Course Syllabus

FES 4014 Foundations of Emergency Management

Course Description

This course introduces the student to safety, health, operations, procedures and environmental regulations at the state and federal levels that affect the delivery of fire and emergency services.

In the following areas of interest: Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA), US Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) regulations and standards will be introduced along with methods and techniques to implement compliance programs. The student will look to state and local laws affecting their fire and emergency organizations and discover methods to influence revisions, additions, and elimination of requirements will be discussed from the state, federal, and national consensus standards will be discussed.

Course Textbook Required:

• Introduction to Emergency Management 6^th Edition (2017) Haddow, G., Bullock, J., Coppola, D., Butterworth-Heinemann Publishing, ISBN # 978-0124077843
• “Together is Better” A Little Book of Inspiration. 2016 by Sinek Partners, LLC, ISBN #9781591847854

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills: None

Learning Objectives

The student will be able to:

• Discuss the historical aspects of emergency
• Describe how to conduct a risk
• Explain the various disciplines of emergency
• Reviews international disaster
• Discuss the impact of terrorism on emergency management
• Discuss the future as it relates to emergency

Course Goals

How This Course Relates to the Student Learning Outcomes in the FIRE emergency services program:

EMERGENCY SERVICES PROGRAM: Identify and evaluate organizational problems associated with fire and emergency services. Identify and demonstrate proper knowledge and use of comprehensive emergency management/command and control skills in major catastrophic incidents in fire and emergency services. Demonstrate strong verbal and written communication skills for leadership in fire and emergency services.

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

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

Course Policies

Attendance Policy: The course is designed in module format. You should check the site at least once a week. You are required to complete the assignments including discussion questions within the time period designated on the module. There will be meetings set up throughout the course. 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.

• Quiz/Exam Policy: There is a final project for this course. There are no exams or quizzes except for the Syllabus Quiz.
• Make-up Policy: You must contact me if you are going to be late on any assignment to receive credit.
• Assignment and Discussion Policy: All assignments and discussions have a due date. Please be sure to check the date and time it is due in each module. 
• Course Technology: Class meetings 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 call in on a phone also. 
• GatorEvals: Students are expected to provide professional and respectful feedback on the quality of instruction in this course by completing course evaluations online via GatorEvals. Guidance on how to give feedback in a professional and respectful manner is available at https://gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/students/. Students will be notified when the evaluation period opens and can complete evaluations through the email they receive from GatorEvals, in their Canvas course menu under GatorEvals, or via https://ufl.bluera.com/ufl/. Summaries of course evaluation results are available to students at https://gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/public-results/.”

Canvas Information & Technology

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

• Learning-support@ufl.edu
• (352) 392-HELP - select option 2
• https://lss.at.ufl.edu/help.shtml

Any requests for make-ups due to technical issues MUST be accompanied by the ticket number received from LSS when the problem was reported to them. The ticket number will document the time and date of the problem. You MUST e-mail your instructor within 24 hours of the technical difficulty if you wish to request make-up.

Other resources are available athttp://www.distance.ufl.edu/getting-help for:

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

UF Honor Code

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 (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/sccr/process/student-conduct-honor-code/) specifies the 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 of in this class.

USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) 

Any and all use of machines that emulate human capabilities (ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, DALLE, etc.) to perform assignments or other works in the course should be disclosed as it can border on plagiarism. AI-generated information, as long as this use is properly documented in the references and 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. 

UF Policies

University Policy on Accommodating Students with Disabilities: Students requesting accommodation for disabilities must first register with the Dean of Students Office. Here is the link. 

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.

Netiquette: Communication Courtesy:  All members of the class are expected to follow rules of common courtesy in all email messages, threaded discussions, and chats. 

Grading Scale

Course Grades

Late Assignments and Discussion Posts

• Assignments 48 hours late will receive a 10% reduction in their grade.
• Assignments more than 48 hours but less than 30 days late will receive a 20% reduction in their grade.
• Assignments more than 30 days late but submitted during the semester will receive a 50% reduction in their grade.
• Discussions more than 48 hours late will receive a 25% reduction in their grade.
• Discussions more than 30 days late but submitted during the semester will receive a 50% reduction in their grade.

Please note: Any student who has less than 75% of their work completed for the semester cannot earn an “I” contract. If you have 75% of the work completed, you can propose an I contract to the instructor. It is your responsibility to keep your instructor informed at all times. The instructor does have the right under extenuating circumstances with proper notification to assist the student by extending the above time requirements.

*Points will be deducted for all late assignments.  

Course Schedule

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.