# Presentation: 162924

## Bringing Practitioners into the Fold:
Practical Suggestions for Successfully Bridging the Divide Between Students and Practitioners

Carol Cwiak
North Dakota State University

***Practical Suggestions for Successfully Bridging the Divide Between Students and Practitioners***
**Carol Cwiak**
**North Dakota State University**

## Education: The Highest Order of Mitigation

_**Education**_**:** ***The Highest Order of Mitigation***

-    **“****Mitigation is sustained action that reduces or eliminates long-term risk to people and property from hazards and their effects.” *****(Disaster Resistant Jobs Facilitator Guide, p. 4 - 6)***
**The highest order of mitigation requires a paradigm shift that adopts a posture of resilience above patchwork attempts at resistance and requires the proverbial “village” of practitioners, researchers, city planners, community organizers, businesses, etc. to buy-in to a new ideology of vulnerability and sustainability. **

**Notes:**
Such buy-in requires an acceptance of the value of higher education programs in the professionalization of the field, particularly from practitioners. 

## The Gap?

**Book Smarts  vs.  Street Smarts**
**AKA**
**Experience  vs.  Education**

## Slide 4

| Emergency Manager “Stereotype” | The “New Generation” Emergency Manager |
| --- | --- |
| 1.  Not college educated (4-year degree)  | 1.  College educated—many with EM degrees  |
| 2.  Middle to late middle-aged  | 2.  More professional and knowledgeable  |
| 3.  Emergency management is second or third career  | 3.  Knowledge base: science and research  |
| 4.  Job obtained other than with EM Competencies  | 4.  Technologically more proficient/adept  |
| 5.  Spend EM career in one jurisdiction  | 5.  Younger  |
| 6.  Disaster response planning-oriented  | 6.  More diverse and culturally sensitive  |
| 7.  Works primarily with emergency services  | 7.  Emergency management is career of first choice  |
| 8.  Bureaucratic  | 8.  Building disaster-resistant communities focus  |
| 9.  Plans for jurisdiction (primarily disaster response-oriented) | 9.  Proactive  |
| 10. Has not done a risk assessment | 10. Lifelong learner; reads disaster literature  |
| 11. Has not done a mitigation plan  | 11. Joins professional associations  |
| 12. Has not done a strategic plan  | 12. Plans with jurisdiction stakeholders  |
| 13. Has not joined an EM professional association  | 13. Better paid  |
| 14. Doesn’t read disaster research literature  | 14. Better funding for EM programs  |
| 15. Knowledge base is experiential | 15. Upwardly and geographically mobile  |
| 16. Frequently wears other hats  | 16. Broader range of working contacts  |
| 17. Not well-paid or funded | Information supplied by: Dr. Wayne Blanchard, 
FEMA Higher Education Project |
| 18. Many part-time and volunteer positions  |  |

## The Issues

**Difference between depth and breadth of “knowing”**
**Immediacy of knowledge is required in the field**
**Stigma attached to degree**
**Age**
***Are these issues what are really ***
***causing this gap? ***

**Notes:**
Students: exposed to a wide range of materials that provide at least minimal coverage in many topic areas in emergency management
Practitioners are more likely to be extremely well-versed in practical applications in a particular area or two- particularly at the state and federal level whose entire orientation in EM may be in operations, planning, mitigation, etc.
Knowledge also is diverse between the two groups at the level of acquisition and usage.  While students’ knowledge is obtained through formal education channels, practitioners’ knowledge is obtained through training and actual application.  Students may “know” the same thing as the practitioners by virtue of theory and case studies, but this type of knowing without experiencing is not perceived as equally credible by practitioners.  Practitioners’ additional usage of what they “know” allows for continuing modifications of their knowledge base.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Emergency management, by its very nature, requires the ability to jump in and get the job done.  The luxury of in-house orientation is not always an option.  -------------------------------There is a stigma attached to higher education that tends to function as a class distinction - the message received from the higher education project is that it is producing the “new generation”.  The message being promulgated by higher education programs is a need for change and advancement and makes sense in current practitioners have a diminishing value based primarily on their lack of education.  This sets up an artificial spectrum with the college-educated on one end and the non-degreed or lesser-degreed emergency managers on the other end.  The degree ends up equating with validation, or conversely, lack thereof.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blanchard predicts the “new generation” of emergency managers will be younger than the middle to late-middle-aged “stereotypical” emergency manager.  In recent research the mean ages of those surveyed were reflected as age 46 (IAEM) and age 51(NDC)	 

## Is there more to this story?

**YES   and   NO**
**The issues mentioned play a part, **
**but the biggest issue is one of valuation. **
-    **Do practitioners feel their expertise **
**is valued by the higher education **
**                   ****community?**

