Course Syllabus

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Syllabus

 Course: Political and Legal Foundations of Fire Protection

Course & Section: FES 3004

Credit Hours: 3

Session:

** On-line

** THERE WILL BE TIMES SCHEDULED FOR ON-LINE MEETINGS IF NECESSARY WITH INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS

Instructor: John Murphy

John K. Murphy, J.D. M. S., PA-C, EFO, is a practicing attorney since 2002 licensed in Washington State.  Before his work as an attorney, Mr. Murphy completed a 32-year career in the fire service, retiring as a Deputy Fire Chief for Eastside Fire & Rescue (Issaquah, WA) and Fire Chief of the City of Sammamish (WA). During his fire service career, he rose in the ranks from firefighter/paramedic to Chief Officer with extensive experience in Command Operations. He was the Chief of Training, and the Health and Safety Officer instrumental in the development of health and safety programs for his departments. He was responsible for fire training curriculum development, implementation of training programs, organizational development, management, and training of executive-level managers. 

He has been instrumental in reorganizing small—to medium-sized businesses and public safety organizations. He has experience in organizational development and management and consults with and trains private and public entities in effective organizational management, strategic planning, personnel strategies, and goal-setting. 

Mr. Murphy received his Juris Doctor from Seattle University School of Law, a Master of Science, and a Bachelor of Science in Health Education from Central Washington University. He graduated from the University of Utah’s School of Medicine’s Physicians Assistant Program. He is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, an Emeritus Member of the New York Bar Association, and the U.S. District Court/Western Division. He served in the US Navy/USMC as a hospital corpsman. 

He is also a member of several fire service organizations promoting excellence in leadership, is the legal counsel for the International Association of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI), and is an elected fire commissioner in Washington State. He is a national instructor on legal and health issues affecting the fire service, a writer and podcast member for Fire Engineering Magazine on various topics and curator of the Fire Engineering Policy Bank. Mr. Murphy authored the book Legal, Political, and Regulatory Environment for Emergency Medical Services. He co-authored the book Cooling the Flames: Communication, Control, and De-escalation of Mentally Ill and Aggressive Patients.

Office Hours:   12:00 PM to 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday Pacific Standard Time (PST)

**Course Website: http://lss.at.ufl.edu

** Course Communications: There is a General Discussion tab that can be used, or send me an email through the course email. Urgent messages can be sent to my U of F email directly at  j.k.murphy911@dcp.ufl.edu. Please use my personal email at jkmurphylaw911@gmail.com for the fastest response. 

Required Text:

  • Fire Service Law, Second Edition (2017); Larry Bennett, Brady Publishing (Pearson) ISBN: 1478633972 - YOU CAN RENT THIS ON AMAZON FOR THE SEMESTER

  •  Fire Protection Handbook, 21st Edition (you do not have to purchase this book. It is a great resource for your department.
  • Supplemental material on the most recent case law can be found online. If you use online material, please cite it appropriately. Wikipedia will not be allowed as a citation. 

**Additional Resources: Use resources on the course site under the Resource tab

**Course Description: This course examines the legal, political, and societal impacts of issues affecting the fire service. This course includes a review of the American legal system and in-depth coverage of legal and political issues involving employment and personnel matters, administrative and operational matters, planning and code enforcement, and legislative and political processes including free speech rights. 

**Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills: None

Purpose of Course: This course provides an understanding of the legal and political system as it pertains to the fire service.

Course Goals and/or Objectives: By the end of this course, students will:

  1. Identify potential legal and political issues in fire and emergency services.
  2. Describe legal lessons learned from recent cases and identify best practices in the fire service to avoid legal liability.
  3. Analyze and apply legal rules and political issues to manage risk.
  4. Formulate political and legal conclusions and recommendations based on the analysis.
  5. Locate and apply recent legal and legislative material using online resources.

** How This Course Relates to the Student Learning Outcomes in the Fire and Emergency services program: As many aspects of Fire and Emergency Services are intertwined with the law, the student shall demonstrate knowledge and legal application of safety, health and environmental regulations at state and federal levels. The student shall also demonstrate strong verbal and written communication skills for fire and emergency services leadership.

**Teaching Philosophy: I am looking for students to demonstrate a working knowledge of the subject. You need to be creative and thorough when you complete your assignments and maintain a professional appearance in your work. Your work needs to be complete and in such a manner that someone can pick up your document and understand what you are trying to convey. And most of all, your work needs to be supported with research and cited properly in APA format.

**Instructional Methods: The course is designed for individual and group interactivity. It is important to post and respond to discussion questions within the time frame allotted. This provides a learning environment by networking with other students in the course. The written assignments are individual-based to allow you to do various activities, in many cases similar to what you will be doing in your role as a leader in the emergency services profession.  

