Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Maureen Moslow-Benway
Assistant professor and program chair

Emergency preparedness has always been a critical aspect of governmental policy at the federal, state and local levels. Response to natural disasters — floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, outbreak of infectious disease — requires pre-disaster planning, mid-disaster operations and postdisaster reconstruction that can only be carried out successfully through a partnership between all levels of government and between the public sector, private sector and civil society. Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania the concept of emergency preparedness has been expanded to include the task of homeland security — protecting the U.S. from terrorist-caused disasters. Policy planners and operational responders at all levels of government who had previously focused upon natural disasters now have the added responsibility of preparing for and mitigating the effects of politically inspired terrorist violence.

The program in homeland security and emergency preparedness recognizes this dual nature and is designed to give students both theoretical and practical knowledge that will prepare them for the following: 1) private- or public-sector employment in the expanding area of homeland security as it relates specifically to international and domestic security, as well as emergency preparedness for both security and nonsecurity-related incidents and/or 2) further study in government, international affairs, law enforcement, policy planning or law.

Students will study homeland security and emergency preparedness from a number of perspectives: emergency planning/management principles and practicalities; the nature and effects of natural disasters; the nature of the terrorist threat to the U.S. from both foreign and domestic organizations, including terrorist motives, methods and history; counterterrorism policies ranging from law enforcement to intelligence to the use of military force; vulnerability assessment of public and private infrastructure and institutions; critical infrastructure protection; ethical, constitutional, law enforcement and civil liberties issues related to the prevention of terrorist attacks through surveillance, immigration restrictions and detention; public safety legal questions that arise during governmental responses to natural disaster; intelligence analysis of domestic and international threats; and policy-making topics, such as organizational design and management, interagency processes, and intergovernmental coordination and cooperation within emergency preparedness and counterterrorism institutions at the local, state, federal and international level.

The knowledge and skills acquired through this course of study will enable students to continue their studies at law school or graduate school in a number of areas: business, criminal justice, geography, international affairs, political science, public administration, sociology and urban planning. Students also will be able to pursue employment opportunities in various fields, such as within the government at the local, state and federal level in homeland security and emergency planning/response; law enforcement; intelligence; for-profit and nonprofit research and consultancy; and private sector employment with any business that requires emergency planning expertise to protect critical infrastructure.

Student learning outcomes

Upon completing this program, students will know and know how to do the following:

• Analytical concepts and skills
  Students will achieve comprehension of the theory and practice of homeland security and emergency preparedness and be able to analyze policy and synthesize information in four key areas: risk and vulnerability analysis, strategic planning dilemmas of disasters and disaster preparedness, institutional coordination and intelligence operations, and legal/constitutional aspects.
• Homeland security and emergency preparedness
  Students will achieve comprehension of the theoretical and practical principles of emergency preparedness for both natural disasters and terrorist incidents and be able to analyze key topics related to natural disasters, emergency planning, terrorism and counterterrorism, intelligence, and cybersecurity.
• Research and policy analysis
  Students will perform research, policy analysis and risk assessment using several methodological and theoretical approaches to homeland security and emergency preparedness.
• Knowledge of government
  Students will demonstrate a basic knowledge of the workings of the American government and the international system. 
• Oral and written presentation
  Students will develop advanced skills in expository writing and oral presentation.
• Evaluation
  Students will be able to evaluate scholarly and practitioner analyses of homeland security and emergency preparedness topics.

Special requirements

Students must earn a total of 45 credits in classes at the 300-level and above, including upper-level criminal justice course work. To graduate from the homeland security and emergency preparedness program, students must have a cumulative and major GPA of 2.0. The homeland security and emergency preparedness curriculum includes the core and major elective requirements.

Degree requirements for Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

The minimum number of credit hours required for this degree is 120.

Approved homeland security and emergency preparedness electives

Students who complete the requirements for this degree will receive a Bachelor of Arts in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

What follows is a sample plan that meets the prescribed requirements within a four-year course of study at VCU. Please contact your adviser before beginning course work toward a degree.

