**31 October 2006**

**Nourishing an Academic Degree:**

**Promoting Growth in Emergency Administration and**

**Planning at the University of North Texas**

David A. McEntire, Ph.D.

Emergency Administration and Planning

Department of Public Administration

University of North Texas

P.O. Box 310617

Denton, TX 76203-0617

\(940\) 565-2996

<mcentire@unt.edu>

**Abstract**

The following paper discusses how to nourish a nascent emergency
management program based on the experience of the Emergency
Administration and Planning Program at the University of North Texas.
The paper will highlight ways to increase program visibility, enhance
customer service, and improve curriculum (among other things) - all with
the purpose of augmenting student enrollment in emergency management
degree programs.

**Introduction**

FEMA's Higher Education program has been instrumental in the
introduction and rapid expansion of emergency management degree programs
in the United States. Under the progressive leadership of Wayne
Blanchard, the number of emergency management degrees has rocketed at
exponential rates (see Blanchard 2006). There are now courses,
certificates, and full-blown academic degrees relating to emergency
management and homeland security in virtually every state in the nation.
While disasters such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina undoubtedly indicate
the urgent need to educate additional emergency management
professionals, most -- if not all -- of the degree programs in this
subject area have limited demand in comparison to more traditional
majors such as business, history or sociology. In addition, the
establishment of new programs has increased competition for student
enrollment. There is certainly much justification for focusing on ways
to promote growth in emergency management degree programs.

Of course, the greatest threat to any academic program is a lack of
interest in the major.[^1] Without sufficient student numbers, there
will be little or no justification for the high expenses associated with
offering a degree in emergency management. The Emergency Administration
and Planning Program (EADP) is the longest standing bachelor's degree in
emergency management. Nonetheless, EADP has faced similar challenges
that more recent programs are encountering (McEntire 2004). David Neal
(2000) has described many of these in his article about overseeing
academic programs. Very few students declared emergency management as
their major when the program was initiated. Later on, there were
insufficient students to justify further investments in faculty so that
the program could be taken to a new level.

The following paper discusses how to nourish a nascent emergency
management program based on the experience of the Emergency
Administration and Planning program at the University of North Texas.
The paper highlights ways to increase program visibility, enhance
customer service, and improve curriculum (among other things) - all with
the purpose of augmenting demand for emergency management degree
programs. Before doing so, it will be necessary to make some preface
comments.

**Preliminary Remarks**

In August 1999, I was hired by the University of North Texas and given
the position of EADP Program Coordinator. At this time, there were only
two full-time faculty teaching emergency management: myself and Dr.
Swaroop Reddy. Because we had 120 declared majors at the undergraduate
level and other instructional responsibilities in the master of public
administration degree program, it quickly became evident that the need
for additional faculty was warranted. We relied on adjuncts to teach
various elective courses, and these individuals were knowledgeable
because of their advanced education and years of practical experience.
Nevertheless, I knew that a strong academic program would require
additional professors who could dedicate all of their time to teaching,
research and service activities (rather than split time and allegiance
among an adjunct role and a regular full-time job). For this reason, I
determined that we had to increase enrollment to the point where
university administrators would be obliged to meet our requests for
additional personnel.

With a little ingenuity in program management as well as a lot of hard
work and fortuitous luck, our program enrollment began to increase by
about 25% each year. Much of this was due to active advertising of the
program over my first two years at UNT. By 2003, we limited our efforts
to recruit students and the rigor of our program began to increase
substantially. In spite of these circumstances, our number of declared
majors continued to grow. When I had resigned my position as Coordinator
in order to spend more time on research, our enrollment had nearly
doubled[^2] and our credit hour production had more than tripled. These
figures were taken into account by the department chair and dean of the
school, and these administrators began to take note of the expansion of
the program. As a result of this growth they were willing to dedicate
additional lines to EADP and recruit bright faculty members.[^3] The
dramatic rise in EADP students was one of the major reasons why we were
able to attract respected scholars such as Jim Kendra, Jack Rozdilky,
and Sudha Arlikati to the University of North Texas. These scholars
expanded expertise in the program dramatically and have helped the
program to become more comprehensive.

