The conversation in the cafeteria during FEMA's 13th Annual Higher Education Conference (as related by Cortez Lawrence, Superintentent for FEMA's Emergency Management Institute) was about whether we are being disingenuous in implying that students who graduate with a degree in Emergency Management will be able to go out and get a job as an Emergency Manager.
Are we?
Just as the number of Emergency Management Higher Education programs is growing and the number of graduates from those programs is increasing, are we suggesting those graduates have all the skills, knowledge and competencies to allow them to walk out with their degree and into a job as an emergency manager?
Sounds kind of silly when you put it that way, doesn't it? What other professional degree says one can move directly into a professional position without additional training or experience? Physicians do a residency and board exams before they are licensed to practice. Attorneys take the bar to get licensed and then get hired as a junior partner. Is there any other profession that doesn't require some kind of apprenticeship or mentoring to achieve excellence?
Generally, hiring a principal emergency manager is based on a number of factors, and certainly experience is one of them. Experience is a big part of being a good emergency manager, but it is definitely not all of it -- not any longer. Education provides the foundation and deeper context with which to evaluate our experiences. A college education can significantly shorten the learning curve that most of us went through when we got started.
So, maybe the question should be (1) how to get experienced emergency managers more education and (2) how to get new emergency managers more experience?
I am not sure how to accomplish that first part. There are still a lot of long-time emergency managers who are dubious about the value of an emergency management education.
The second part of that equation - getting more experience for new emergency management graduates - is a lot easier to address. The most convenient way, of course, is for colleges and universities to include an experiential learning component in their programs. Some do that now, and others will be soon.
Beyond that, we should be stressing to new Emergency Management students that experience comes in a lot of different guises. Most of the students I talk to would choose to work in the public sector and are frustrated they can't find a job there. In the currently economy, getting an entry-level emergency management job in local or state government is not easy.
Even if they'd rather work in the public sector now, new emergency management graduates are more likely to land jobs in the private sector or with non-profit agencies. That's okay! They are still developing and honing their skills, gaining knowledge and becoming more competent. When (and if) they decide to move on to a public sector job, they'll have the kind of experience (and education) to do just that.
The mission for higher education is to educate emergency managers; experience is most definitely graduate work.
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Are we?
Just as the number of Emergency Management Higher Education programs is growing and the number of graduates from those programs is increasing, are we suggesting those graduates have all the skills, knowledge and competencies to allow them to walk out with their degree and into a job as an emergency manager?
Sounds kind of silly when you put it that way, doesn't it? What other professional degree says one can move directly into a professional position without additional training or experience? Physicians do a residency and board exams before they are licensed to practice. Attorneys take the bar to get licensed and then get hired as a junior partner. Is there any other profession that doesn't require some kind of apprenticeship or mentoring to achieve excellence?
Generally, hiring a principal emergency manager is based on a number of factors, and certainly experience is one of them. Experience is a big part of being a good emergency manager, but it is definitely not all of it -- not any longer. Education provides the foundation and deeper context with which to evaluate our experiences. A college education can significantly shorten the learning curve that most of us went through when we got started.
So, maybe the question should be (1) how to get experienced emergency managers more education and (2) how to get new emergency managers more experience?
I am not sure how to accomplish that first part. There are still a lot of long-time emergency managers who are dubious about the value of an emergency management education.
The second part of that equation - getting more experience for new emergency management graduates - is a lot easier to address. The most convenient way, of course, is for colleges and universities to include an experiential learning component in their programs. Some do that now, and others will be soon.
Beyond that, we should be stressing to new Emergency Management students that experience comes in a lot of different guises. Most of the students I talk to would choose to work in the public sector and are frustrated they can't find a job there. In the currently economy, getting an entry-level emergency management job in local or state government is not easy.
Even if they'd rather work in the public sector now, new emergency management graduates are more likely to land jobs in the private sector or with non-profit agencies. That's okay! They are still developing and honing their skills, gaining knowledge and becoming more competent. When (and if) they decide to move on to a public sector job, they'll have the kind of experience (and education) to do just that.
The mission for higher education is to educate emergency managers; experience is most definitely graduate work.
