Designing Educational Opportunities for the Hazard Manager of the 21 st Century

1. Designing Educational Opportunities for the Hazard Manager of the 21st Century Deborah Thomas Dept. of Geography & Env. Sciences University of Colorado at Denver deborah.thomas@cudenver.edu

2. Natural Hazards Center University of Colorado at Boulder Natural Hazards Center • National PERISHIP Award • Dissertation Fellowships in Hazards, Risk, and Disasters • Funded by NSF with PERI • http://www.cudenver.edu/periship/ • Co-sponsored Higher Education Workshop in October, 2003 • http://www.colorado.edu/hazards

3. Designing Educational Opportunities for the Hazards Manager of the 21st Century Workshop Denver, CO October 22-24, 2003 Funded by the National Science Foundation and FEMA’s Higher Education Project

4. Higher Ed. Workshop, Oct. 2003 • 55 leaders from hazards community • Multi-disciplinary • Practitioners as well as academics • Goals and objectives • To identify core competencies for skills and knowledge • To begin to create a sample interdisciplinary curriculum • To identify possibilities and challenges for incorporating hazard management principles and research into curriculum

5. 8 Working Groups • Core skill areas • Core knowledge areas • Research & technology needs • Balancing research, theory, & practice • Undergraduate Curricula • Including linkages to community colleges • Graduate Curricula • Certificate Opportunities • Continuing Education Opportunities

6. Curiosity Ability to think creatively Logical thought process Self-confidence Ethics How to work within the culture (how to be a “professional”) People skills, empathy Team work Good communication skills, including second language Sensitivity to and valuing other cultures Familiarity with the issues that revolve around disadvantaged and special populations Problem solving, including flexibility and adaptability How to handle pressure, dealing with others under stress Familiarity with computer technology (spreadsheets, using the Internet, GIS, databases, etc.) Grant/proposal writing Project management, budget management Time management and ability to prioritize Human resource management Analytic skills Ability to do research, as well as read and understand research Critical thinking, decision making Judgment Ability to network Coalition building and networking Negotiation and conflict resolution How to work with the political process, legal system, as well as different community groups Leadership Computer technology (for those who may be coming back to school and have not previously acquired these skills) Excellent communication capacity Ability to learn from mistakes (both self and others) Core Skills Undergraduate Graduate

7. Core Knowledge • Approaches • True interdisciplinary degree • Discipline-specific degrees • Local & regional specialties • Content • Disaster/hazards theory • Risk susceptibility, resilience, vulnerability, mitigation • Incidence command structure • Government Social Sciences Physical Sciences

8. Balance of Research, Theory, & Practice • Need a combination of all • Practical hands-on experience necessary • Case studies, internships • Conduct independent research, particularly graduate level • Exposure to theory as well

9. Curriculum • Continuing Education • Certificates • Links between Community Colleges and 4-year institutions • Undergraduate degrees • Graduate degrees

10. Business Capstone/Internship Communication Economics Engineering Environment & Health Government Affairs Hazards, Risk, & Vulnerability Hazards Survey Course (physical aspects) International Disasters Introduction to EM Legal Issues Methods Organizational Behavior Planning Social Dimensions of Disasters Sustainable Hazards Mitigation Technology Potential Courses for an Undergraduate Program

11. Built Environment Capstone/Pro-seminar Communication (Risk) Economic Dimensions of Disaster Hazards, Risk and Vulnerability Human Behavior in Disaster (Micro) Introduction to Emergency Management Research Methods Organizational Behavior and Leadership Planning Public Policy Process and Analysis Social Issues (Macro) Structure and Function of Government Potential Courses for a Graduate Program

12. Challenges & Opportunities • Understanding of market: potential students and jobs • Increasing diversity • Very interdisciplinary (public administration to public health to engineering to physical sciences) • Forming partnerships and cultivating champions

13. Summary Points • An emerging discipline • Multiple contributing disciplines • Must link to planning and sustainability • ALL phases of the emergency management cycle • Response AND vulnerability, mitigation • International linkages

14. Summary Points • Curricula and course development • Essential, needed, and fundamental • Broad-based overviews, linkages to international perspective, critical and adaptive thinking • Flexible with regional emphases • Professionalization • Strong links between academia & practitioners • Creation of opportunities & promotion of profession and discipline