<p>I’m about to enter a graduate program in Disaster Science and Management at the University of Delaware. In undergrad I majored in English and minored in Bio. I’ve been working with the Red Cross for the last year and a half. Disaster/emergency management is way more prevalent than it sounds. Most mid-sized cities and all large cities have emergency managers. Many large private businesses have them. All major schools have them. The State and Federal levels obviously have lots of openings. It is actually a large and expanding field, with tons of opportunity. Previously, these positions were largely held by retired firefighters/police officers/ military personnel, or people who came into the field by accident. It has become clear in the past decade that a haphazard approach to the training of managers in disaster response isn’t effective, and that having intense and specific training is incredibly useful. My program was designed by professionals in the field coming together and deciding on what skills and information they would want in people they hired. </p>
<p>I really disagree that managing disasters could be taught simply by taking a MBA program. MBA’s are great, but they aren’t focusing on the specific needs of disaster managers. There would be useful information there, but it really, really isn’t the same thing to manage a business as it is to manage a disaster. The number of agencies that have to work together to manage huge groups of people and complicated and sensitive situations is unique. I had the option to do an MPA program with an emphasis on Emergency Management, but I turned it down. I want to specifically study disaster.</p>
<p>By the way, there are definitely academic disciplines to this field. My program is connected with a Disaster Research Center that studies the sociological impacts of disasters. </p>
<p>I looked into certificate programs, but felt that if I wanted to put in the time to get a certificate, I might as well go all the way and get a Masters. I feel that I’ll have a stronger grounding in all of the different aspects of the subject. </p>
<p>By the way, while I came to age in the era of 9/11 and Katrina, I was actually inspired by events happening in my own community. I live in earthquake country, so I know how important preparedness and mitigation are, not just response and recovery. </p>
<p>For anyone who is interested, programs I also considered included North Dakota State University’s Emergency Management Masters/PhD program and Florida State University’s MPA. Many of the programs in this field are online, but all of the ones listed here are on campus, which appealed to me…</p>
<p>A cool video on what emergency management students study from North Dakota State:</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - 2010 10 14 1326](<a href=“2010 10 14 1326 - YouTube”>2010 10 14 1326 - YouTube)</p>