Freshman year
Fall semester		Hours
HSEP 101	Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (satisfies AOI for diversities in the human experience)	3
MATH 131	Introduction to Contemporary Mathematics (prerequisite for STAT 208; counts toward open electives)	3
UNIV 101	Introduction to the University	1
UNIV 111 Play course video for Focused Inquiry I	Focused Inquiry I (satisfies general education UNIV foundations)	3
General education course (POLI 103 is suggested; satisfies BOK for social/behavioral sciences)		3
Open elective		3
	Term Hours:	16
Spring semester
GVPA 100	Making Policy Real: Social Problems and Policy Solutions	3
STAT 208	Statistical Thinking (satisfies general education quantitative foundations)	3
UNIV 112 Play course video for Focused Inquiry II	Focused Inquiry II (satisfies general education UNIV foundations)	3
General education course (POLI 105 is suggested; satisfies AOI for global perspectives)		3
General education course (select BOK for natural sciences)		3
	Term Hours:	15
Sophomore year
Fall semester
HSEP 301/POLI 367	Terrorism	3
HSEP 302	Emergency Planning and Incident Management	3
UNIV 200	Advanced Focused Inquiry: Literacies, Research and Communication (satisfies general education UNIV foundations)	3
General education course (select BOK for humanities/fine arts)		3
General education course		3
	Term Hours:	15
Spring semester
HSEP 310	Risk and Vulnerability Assessment	3
Open electives		12
	Term Hours:	15
Junior year
Fall semester
HSEP 314	Cybersecurity Policy	3
HSEP 320	The Intelligence Community and the Intelligence Process	3
Open electives		8
	Term Hours:	14
Spring semester
Homeland security and emergency preparedness electives		6
Open electives		9
	Term Hours:	15
Senior year
Fall semester
HSEP 330	Legal and Constitutional Issues in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness	3
Homeland security and emergency preparedness electives		3
Open electives		9
	Term Hours:	15
Spring semester
HSEP 490	Senior Seminar	3
Open electives		12
	Term Hours:	15
	Total Hours:	120

The minimum number of credit hours required for this degree is 120.

Accelerated B.A. and M.A.

The accelerated B.A. and M.A. program allows qualified students to earn both the B.A. and M.A. in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in a minimum of five years by completing approved graduate courses during the senior year of their undergraduate program. Students in the program may count up to 12 hours of graduate courses toward both the B.A. and M.A. degrees. Thus, the two degrees may be earned with a minimum of 144 credits rather than the 156 credits necessary if the two degrees are pursued separately.

Students holding these degrees will learn about the dual nature of homeland security and emergency preparedness as an adaptation of traditional policy responses to natural disasters to include those types of disasters caused by domestic or international terrorism. Students will acquire theoretical and practical knowledge that will prepare them for private or public sector employment in the expanding area of homeland security and emergency preparedness and/or further study in numerous areas of public policy. This online graduate degree takes a broad interdisciplinary approach to preparedness that gives students the ability to see the larger organizational, social, political, ethical and economic aspects of disaster studies, in addition to the policy-making and implementation aspects. The scholarly study of homeland security and emergency preparedness rests at the intersection of national defense, emergency management, law enforcement and policy management.

Entrance to the accelerated program

Interested undergraduate students should consult with their adviser as early as possible to receive specific information about the accelerated program, determine academic eligibility and submit (no later than two semesters prior to graduating with a baccalaureate degree, that is, before the end of the spring semester of their junior year) an Accelerated Program Declaration Form to be approved by the graduate program director. Limited spaces may be available in the accelerated program. Academically qualified students may not receive approval if capacity has been reached.

Minimum qualifications for entrance to the accelerated program include completion of 90 undergraduate credit hours including five of the six required 300-level HSEP courses; an overall GPA of 3.5 and a GPA of 3.5 in homeland security and emergency preparedness course work. Successful applicants would enter the program in the semester following the completion of their 90th credit hour. Candidates should submit applications for admission during the semester they would be completing their 90th credit, but no later than July 25 of that year. One of the required reference letters must be from a homeland security and emergency preparedness faculty member. Students who are interested in the accelerated program should consult with the Wilder School Graduate Student Services and Advising Office.

Once enrolled in the accelerated program, students must meet the standards of performance applicable to graduate students as described in the “Satisfactory academic progress” section of the Graduate Bulletin, including maintaining a 3.0 GPA. Students who do not maintain a 3.0 GPA in the graduate level classes will no longer be eligible for the accelerated program and may not take any additional graduate-level classes while pursuing the bachelor’s degree.  Students will not begin their first semester of only graduate courses until the bachelor’s degree has been conferred. Guidance to students admitted to the accelerated program is provided by both the Wilder School undergraduate academic adviser and the senior academic adviser from Graduate Student Services and Advising.