Course Policies:

Attendance Policy: The course is designed in module format. You should check the site at least once a week. You must complete the assignments, including discussion questions, within the period designated in the module. There will be individual meetings set up throughout the course if necessary. Requirements for class attendance and make-up exams, assignments, and other work in this course are consistent with university policies that can be found in the online catalog at: https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/attendance.aspx.

USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) 

Using machines that emulate human capabilities (ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, DALLE, etc.) to perform assignments or other coursework should be disclosed as it can border on plagiarism. AI-generated information, as long as this use is properly documented in the references will need to include the prompt and the significant parts of the response. The use of generative AI tools is not permitted in this course for the following activities: 

  1. Completing group work that your group has assigned to you. 
  2. Writing a draft of a writing assignment. 
  3. Writing entire sentences, paragraphs or papers to complete class assignments. 

**Quiz/Exam Policy: This course has a final project, but there are no exams or quizzes.

Deployment: If you are a member of the military, DMAT, or USAR teams or a member of any other organization that provides disaster relief and deployed, please notify me as soon as possible. I will waive the date of assignment completion. However, all assignments must be completed before the end of the semester. Be safe. 

Make-up Policy: To receive credit, you must contact me if you are going to be late on any assignment.

**Assignment Policy: All assignments have a due date. Please check the date and time it is due in each module.

**Course Technology: Class meetings, if held, will require a web camera and mic/audio. If you are not able to use a web camera, you will need to at least provide audio/mic. You can also call in on a phone.

** UF’s honesty policy  

UF students are bound by The Honor Pledge, which states, “We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honor and integrity by abiding by the Honor Code.  On all work submitted for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.” The Honor Code has been updated in 2018 and specifies a number of behaviors that are in violation of this code and the possible sanctions. Furthermore, you are obliged to report any condition that facilitates academic misconduct to appropriate personnel. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult with the instructor for this class. Please click on the link below for the most recent version. 

http://regulations.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/4.040_18_revised2.pdf

UF Policies:

University Policy on Accommodating Students with Disabilities: Students requesting accommodation for disabilities must first register with the Dean of Students Office (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/). The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation. You must submit this documentation prior to submitting assignments or taking the quizzes or exams. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the office as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations.

University Policy on Academic Misconduct: Academic honesty and integrity are fundamental values of the University community. Students should be sure that they understand the UF Student Honor Code at http://www.dso.ufl.edu/students.php.

**Netiquette: Communication Courtesy: All class members are expected to follow rules of common courtesy in all email messages, threaded discussions, and chats. [Describe what is expected and what will occur as a result of improper behavior] http://teach.ufl.edu/docs/NetiquetteGuideforOnlineCourses.pdf

Getting Help:

For issues with technical difficulties for E-learning in Sakai, please contact the UF Help Desk at:

  • Counseling and Wellness Resources
  • Disability resources
  • Resources for handling student concerns and complaints
  • Library Help Desk support

Should you have any complaints with your experience in this course please visit http://www.distance.ufl.edu/student-complaints to submit a complaint.

Tentative course schedule - See Course Schedule below.

Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four 
Week Five
Week Six 
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
Week Eleven
Week Twelve
Week Thirteen
Week Fourteen
Week Fifteen

 

Grading Policies:

The grade is based on a point system. You divide the total number of earned points into the total amount of points available to determine your grade. A grading rubric for the final project is under the Resource Tab on the course.

Assignment

Points or percentage

Grading Discussion Participation – 15 points each discussion

105 points

Homework Assignments – points each assignment

105 points

Final Project - comprehensive and applied

100 points

Total Grade

310 points

 

See https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/grades.aspx regarding current UF grading policies.

Grading Scale

A   = 93.0 to 100%

A-  = 90.0 to 92.9   

B+ = 87.0 to 89.9

B   = 83.0 to 86.9

B-  = 80.0 to 82.9  

C+ = 77.0 to 79.9   

C   = 73.0 to 76.9    

C-  = 70.0 to 72.9

D+ = 67.0 to 69.9

D   = 63.0 to 66.9

D-  = 60.0 to 62.9

 F   = below 60  

Evaluation process:

Students are expected to provide feedback on the quality of instruction in this course based on 10 criteria. These evaluations are conducted online at https://evaluations.ufl.edu. Evaluations are typically open during the last two or three

Weeks of the semester, but students will be given specific times when they are open via your email. 

Summary results of these assessments are available to students at

https://evaluations.ufl.edu.

Course Summary:

Date Details Due