Before discussing the activities undertaken to facilitate such growth,
it must be acknowledged that there is no single "right" way to build
enrollment in an academic program. Furthermore, there is probably no
chronological order for the implementation of steps to ensure students
declare themselves majors in the desired degree. Instead (or at least in
our case) multiple measures were pursued simultaneously to build demand
for our degree. While other programs may see success in this approach,
it may be wise to identify their niches and pursue path that would
logically lead to growth based on geographic location, outside
competition, market conditions, and faculty interests and expertise.

**Increasing Visibility**

One of the steps that helped the EADP program grow was to further
people's understanding of the existence and nature of the program.
Because most students gain information today by searching the World Wide
Web, we decided to make this an important priority. While there was a
website in place with useful material about the EADP program before I
arrived at the University of North Texas, I felt that additional web
pages could be provided. I therefore requested that our administrative
assistant, Andrea Slater, make our contact information easier to find so
that prospective students would be able to quickly access phone numbers,
e-mail addresses, and our physical location in case they wanted
additional details about the program. Additional material was provided
including answers to frequently asked questions, course offerings and
schedules, faculty research, library holdings, student events, and other
program news. Andrea also included definitions about the emergency
management profession as well as projections about demand for employees
in this area. Updates of alumni employment were included to illustrate
the marketability of those graduating from the program. These changes
were simple to complete and, although difficult to quantify in terms of
impact, I believe they had a positive influence on people's perception
of the program.

Besides increasing our presence on the Internet, we also decided to
proactively recruit students. We developed a new brochure for our
program and sent it to scores of career and education counselors at high
schools in Texas. I visited a few schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth
Metroplex area and communicated with community colleges in the state.
Some students became interested in the program because of these efforts
and ultimately enrolled in the EADP major.

In another method to promote our program, we attended new student
orientations sponsored by the university. On at least a couple of
occasions we reserved a table and chairs at the basketball stadium
(where the event was held), and brought brochures to share with students
who were entering the university. It is unclear if this resulted in more
students in the EADP program, but there is no doubt that we talked to
scores of students about emergency management and how our degree could
help them enter this exciting profession. We did not track the
effectiveness of this strategy, but I imagine this made at least some
students consider enrolling in EADP courses. At a minimum, more people
were aware of this field of study and the fact that this degree was
available at UNT.

A fourth method to increase the visibility of our program was to
publicize it in media outlets. On a few occasions, we contacted the UNT
newspaper (the NT Daily) to let them know about our annual disaster
education day conference. At other times, students on the NT Daily staff
contacted us to ask our opinion about current disaster events. Local and
regional newspapers and TV stations also called us at times for
interviews and we tried to meet their requests where possible. While
their goal was to seek our thoughts about unfolding disasters, we also
took advantage of the situation to advertise our program. A number of
students told me they were made aware of EADP because of newscasts.
Parents seemed to be more in tune with the newspaper articles in which
we discussed disasters and featured our program. This effort had a
positive impact on awareness of the EADP program.

A final step taken to augment people's knowledge of the EADP program was
to create new course entitled "Images of Disasters in Film and Media".
When I interviewed for my position at the University of North Texas one
of the questions I was asked centered on ways to increase interest in
the program. I stated that there was a great deal of literature on
disaster "myths"[^4] One idea I relayed would be to illustrate how TV
anchors and movie actors/actresses perpetuate these views (see Fischer
1995). After being offered the position, we hired Rich Weber to run our
professional outreach program, and he also taught as an adjunct and
introduced this course. We had some professional quality movie posters
made to advertise the class and they were posted throughout the
university. The class quickly filled to capacity and was an instant
success. In my mind, the course succeeded in reaching two goals. First,
it helped to educate all students who enrolled in the class about the
realities associated with human behavior in disaster situations. Second,
the course served to augment student interest in EADP and draw them into
the major. Several students enrolled in EADP courses as a result. The
class remains popular to this day, and is now taught by Jim Kendra and
Jack Rozdilsky. Other schools, including the University of Akron, have
also had success with this approach.

