Studying emergency management at Adelphi University was the best thing I could have ever done for myself and my career.

Lana Corbie was working as a food inspector for the Department of Health when COVID-19 hit. Seeing emergency managers respond to the crisis up close made her realize what she wanted to do with her career.

“Working with the emergency managers in the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic” was what pushed her toward graduate school. She knew the Department of Health wasn’t where she wanted to stay. Emergency management was. “I knew the end goal was emergency management as a career. That is what I enjoyed learning and reading about.”

She chose Adelphi because of how the program was structured. “I felt that each course would give me a better understanding of an overall synopsis of emergency management.”

With two kids at home, the online format made a big difference when it came to balancing school and family. “For my day to day it was truly helpful to take online courses.”

Adelphi faculty also made the difference. “All of the professors were always willing to answer questions during or after office hours,” she says. “It just made the process of being a graduate student way smoother.”

Her capstone project was a highlight of the program. She connected her public health background directly to emergency management practice through the Department of Health Incident Command System.

A year after graduating, she is deployed with FEMA, where she has responded to disasters in North Carolina and New Jersey.

Go into each course with an open mind. There’s so much to learn and the reality is, one course can change your entire career trajectory.

Shayla Clarke wasn’t planning on emergency management. She was studying criminal justice when a sociology of terrorism course changed her direction. A careers event introduced her to Adelphi’s MS program shortly after, and she never looked back.

For Shayla, the program opened up a field she knew little about going in. “Emergency management is such a niche field that I didn’t know anything about prior to being introduced to it.”

Her capstone research focused on vulnerable populations during disasters, specifically people with Limited english proficiency in Suffolk County. She researched which communities had the highest concentration of LEP residents, identified the most common languages spoken and created emergency preparedness materials that were distributed to soup kitchens and houses of worship in those areas.

She was working three jobs while in the program, and the online format made it manageable. “My work days were on a set schedule so I created a schedule for my schoolwork as well, which ensured I had time committed to getting the work done.”

Shayla’s dedication paid off. Today she holds her Certified Emergency Manager credential and leads planning, continuity and recovery work at Stony Brook University.

I gained a lot of friends during the years and still remain in contact, as well as with professors.

As a registered nurse and volunteer fire chief, James Taunton has seen firsthand what happens when a crisis hits and resources fall short. When COVID arrived, he stopped waiting for someone else to fix it.

“Post COVID I wanted to pursue a career to help on a larger scale after seeing the lack of resources during a pandemic.” That brought him to Adelphi’s MS in Emergency Management.

Balancing a nursing career with volunteer firefighting while going to school meant he needed flexibility. Adelphi’s online format gave him what he needed. “It gave me the flexibility to do the work when time was allocated.”

James built a time management schedule around his commitments and treated school like any other shift. “You get out of this program what you put in.”