Course Information

CORE COURSES:  

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FIAD 3100  Fire and Emergency Services Administration
This course covers a range of topics/skills necessary to manage and lead a fire and emergency services department, including the day-to-day challenges faced by upper level administrators in fire and emergency services. Specific topics include:: outcome-based budgeting, local, state, and federal legislation, collective bargaining, working in multiple local government models dealing with budget crisis, mandates, and other issues that come to the chief/head administrator on a regular basis.

FIAD 3300  Principles of Emergency Management
This course provides students with an overview of the scope and complexity of emergency management. Students will gain an understanding of the all-hazards approach to integrated emergency management, the 4 phases of disaster, what occurs during those 4 phases, the history of disaster policy in the U.S., and the development of the profession of emergency management. In addition to looking at events caused by tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and hazardous materials, special focus is given to such things as pandemics and terrorism.

FIAD 3500  Analytical Approaches for Fire & Emergency Services
This course examines the tools and techniques of analytical decision making in fire and emergency services agencies including data collection, statistics, probability, decision analysis, utility modeling, resource allocation, and cost-benefit analysis.

FIAD 4100  Applications of Fire Research
This course examines the basic principles of research and methodology for analyzing current fire-related research, and also provides a framework for conducting and evaluating independent research. Emphasis is in the following areas: fire dynamics, fire test standards and codes, fire safety, fire modeling, structural fire safety, life safety, firefighter health and safety, automatic detection and suppression, transportation fire hazards, risk analysis and loss control, fire service applied research and new trends in fire-related research.  Prerequisites: FIAD 3100 and FIAD 3500.

FIAD 4300  Political and Legal Foundations 
This course examines the political and social impacts of legal issues in the fire service. Included is a review of the American legal system and coverage of legal and political issues involving employment and personnel matters, administrative and operational matters, planning and code enforcement, and legislative and political processes with regard to the fire service.  Prerequisites: FIAD 3100 and FIAD 3500.

FIAD 4500  Psychology of Disaster
This course focuses on the development and use of different strategies to deal with issues related to mental trauma during and following emergencies and disasters. Specifically, it focuses on the two main perspectives for dealing with mental trauma: the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) approach and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). Short and long term mental health implications for mental trauma issues are considered for fire service and other emergency service responders, victims, and others.  Prerequisites: FIAD 3100 and FIAD 3500.

FIAD 4800  Capstone Course: Advanced Fire and Emergency Services Administration
The capstone course requires students to demonstrate mastery of the curriculum learned throughout the entire program. The course integrates the functional areas of fire and emergency services administration including: management, public health, public administration, budgeting, planning, decision making, legal issues, and dealing with the political environment. Students will choose a topic or issue from several central themes and will then draw upon a wide variety of sources and other disciplines to demonstrate the ability to apply what they have learned to address a realistic situation or problem.  Prerequisites: FIAD 3100, FIAD 3300, FIAD 3500, and FIAD 4100.