads of policy, management, and science.