**Ensuring Customer Service**

Another goal for the EADP program was to make sure that prospective and
enrolled students felt our sincere desire to assist them with their
educational goals. When people inquired about the program (through phone
calls or e-mails) we did our best to inform them about our program, the
profession of emergency management, and enrollment procedures. If no one
was available when they tried to contact us, we would try to get back to
them within 24 hours. E-mails were also returned quickly. I feel that
this had a tremendous impact on student perceptions of our program. I am
absolutely certain that this impelled some to declare EADP as their
major. As time passed, several of my students expressed appreciation for
the questions that were answered in an expedited manner. Without
sounding critical, some suggested that this was one of the reasons why
they choose UNT over another schools.

While answering student inquiries, I began to notice that questions were
often repetitive. In an attempt to limit our time trying to answer
prospective student inquiries, we developed a packet of information that
we could send to those asking about our program. The packet included our
brochure, major requirements, course descriptions, course schedules,
faculty biographies, and a copy of the Mitigator (our program
newsletter). This packet was sent to each person who contacted us
through phone calls or e-mail correspondence. I believe it was an
additional reason why some enrolled in the EADP program.

Meeting with prospective students in person also attracted students to
our program. While communicating through phone calls or e-mails, and
even after sending out packets of information, some desired to come to
the university to gain a better comprehension of our degree program. We
always tried to accommodate these students since they had an unusual
interest in emergency management. Some even came with parents or visited
from far away states. This face to face meeting helped to sell our
program to students and educate the sometimes skeptical parents who
typically knew very little about the emerging disaster profession. The
time we spent going over the degree requirements and future outlook of
emergency management often resulted in additional enrollment.

Once a student entered the program, our efforts at customer service did
not end. At least twice a year, we had an orientation for those students
who had recently declared EADP as their major. We reviewed the student
handbook we created for this purpose, introduced faculty and staff,
discussed internships, and highlighted course expectations. We also
provided suggestions on how to prepare successfully for a career in
emergency management and covered options for employment in the public,
private and non-profit sectors. This orientation reiterated those things
that were said to students when they sought out the major and gave them
additional details about graduation requirements. This was not all
however. As students dropped in to seek additional information about the
EADP degree or obtain advice on internship and career counseling, we
dropped what we were doing (when possible) and tried to point out degree
expectations and share thoughts about how best to prepare for future
employment opportunities. Our program advisor, Lynn Brister Cox, also
did everything she could to help students reach their educational goals.
While not everyone was completely satisfied, I believe the vast majority
think we had their best interest at heart. Retention remained high as a
result.

**Improving Curriculum**

All of the endeavors mentioned thus far are important and necessary for
the creation and evolution of emergency management degrees. However,
these steps are certainly incomplete in and of themselves. The most
vital measure to be undertaken to ensure sufficient enrollment is to
improve the quality of the academic program. No step can increase the
number of majors more than ensuring students gain a sound education. At
the University of North Texas, this required a review of the degree
program, the creation of additional courses, higher expectations for
students, and participating in other pedagogical initiatives.

One of my first goals at UNT was to better understand the strengths and
weaknesses of our degree program. For this reason, we revitalized our
advisory board and made sure that it included students and alumni as
well as professionals who had expertise in specific hazards, phases of
disasters, or sectors of emergency management. In other words, we tried
to appoint people who had expertise in natural, technological and civil
hazards. We also invited people to participate who had understanding of
mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery activities. We likewise
wanted people from all levels of government in addition to private
corporations who had business continuity programs and other
organizations like the American Red Cross. Once formed, we joined
together over a lunch meeting where I gave a report of our program and
outlined our current situation. The advisory board was impressed with
the program, but generated numerous ideas on what needed to be changed
and how those could be implemented. Such recommendations included more
emphasis in the curriculum on city ordinances, the legal aspects of
emergency management, federal regulations, and grant management. These
recommendations were integrated into our courses and have helped to
facilitate a better understanding of the profession among our students.
Over the following years, we repeated the same activity and again tried
to follow the suggestions of practitioners where possible. Although more
can be done, it is likely that these changes helped to increase the
standing of our degree program among practitioners (which would
logically help recruitment among them and others).