##               What’s really happening here?

**                      **
**	****	****	****     **_**The valuation of “**__***knowing***__**”**_** **
**	****It is important to note at this point that the argument of book smarts versus street smarts is less about the way we “know”, than the valuation of the type of knowing.**
**  **
**	****The message that college-educated is better is destined to be received combatively by those who are not college-educated, but know their job.  Understand that college graduates are not the issue in-and-of themselves, the degree that is being heralded as validation of superiority and the face of the future that is the issue. **

## Practical Suggestions

**Create either a formal or informal advisory board that includes a number of key local, regional, state and federal practitioners from your area. **
**Collegiate programs offering associate and bachelor degrees should offer practical/life experience credit hours for practitioners.**** ****  **
**Bring in practitioners to speak to your classes. **

**Notes:**
Involving practitioners creates the buy-in and ownership that will do two things: 1) remove them as a possible naysayer in the community, and 2) enlist them as a supporter.

Supporters of a program will say good things about it to their colleagues and will more highly value the product of the program (the students).  The end result will be a practitioner ambassador that will encourage hiring of the new generation and promote your program to possible practitioner students.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This credit should not exceed more than 30% of the course-focused material (as opposed to general requirements).  This credit will give practitioners a gentle push toward their degree while recognizing and validating their experience and expertise.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Giving deference to their expertise validates that they are valued by the particular program.  It is a good first step in building a relationship with the practitioner as well.

## Once a relationship is developed with local, regional and state practitioners, set up internships for students with practitioners. 

Contact local practitioners and extend the offer of utilizing students from their program for training and full-scale exercises.  

Sponsor a community preparedness day on campus.

**Contact local practitioners and extend the offer of utilizing students from their program for training and full-scale exercises.**
**Sponsor a community preparedness day on campus.**

**Notes:**
Allow the practitioner to fill out a detailed intern evaluation form after the internship is complete to validate the importance of the internship experience and the practitioner's comments.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is valuable to the students and a tremendous resource for the practitioner as getting "victims" is one of the hardest parts of an training or exercise.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------There are monetary benefits to this as well as bridging benefits in doing this.  The state has access to all the county personnel and has the power to set a tone and even promote educational incentives within their state to its state and county level personnel.  It opens up more opportunities for internships and it opens more doors to present at state-sponsored workshops.  It builds the perception that the collegiate team is a part of the state team, instead of outside and above it. 

## Develop an award or series of awards to be awarded annually from your program that recognizes local, regional or state emergency management personnel excellence. 

Have a practitioner be a co-advisor to an on-campus student emergency management organization. 

Host quarterly practitioner and academic panels. 

**Have a practitioner be a co-advisor to an on-campus student emergency management organization. **
**Host quarterly practitioner and academic panels.**

**Notes:**
Allow the practitioner to fill out a detailed intern evaluation form after the internship is complete to validate the importance of the internship experience and the practitioner's comments.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is valuable to the students and a tremendous resource for the practitioner as getting "victims" is one of the hardest parts of an training or exercise.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------There are monetary benefits to this as well as bridging benefits in doing this.  The state has access to all the county personnel and has the power to set a tone and even promote educational incentives within their state to its state and county level personnel.  It opens up more opportunities for internships and it opens more doors to present at state-sponsored workshops.  It builds the perception that the collegiate team is a part of the state team, instead of outside and above it. 

## Create a practitioner mentoring program.

Publish a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly bulletin that features local practitioner profiles, articles, etc.

Establish a meaningful relationship with your state division of emergency management and homeland security. 

**Publish a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly bulletin that features local practitioner profiles, articles, etc.**
**Establish a meaningful relationship with your state division of emergency management and homeland security.**

**Notes:**
Allow the practitioner to fill out a detailed intern evaluation form after the internship is complete to validate the importance of the internship experience and the practitioner's comments.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is valuable to the students and a tremendous resource for the practitioner as getting "victims" is one of the hardest parts of an training or exercise.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------There are monetary benefits to this as well as bridging benefits in doing this.  The state has access to all the county personnel and has the power to set a tone and even promote educational incentives within their state to its state and county level personnel.  It opens up more opportunities for internships and it opens more doors to present at state-sponsored workshops.  It builds the perception that the collegiate team is a part of the state team, instead of outside and above it. 

## Conclusions

**Honor and respect practitioner’s experience.**
**Make them an integral part of your program.**
**Build meaningful student and practitioner relationships.**
**Let the state division be a bridging organization.**

## 

Carol Cwiak
North Dakota State University
P.O. Box 5075
Fargo, ND 58105-5075
madamgovnr@msn.com

**Carol Cwiak**
**North Dakota State University**
**P.O. Box 5075**
**Fargo, ND 58105-5075**
**madamgovnr@msn.com**