The Adelphi Difference
In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of the profession, the emergency management program draws on the extensive resources of multiple Adelphi University schools, including the College of Nursing and Public Health, College of Arts and Sciences and Robert B. Willumstad School of Business.
The curriculum provides you with state-of-the-art knowledge, experiential learning and multiple opportunities to customize your education. Whether you work in health care, law enforcement, education or business, our faculty tailor your assignments to ensure you gain expertise that applies to your field and aligns with your goals.
The online MS in Emergency Management program culminates in a capstone research project in which you address and recommend a solution to a real-world emergency management problem. Ideally, you will help move the industry forward by sharing this research with emergency management leaders and your professional peers.
Credits required to graduate: 33
Learning Outcomes
- Understand how the discipline of emergency management applies science, technology, planning, risk analysis and management techniques to deal with large and complex events
- Develop competencies of planning methodologies to evaluate, critique and apply social science research and government policies to effective disaster response
- Acquire skills and knowledge to evaluate, assess and synthesize data, using current research methods to employ an evidence-based strategy to disaster decision making
- Analyze and evaluate public administration in the field of emergency management at federal, state and local levels while considering the role of the private and nonprofit sectors
Program Structure
The online MS in Emergency Management is a 33-credit program that students typically complete in 2.5 years. It culminates with a research-based summative capstone project.
While on the path to completing their master’s degree, students will also earn a Graduate Certificate in Emergency Management after just five courses (15 credits).
Online Learning Environment
All online MS in Emergency Management courses are delivered on the Moodle learning management system. The program is almost entirely recorded, meaning students can view lectures and complete related assignments and activities on their own time, as long as they meet assigned deadlines. However, some instructors may schedule occasional live sessions that students are expected to attend.
Students typically devote 8 to 10 hours per week to coursework. To learn more about how Adelphi University brings its course content to life, visit
About Adelphi Online.
Course Descriptions
Core Courses (27 credits)
Learn how the discipline of emergency management applies science and technology, planning, risk analysis and management in dealing with dangerously large and complex events that have the potential to kill and injure large numbers of people, do extensive property damage and destroy our economic and physical infrastructure.
Students will analyze and evaluate the roles, responsibilities and perspective of the public health infrastructure during disasters. Students will examine and synthesize the mechanisms and strategies deployed by government and local health care entities to identify, mitigate and recover from tragic events including the consequences of weapons of mass destruction.
Students will develop competencies of planning methodologies in order to evaluate, critique and apply social science research and government policies to effective disaster response. The focus will be on social, cultural and economic factors that influence how disasters are viewed, prepared for, responded to and recovered from.
Students will analyze and evaluate public administration in the field of emergency management at federal, state and local levels while considering the role of the private and nonprofit sectors. Disaster planning, response policy, crisis decision-making and prioritization of problems and issues within the spectrum of governmental levels are central themes.
Students will examine past and current homeland security events, as well as continuing threats against our personal and national safety. Students will explore federal, state and local government’s efforts, in addition to those undertaken by the private sector, to secure our homeland.
This course provides algorithms for the development of detailed business continuity planning based on contributions of leading practitioners of the industry. Issues include managing disruptions, maintaining continuity of critical operations and mitigating losses that occur when productivity is crippled or security compromised due to natural or man-made disasters.
This course is designed to teach the student the legal aspects associated with emergency management plans. Declarations of emergency, individual governmental rights and authorities and the status of property are addressed.
Emergency Management research has become an essential tool for the modern-day disaster manager. Accordingly, students in this course will acquire the skills and knowledge to evaluate, assess and synthesize data employing current research methods, allowing them to employ an evidence-based strategy to disaster decision making.
The student will synthesize and apply knowledge acquired throughout his or her graduate study. The student will identify a topic of interest related to the specialty area and complete an evidence-based project that identifies a problem, reviews the relevant literature and details an action plan for addressing the identified problem.
Electives (Choose 2)
Examines the rationale underlying the methods of designing the structure of organizations, the functions of management and research findings from the behavioral sciences that serve as a foundation for understanding how people relate. Topics include various managerial functions including planning, organizing, staffing and control. The course focus also includes organizational socialization, needs and motivation bureaucracy and organizational change. The primary goal is to assist students in developing a basic understanding of essential and effective processes of management and human relations in administration.
The theory and practice of leadership is studies. The major theories to study include: trait theory, behavioral theory, contingency theory and transformational leadership. Several intertwined topics include: power, motivation and management style. Practical aspects of leadership to be covered are: stress, dealing with corporate culture, gender and race issues, etc.
This course explores the technical and informational sides of technology, and how it is used to improve efficiency and increase value. The ethics of technology usage will be explored and cross cultural implications will be examined. This course also examines the consequences of change through case studies.
Organizations confront a myriad of problems characterized by uncertainty in the environment. The decision making process requires models, analysis, and solutions that account for this uncertainty, and statistics provides a methodology that assists in the resolution of those issues. Topics include probability, sampling distributions, parameter estimation, hypothesis testing and regression/correlation.