The first year I was in charge of the EADP program also happened to be
the year for our academic accreditation review. UNT falls under the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and, in consequence,
each academic program must be assessed on a seven year basis. With the
help of administrators and our administrative assistant we created a
self study that looked closely at the theory in our curriculum,
instructional activities, faculty-student ratio, and other related
details pertaining to the program. Bill Waugh, a well-known and
experienced emergency management scholar from Georgia State University,
served as our external reviewer. He was joined by others scholars from
various departments at UNT. After reviewing our statement and visiting
with students, faculty, administrators and the review committee, Waugh
wrote a report to outline his thoughts about EADP strengths and areas
for improvement. He seemed to be impressed with the organization of our
degree, but recommended that we increase the rigor of the program.

Over the next few years, we began to expect more of our students in
terms of reading, writing, testing and other class assignments. More
articles and books were assigned to each class, and students were
required to write additional research papers and participate in group
projects and oral presentations. Additional quizzes and tests were given
in our courses, and expectations rose for student performance. One
student commented in my course evaluations: "For Summer -- a 4 week
class -- the presentation could have been left off. 2 quizzes, 2 exams
plus 1 term paper was (sic) enough if the student had enough time to do
all of the readings." Another recommended on Pick-A-Prof.com "if you do
not have a lot of time to spend on this class, consider taking another."
Grading was also more demanding. For instance, the As awarded in my Fall
2005 Capstone in Emergency Management course were less than 13% of the
total enrollment (6 out of 47). In my Disaster Response and Recovery
course, 16 out of 42 students (nearly 40%) received a grade of C, D or
F. While it is true that some students opted out of our major because of
these new standards, most appear to appreciate our raising of the bar.
In fact, complaints about the ease of the program in course evaluations
have dropped while some students now imply that we expect too much them.
Interestingly, enrollment increased in spite of these new standards.

Besides listening to our advisory board, undergoing an accreditation
review, and ratcheting up demands on student performance, we also made
significant changes to our list of course offerings. We worked closely
with the department Curriculum and Degree Programs Committee (and school
and university counterparts) to propose changes to the courses. For
instance, the internship requirement was reinstated for those majoring
in Emergency Administration and Planning. Courses such as Private Sector
Issues, International Disasters, the Federal Government in Disasters,
and Flood Plain Management were converted to permanent offerings in the
degree (they were previously listed as experimental courses). Other
classes, including Introduction to Public Administration,
Intergovernmental Relations, Terrorism and Emergency Management,[^5]
Introduction to GIS, Proposal Writing and Grants Administration,
Meteorology, and Remote Sensing among others, were accepted toward the
degree.

Several measures were undertaken in the classroom to enhance student
learning. Videos were purchased and shown to highlight discussions about
theoretical debates or practical dilemmas. Guest speakers representing a
variety of agencies and perspectives were brought in to provide an
accurate picture of real world concerns. Field trips to Red Cross
Chapters, FEMA Region VI headquarters, and the National Information
Processing Service Center were scheduled to help students comprehend
various workplaces in emergency management. All of these endeavors
improved the academic experience for students majoring in Emergency
Administration and Planning.

**Additional Measures and Areas for Improvement**

Besides the steps mentioned above, we undertook further initiatives to
attract students to the University of North Texas. For instance, we
continued to seek additional resources to maintain the Tom Joslin's
Memorial Scholarship. We were also successful in acquiring money for new
scholarships as well as financial awards to recognize outstanding
students. Our chapter of the International Emergency Management Student
Association (created by David Neal at the University of North Texas and
expanded to other schools and the International Association of Emergency
Managers as a regional chapter) maintained numerous professional and
social activities for its members. Leaders arranged for speakers to
visit campus, reserved booths at homecoming events, scheduled student
and alumni parties, developed a CERT program, and promoted other events
to advance emergency management or increase student cohesion. We also
initiated a chapter of Rho Epsilon Mu, the emergency management honors
society. While IEMSA was more concerned about practical issues in the
field and social gatherings, the Rho Epsilon Mu chapter allowed us to
recognize successful students. Rho Epsilon Mu sponsored discussions
about recent publications and current theoretical perspectives with
faculty over refreshments and drinks. The university also allowed us to
fund student travel to conferences in Texas and around the nation (e.g.,
Texas Division of Emergency Management Conference and the annual meeting
of the International Association of Emergency Managers). These extra
endeavors were beneficial, but perhaps intangible, measures that may
have also added to the attractiveness of our program.

