Homeland security educationEmergency Managers and Homeland Security are distinct, if related, disciplines

Homeland security may have started out as a post-9/11 phenomenon, and may have gotten confused with Emergency Management in the ensuing maelstrom, but Valerie Lucus-McEwen writes in Emergency Management that it has become a field of study in its own right. Homeland security should thus not be incorporated into emergency management, or vice versa.

The two disciplines do share some of the same principles, Lucus-McEwen says, but they are also distinct: they have different philosophies about prevention vs. mitigation and response vs. recovery The bottom line: Homeland security deserves its own curriculum and career path.

The University of Maryland University College has the right idea. UMUC students have this choice:

A degree in Emergency Management “The emergency management major develops the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for leadership in emergency management, with a focus on disaster prevention, planning, preparedness, response, mitigation and recovery. … Students are prepared for management positions in emergency management in government, homeland security or management and leadership.” Coursework includes EMGT304: Emergency Response Preparedness and Planning; EMGT308: Exercise and Evaluation Programs; EMGT312: Social Dimensions of Disaster.

A degree in Homeland Security: “The major in homeland security develops the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for leadership in homeland security, with a focus on the domestic and international security issues of homeland security, including international and domestic terrorism, infrastructure protection, strategic planning for security, international relations, intelligence operations and evaluation and program management. … Graduates of the program will have the knowledge and skills to serve as leaders in government and industry security.” Coursework includes HMLS304: Strategic Planning in Homeland SEcurity; HMLS408 Infrastructure Security Issues; HMLS495 Public Safety Policis and Leadership.

In a previous blog, Lucus-McEwen referred to an article written by Bob Jaffin in GovTech wherein he illustrated the difference in emergency management and homeland security with what he called “a very crude and rather limited set of comparisons.”

• Emergency management is very local and is about preserving life, property and, with voter approved limitations, ensuring freedom.
• Homeland security starts as far from home as possible and is about denying freedom to those who believe violence and intimidation are legitimate means to an end.
• Building on that, emergency management is a specific and critical function of local government, while homeland security is essentially, but not solely, a federal government function.
• Using a different lens, emergency management focuses on science, facts and the environment in its broadest sense, while homeland security focuses on people, beliefs and ideology.

“We need students and professionals passionate about both emergency management and homeland security, and academia needs to recognize and respond to the difference - not just compete for money from government grants by relabeling degree programs,” Lucus-McEwen concludes.