Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies

							An Overview of Brandon University’s
        ADES Department
This presentation is an updated version of the one originally
presented by John Lindsay at the PSEPC Higher Education
                workshop, November 2005.
• Brandon University began offering a four year degree
  program in 2001 and has graduated both BA and BSc
  students in disaster studies.
• The ADES degree is designed to combine social and
  physical sciences perspectives of hazards and disasters
  within a liberal arts education framework.
• The ADES department has three full-time faculty and
  draws expertise from across Canada.
• In 2005/06 over 60 students declared ADES as their
  major and 50+ students in the 1st year classes.
• As of January 06 the ADES faculty is:
• Dr Jason Levy
  – crisis decision making, decision support software
• Dr Elaine Enarson
  – disaster sociology, social vulnerability
• John Lindsay
  – emergency management systems and practices
• Initially the prescriptive 4 year program relied
  on heavily courses from other departments.
• ADES and these other core courses accounted
  for 75 of the 120 credit hours for the degree
• At least 18 credit hours of elective courses were
  also selected from either the science (BSc) or
  planning (BA) concentrations.
• The remaining credit hours were for Liberal
  Education and prerequisite requirements.
• The original program design, while driven by
  necessity, created some challenges:
  – Scheduling difficulties effectively limited the
    variations possible.
  – A high degree of homogeneity in the students’
    transcripts arose.
  – Limited students’ options to pursue a minor to
    complement ADES.
     * This slide was not included in original presentation.
• ADES is now offering a major and minor based
  program starting in September 2006.
• This builds on the established core ADES
  course offerings while giving students more
  flexibility in selecting their electives.
• The BA/BSc will be based on the selection of
  Science or Arts electives.
• ADES will also be available as a minor.
•   40:151 Intro to Disaster Studies
•   40:152 Intro to Emergency Management
•   40:251 Hazards: Causes and Consequences
•   40:252 Emergency Planning
•   40:253 Hazard and Risk Assessment
•   40:352 Emergency Management Law
•   40:362 Disaster Response Management
•   40:448 ADES Practicum (6 credit hours)
•   Total Credit Hours: 27
                                   !
• An additional 15 ADES credit hours (5 courses)
  are selected from topics including:
  –   Disaster Mitigation
  –   Crisis Decision Making and Support Systems
  –   Disaster Sociology
  –   Disasters and Development
  –   International Emergency Management
  –   Risk Communication
  –   Current Issues in Emergency Management
        "                               #
            $$
• The challenge that the ADES program is
  solving is how to focus students on a discipline
  that has not yet matured and will be best studied
  in an interdisciplinary approach.
• The combination of core ADES courses with an
  inclusive set of electives (an additional 12
  credit hours) forming the ‘major’ area of study
  ensures students have a balanced perspective.
•   The applied aspects of the program come
    through in four main ways:
    1. Use of the Emergency Operations Lab
    2. Assignments based on ‘practical’ tasks,
       including preparing policy related documents
    3. Incorporating current practitioners as guest
       speakers and sessional instructors.
    4. Client-focused final practicum projects
                         #

• Develop and complete a “client based”
  emergency management project in order to:
  – Understand the goals, structure and functions of the
    agency, and how the agency fits into the larger
    emergency management system.
  – Identify, comprehend and apply relevant emergency
    management related concepts and skills.
  – Gain experience while contributing to local efforts.
                          %&
• Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition
  (PLAR) is a BU initiative that allows students
  who have gained university-level knowledge
  and skills through life-and-work-experience to
  apply for academic credit.
• ADES welcomes PLAR applications to help
  recognize prior emergency management
  experience and training.
     * This slide was not included in original presentation.
                          #
                                          s
• Students who already have a Bachelor' may
  qualify to take the ADES program as a “second
  degree student” and finish sooner.
• This recognizes the prior degree and reduces
  the credit hours for the 4 year degree to just
  what’s required to fulfill the major and minor
  (e.g. 54 for ADES + 18 for geography = 72)
     * This slide was not included in original presentation.
         %'             #
• Maximum of 18 credit hours (6 credits per
  area) from courses in the Humanities, Social
  Sciences and Natural Sciences.
• Courses can count toward both the ADES
  requirement and the Liberal Education
  requirement.
• This complements the interdisciplinary nature
  of the ADES program.
           $ ('           #
• ADES is combining the convenience of
  distance learning with the benefits of campus
  resources like our Emergency Operations Lab.
• To fulfill the residency requirement 60 credit
  hours must be Brandon University courses –
  and this may include BU courses offered on-
  line through Campus Manitoba.
• Students considering a combination of distance
  and campus based study should contact ADES .
   )                )
 ' #
 *             *         #

          call (204) 727-9768
      drop by the ADES offices
(ground floor Brodie Science Building)