FEMP: Courses

Courses are designed to provide a  unique, flexible, comprehensive education comprised of classroom instruction, interactive practicum, opportunities for professional workshops, and the measurement and evaluation of skills learned through a final assessment center.

Courses

• Seminar in Fire and Emergency Management
This course will focus on current and future issues affecting the administration and management of fire and emergency services. A major focus of the course is on the intersection of fire and emergency service delivery and the external environment.

• Readings in Public Administration and Public Policy
This constitutes an individual reading component of the classical works in public Administration. Students will be required to take this course their first semester in the program.

• Seminar in Public Management
Introduction to the general principles of management as they are applied in the public sector. Topic include systems theory, organizational design, and techniques of supervision.

• Seminar in Organizations: Design, Structure, and Processes
Analyzes governmental units and public sector agencies. Attention will be given to the principal theoretical models for their design and structure. Also seeks to understand system-subsystem relationships in the processes of decision making, communication, influence, and leadership.

• Seminar in Public Personnel Administration
An analysis of structure and role of human resources, focusing on the development of the public service, personnel planning, personnel functions, and issues in personnel relations. A special emphasis will be on labor management relations.

• Seminar in Program Design and Evaluation
Methodology of planning and evaluation of government programs. Emphasizes research design and alternative methods for handling threats to validity of research results. Also includes the politics of program planning and evaluation.

• Seminar in Public Policy Analysis
An introduction to public policy analysis with emphasis on the examination of public policy areas, including fire protection policy.

• Seminar in Quantitative Methods
Presents an introduction to the foundations and use of quantitative methods in political science/public administration. Major topics include systematic research in political science/public administration; research design; measurement techniques; and data analysis.

• Seminar in Public Budgeting and Finance
Presents an introduction to the major processes and practice involved in governmental budgeting in the United States at the national, state,

• Understanding and Responding to Terrorism
This course explores the experience of non-state terrorism in the U.S. and Western European democracies in the late 20th century. Major topics include: (1) understanding terrorism as a political, social, and historical phenomenon; (2) the current the future threat of terrorism, both foreign and domestic; (3) governmental choices in responding to terrorism in democratic societies and; (4) U.S. anti-terrorism policies and considerations that emergency responders face in preparing for and responding to terrorist incidents.

• Seminar in Emergency Management
This seminar examines various topics in emergency management such as terrorism, emergency management planning-mitigation, response, and recovery, or delivering emergency medical services (EMS).

• Public Sector Dispute Resolution
Labor relations and employment issues in the public sector, and the various methods for resolving government personnel conflicts without resort to violence or litigation. Focuses on labor law, employment law and Alternative Dispute Resolution as they apply to government employment.

• Risk Assessment in Emergency Management Planning
Risk assessment for the emergency manager and fire department manager. Concepts of risk assessment, its use in emergency management planning, and its limitations. Applications to emergency management. Specifically designed for FEMP students, but of interest to students in environmental management.

• Community Relations in Environmental and Emergency Management
Preparation for the environmental manager, emergency manager, and fire department manager to communicate and negotiate with the public and media concerning environmental threats to human health routine and non-routine releases of chemicals and radioactive materials. Strategies for community-based planning, emergency preparedness, environmental response, site damage, and conflict management.

Specialization Areas

Specialization areas include, but are not limited to:
• environmental science
• business
• health administration
• political science
• sociology
• labor relations
• organizational behavior

Non Traditional Courses

This program is also designed to focus on the needs of nontraditional students. In order to meet those needs three delivery methods have been established.

Courses are available at a distance utilizing independent studies, internet-enhanced coursework, and compressed
video formats. In addition, the program offers weeklong intensive study courses on the Stillwater campus, home to the
International Fire Service training Association every summer and at other selected times.