Even though we tried to implement a comprehensive methodology to augment
the number of majors and credit hour production, there were several
mistakes or omissions that we could have been averted. For instance, we
probably unnecessarily delayed a major reorganization of our core
courses. When I arrived at UNT I felt there was too much overlap among
each of the mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery classes. I
probably delayed too long in combining these topics into two courses (a
pre-disaster and post-disaster sequence)[^6] in order to get the input
and approval of additional EADP faculty. Although we developed close
relations with many practitioners in the area, we likely failed to fully
involve ourselves with professionals in the field. Put differently, we
could have done more to increase ties with emergency managers, but we
focused our energies and attention on academic concerns. Furthermore, we
probably could have been more aggressive in our efforts to acquire more
funds for scholarships. These financial resources could have attracted
even more students, both those from Texas and others needing help to pay
for out-of-state tuition. We also should have done a better job finding
out where our students were coming from and what brought them to our
program. Finally, we gave so much attention to the undergraduate program
that we delayed the development of our MPA concentration. We are
therefore building the emergency management component in this area
currently, and introducing more advanced courses at the Ph.D. level.

**Conclusion**

This paper has identified various measures undertaken to increase the
number of majors enrolled in the Emergency Administration and Planning
Program. It identified several ways to promote program visibility,
enhance customer service, and improve curriculum. Perhaps as a result of
these efforts, demand for the EADP degree has risen dramatically since
Fall 1999. However, several shortcomings were identified that could be
corrected or addressed in the future. Other programs may therefore wish
to learn from the successes and failures at the University of North
Texas as they create and build their own programs in this important
field of study.

**References**

Blanchard, Wayne. 2006. "Higher Education Presentation." Federal
Emergency Management Agency. June 15, Emmitsburg, Maryland.
[http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/docs/HighEd%20Slide%20Presentation.ppt](http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/docs/HighEd Slide Presentation.ppt)

Fischer, Henry W. III. 1995. *Disaster Response: Fact Versus Fiction,
and its Perpetuation*. University of America.

McEntire, David A. 2004. *"Foreseeing the Future, Revisiting the Past:
The Historical Development and Progress of the Emergency Administration
and Planning Program."* White Paper. Federal Emergency Management
Agency. Emmitsburg, Maryland.
<http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/highpapers.asp>

Neal, David M. 2000. "Developing Degree Programs in Disaster Management:
Some Reflections and Observations." *International Journal of Mass
Emergencies and Disasters* 18 (3): 417-437.

[^1]: Other possible threats include lack of support by department,
    school or university administrators; poor management of the program;
    and insufficient quality faculty.

[^2]: These figures did not include those taking a minor in EADP,
    students participating in the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences
    degree, and others taking our courses as electives.

[^3]: At the time of this writing, there are four full-time professors,
    a resident expert and several adjunct faculty members working for
    EADP.

[^4]: I prefer to use the term "exaggerations" instead of 'myths,'
    because there is some degree of truth in media reports and Hollywood
    films. Of course, the vast majority of people do not loot or engage
    in anti-social behavior. However, there are some individuals that
    will take others' property, practice price gouging, or engage in
    fraudulent activity regarding FEMA grants. These cases are typically
    blown way out of proportion by news organizations and movie
    directors. Hence, the term "exaggeration."

[^5]: This class was taught for the first time before 9/11.

[^6]: We struggled to know if we should combine mitigation and recovery
    together or join mitigation and preparedness together. Since a
    hazard and vulnerability analysis is key to mitigation and
    preparedness activities, we opted for the latter choice. The
    assessment of damages, impact and needs are also of paramount
    importance to response and recovery operations. Of course, there are
    also logical reasons why we could have implemented the first option,
    and integrated preparedness and response phases into a new course.