A Leader in Emergency Management Education
The online Bachelor of Science in Emergency Services Administration degree provides you with state-of-the-art knowledge and skills through an all-hazards curriculum emphasizing emergency management principles that apply across disciplines, industries and types of emergencies. Emergency management is an interdisciplinary profession and, at Adelphi, you gain a valuable range of perspectives through a curriculum developed and taught by faculty from multiple schools, including the College of Nursing and Public Health, College of Arts and Sciences and Robert B. Willumstad School of Business.
Credits required for major: 50
Credits required to graduate: 120
Note: 30 credits must be taken at Adelphi, the remainder may be transferred or awarded via Credit for Life Experience.
Program Structure
The online BS in Emergency Services Administration is a standard four-year bachelor’s degree program. Degree candidates must complete a total of 120 credits of which a minimum of 30 must be completed at the College of Professional and Continuing Studies. Students have the option to take up to 18 credit hours per semester (or more, with department permission) to accelerate the program; they may also complete the program part time.
To earn the degree, students must meet the University College’s General Education & Core Requirements, which are comprised of four core courses and six distribution courses, and complete 50 credit hours of required major coursework. Required major courses may be taken in any order depending on availability, with the exception of Capstone I and Capstone II, which are taken during the final year.
Upon successful completion of the bachelor’s degree, qualified students will have the option to continue their education at the College of Professional and Continuing Studies through our Graduate Certificate in Emergency Management and our Master of Science in Emergency Management.
Credit for Prior Education and Professional Experience
Adelphi University’s College of Professional and Continuing Studies (CPCS) prides itself on providing access to education for students who seek to advance their careers—no matter their educational or professional background. We look forward to working with nontraditional students to determine how their professional and educational experiences can transfer into earned credit towards a bachelor’s degree—saving them time and money.
Transfer Credit:
The College of Professional and Continuing Studies allows students who have completed coursework from regionally accredited junior or senior colleges to apply up to 90 credits toward their bachelor’s degree—significantly reducing the time and cost of earning the degree. However, students must complete the final 30 credits of coursework at Adelphi to earn their degree. The CPCS can quickly and efficiently review transcripts to determine whether the transfer credits will be accepted. In most cases, if students have completed courses from a regionally accredited school, it is likely that those credits will be accepted. Please refer to our Transfer Credits page for more information.
Life Experience Credits:
Many of our students are awarded life experience credits for accredited public safety training such as: police academy course work, EMT or Paramedic certification, regional or county fire academy training, military training and many Federal DHS courses. We are constantly reviewing new sources of prior learning.
Qualified students may utilize up to 60 prior learning credits, enabling them to complete the degree in as few as four semesters, saving significant time and money. Visit the Life Experience Credits website for more information about how valuable experience can be packaged into valuable college credit.
Online Learning Environment
All online BS in Emergency Services Administration courses are delivered on the Moodle learning management system. The program is entirely asynchronous, meaning students can view lectures and complete related assignments and activities on their own time, as long as they meet assigned deadlines.
Students typically devote 8 to 10 hours per week to coursework. Though the online format provides flexibility, most assignments must be completed on schedule. To learn more about how Adelphi University brings its course content to life, visit About Adelphi Online.
Online BS in Emergency Services Administration Courses
This course examines the different methods of resolving conflict between community organizations and the children, parents and schools they interact with; racial or ethnic groups; public agencies and officials; police and citizens.
Natural Science electives vary by semester. Visit the
course search page to learn which classes are offered in the current and upcoming semesters.
An overview of the management process—planning, organizing, controlling and understanding of the challenges in implementing good management practices. Students examine comparative management styles and processes, and the competencies that characterize an effective and innovative manager. This course explores the role of a manager as an agent of change in a rapidly changing business environment.
This course is intended for students desiring a career in the emergency services field and is designed to set the stage for subsequent courses in the degree program. It focuses on the unique characteristics of the emergency and supporting services and examines commonalities and differences in issues impacting them.
This course prepares students to assume administrative positions within emergency service organizations and examines common administrative functions, the roles and responsibilities of administrators, as well as management and leadership theory and practices. The purpose of the class is to provide an overview of these functions and the issues faced by emergency services managers.
Prerequisite: UEM 201
This course introduces the federal, state and local laws that regulate emergency services, national standards influencing emergency services, standard of care, tort, liability and a review of relevant court cases. Students take an advanced look at the legal environment and ramifications of emergency services.
Prerequisite: UEM 201
This course is an introduction to the fiscal policies, procedures and problems encountered in the administration of emergency service organizations—specifically governmental entities, non-profit, tax based and volunteer organizations. The course is designed for non-accounting students who need to understand finance and accounting in order to participate in planning, control and decision-making.
Prerequisite: UEM 201
The purpose of this course is to discuss the principles that promote effective disaster response operations and management. To achieve these goals, students will examine the nature of disasters, the context of response operations in the United States and the roles and responsibilities of various emergency management related actors.
Prerequisite: UEM 201
This course is designed for EMS workers who are involved in developing an effective emergency planning system. It will assist emergency management administrators in preparedness strategies, emergency planning and assessment of resources and hazards. Emergency operation plans, resource inventory and plan testing and maintenance will be covered.
Prerequisite: UEM 201
This course provides the substance for understanding the Occupational Safety and Health laws and the research data and analyses required to promulgate or revise a law or regulation. The course presents a comprehensive program management approach to occupational safety and health issues for EMS department managers.
Prerequisite: UEM 201
This course introduces organizational behavior, the social-scientific study of individuals and groups in work organizations. Built on findings from psychology, social-psychology, sociology and cultural anthropology, this course examines employee motivation and job satisfaction, factors influencing levels of job performance and psychological dimensions of the work environment. It also discusses personality differences, managerial effectiveness and stress at work. Students study the individual, group and social impact on outcomes.
Prerequisite: MGT 262
This course provides an introduction to leadership and organizational theory in the context of emergency services. Students examine and develop a range of skills in a number of interpersonal areas including conflict management, use of power, group dynamics and influence in order to become better leaders.
Prerequisite: UEM 201
The Baccalaureate Capstone is an interdisciplinary seminar that examines how the ideas of the modern age have challenged and altered traditional ways of thinking. As an analysis of the seminal ideas of modernity as defined by the thinkers who originated them, the Baccalaureate Capstone empowers students to think about the world in new and exciting ways.
This course is designed to help students develop ideas and pursue avenues of interest inspired by the readings in the Baccalaureate Capstone I. Students will achieve this through one of the standard forms of academic discourse: independent research and the completion of a project based upon the insights from that research. Capstone II is designed to allow students to use knowledge and methodologies gained through their undergraduate course work in evaluating a major ethical or moral problem in American life.
