2012 FEMA Higher Education Conference Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 – 10:30am to 11:30am

A Focus on the Brick and Mortar Type of Emergency Management Education

Jack L. Rozdilsky, Ph.D. Emergency Management Program

Western Illinois University

Overview and Premise Brick and Mortar Type of Education in EM

• Think about how Emergency Management and Homeland Security higher education is delivered in 2012?

• A diverse range of educational methods exists . . . Programs that are delivered entirely online Programs that are blended Programs that are delivered entirely ‘face-to-face’

• The session’s premise is not to compare or contrast types of programs, but to focus on one specific type of program: brick and mortar or ‘face-to-face’

AGENDA

1. What is the Brick & Mortar Type of Education?

2. What are its characteristics?

3. Where does it fit into EM higher education?

A Focus on Brick & Mortar Type of Education in EM

Brick & Mortar Programs What are they?

• Traditional types of programs of study

• Delivered at four-year comprehensive universities leading to Bachelors of Science degrees

• Taught by doctorate-level faculty, who are employed based on a tenure system

• Primary methods of education are based on face-to-face classroom-based pedagogies

• Minimal reliance on online types of course offerings

Brick & Mortar Programs Characteristics

• EM programs going back to 1983, based on classroom methods going back much further

• Designed for students who prefer the classroom environment

• Courses allow for specific types of student to student and faculty to student interactions that enhance student growth

• Societal benefits of the intangible qualities of traditional educational approaches

Brick & Mortar Programs Where do they fit in?

• They form the foundations for Emergency Management and Homeland Security higher education

• They serve as the places where the foundational curriculum is developed that acts as a basis for the spinoff of many types of Emergency Management education programs

• The program’s house faculty that also perform scholarly duties, facilitating the basis for development of new theory

• The program’s prepare well rounded students, some of whom will feed into the Masters and Doctoral level programs

CONCLUSIONS

• Current trends indicate that a majority of newly developed Emergency Management and Homeland Security higher

education programs are not of the “brick and mortar” variety

• Yet, brick and mortar type programs are where the foundations for our field of study are based

• Brick and mortar programs provide for the “scholarly” focus in the scholar-practitioner balance

• Suggest that the FEMA Higher Education conference maintains a strong focus on the brick and mortar programs

A Focus on Brick & Mortar Type of Education in EM