Admission to the graduate program

Entrance to the accelerated program enables the student to take the approved shared courses that will apply to the undergraduate and graduate degrees. However, entry into an accelerated program via an approved Accelerated Program Declaration Form does not constitute application or admission into the graduate program. Admission to the graduate program requires a separate step that occurs through a formal application to the master’s program, which is submitted through Graduate Admissions no later than a semester prior to graduation with the baccalaureate degree, that is, before the end of the fall semester of the senior year. In order to continue pursuing the master’s degree after the baccalaureate degree is conferred, accelerated students must follow the admission to graduate study requirements outlined in the VCU Bulletin.

Degree requirements

The Bachelor of Arts in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness degree will be awarded upon completion of a minimum of 120 credits and the satisfactory completion of all undergraduate degree requirements as stated in the Undergraduate Bulletin.

A maximum of 12 graduate credits may be taken prior to completion of the baccalaureate degree. These graduate credits substitute for both homeland security and emergency preparedness electives and open electives for the undergraduate degree. These courses are shared credits with the graduate program, meaning that they will be applied to both undergraduate and graduate degree requirements.

The graduate homeland security and emergency preparedness courses that may be taken as an undergraduate, once a student is admitted to the program, are a choice of four from the following:

Recommended course sequence/plan of study

What follows is the recommended plan of study for students interested in the accelerated program beginning in the fall of the junior year prior to admission to the accelerated program in the senior year.

Accelerated B.A. and M.P.A.

The accelerated B.A. and M.P.A. program allows qualified students to earn both the B.A. in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and Master of Public Administration in a minimum of five years by completing approved graduate courses during the senior year of their undergraduate program. Students in the program may count up to 12 hours of graduate courses toward both the B.A. and M.P.A. degrees. Thus, the two degrees may be earned with a minimum of 144 or 147 credits rather than the 156 or 159 credits necessary if the two degrees are pursued separately.

Students holding these degrees will learn about the dual nature of homeland security and emergency preparedness as an adaptation of traditional policy responses to natural disasters to include those types of disasters caused by domestic or international terrorism. The program gives students both theoretical and practical knowledge in homeland security and emergency preparedness as well as the skills necessary to become professional public managers, public officials and citizens who are able to meet the challenges of public service in both government and nonprofit sectors and serve the profession and local, state, federal and international communities in this expanding field.

Entrance to the accelerated program

Interested undergraduate students should consult with their adviser as early as possible to receive specific information about the accelerated program, determine academic eligibility and submit (no later than two semesters prior to graduating with a baccalaureate degree, that is, before the end of the spring semester of their junior year) an Accelerated Program Declaration Form to be approved by the graduate program director. Limited spaces may be available in the accelerated program. Academically qualified students may not receive approval if capacity has been reached.

Minimum qualifications for entrance to this accelerated program include completion of 90 undergraduate credit hours including five of the six required 300-level HSEP courses; an overall GPA of 3.5 and a GPA of 3.5 in homeland security and emergency preparedness course work.

Once enrolled in the accelerated program, students must meet the standards of performance applicable to graduate students as described in the “Satisfactory academic progress” section of Bulletin, including maintaining a 3.0 GPA. Guidance to students in an accelerated program is provided by both the undergraduate homeland security and emergency preparedness adviser and the faculty adviser to the Master of Public Administration program.

Admission to the graduate program

Entrance to the accelerated program enables the student to take the approved shared courses that will apply to the undergraduate and graduate degrees. However, entry into an accelerated program via an approved Accelerated Program Declaration Form does not constitute application or admission into the graduate program. Admission to the graduate program requires a separate step that occurs through a formal application. In order to continue pursuing the master’s degree after the baccalaureate degree is conferred, accelerated students must follow the admission to graduate study requirements outlined in the VCU Bulletin.

Degree requirements

The Bachelor of Arts in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness degree will be awarded upon completion of a minimum of 120 credits and the satisfactory completion of all undergraduate degree requirements as stated in the Undergraduate Bulletin.

A maximum of 12 graduate credits may be taken prior to completion of the baccalaureate degree. These graduate credits substitute for upper-level electives for the undergraduate degree. These courses are shared credits with the graduate program, meaning that they will be applied to both undergraduate and graduate degree requirements.

The graduate public administration courses that may be taken as an undergraduate, once a student is admitted to the program, are 12 credits from the following:

Recommended course sequence/plan of study

What follows is the recommended plan of study for students interested in the accelerated program beginning in the fall of the junior year prior to admission to the accelerated program in the senior year.