Disaster Management and Emergency Planning BSc (Hons)

" Disaster Management and Emergency Planning BSc (Hons)

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— Coventry University (@covcampus) February 9, 2015 OVERVIEW

This Disaster Management and Emergency Planning course runs in 2016/17.

Time matters in a crisis. Thorough planning, clear communication and effective strategies save lives and limit disruption. This course blends academic study with experiential learning of best practice to teach you about disaster preparedness and response and helps to create professionals who are ready for action.

WHY CHOOSE THIS COURSE?

This course aims to give you the knowledge required to pursue a career in emergency planning and management. You will examine theory and practice in a range of countries, benchmarking approaches in the UK with, for example, those in mainland Europe, Asia and North America.

Successful students will develop the skills needed to manage the response to civil emergencies (e.g. Hillsborough football stadium disaster), technological incidents (e.g. Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill), major transport accidents (such as MV Sewol) and natural disasters (e.g Tohoku earthquake and Ebola outbreak).

The (optional) Professional Training Year enables you to build relevant experience in the industry. As a consequence a successful graduate should be well placed to pursue a career in emergency response, civil contingency, business continuity and/or industrial incident management.

If you choose this course you will benefit from:

employment prospects in public, charitable and private organisations involved in emergency planning and management;

experienced teaching staff who bring professional and research expertise into their teaching;

the opportunity to apply to undertake a year of professional training with a relevant organisation. Recent placements have included working for regional fire and police teams, utility companies, airport operators, local authorities, Transport for London and oil spill response companies;

residential courses at a specialist training centre for the UK emergency services;

site visits and the opportunity to attend an overseas field course led by international experts;

access to a state-of-the-art Crises Simulation Lab to participate in ‘live’ training exercises;

a wealth of experience. Coventry was the first UK University to offer courses in disaster management: Coventry pioneered the professional training year for disaster managers, and Coventry graduates form one of the largest bodies of disaster management alumni in the world (source: LinkedIn 2014).

The Faculty’s Employability and Placement team, EC Futures, are the proud winners of the Best University Placement Service (UK 2015) presented by the NUE Awards.

WHAT WILL I LEARN?

The BSc Disaster Management and Emergency Planning shares a common first year with BSc Disaster Management, enabling you to choose either course in later years. You will start by developing an understanding of the causes of disasters, their impacts on people and critical infrastructure through the analysis of real case studies and the role of emergency management. As part of these studies you will be introduced to environmental systems, humanitarian operations and organisational management.

In your second year you will form a deeper understanding of emergency response and crises management in the UK and examine business continuity in public and private sector organisations. Alongside this knowledge you will develop practical skills in Geographical Information Systems (GIS), best practice in crisis communications and methods to assess disaster interventions.

In your final year you will learn how to design and implement training exercises as a key part of a disaster mitigation strategy. You will have the opportunity to develop a comprehensive understanding of contemporary issues in disaster management and emergency planning in the UK and internationally by participating in networking events with alumni and guest lectures, and attending site visits and/or an (optional) fieldcourse respectively.

HOW WILL THIS COURSE BE TAUGHT?

Your course will be based on a series of lectures, with associated seminars and practical classes. In addition, your personal tutor will review and discuss your progress with you and will be available for advice.

If you are interested in part-time study (which is taught during the day) please contact the Part-time Admissions team on +44 (0) 24 7765 4321 or email part-time.uni@coventry.ac.uk for further information, but please note that not all courses have a part-time option.

HOW WILL I BE ASSESSED?

An estimated percentage breakdown of how your final grade is assessed is as follows: formal examinations 25%; coursework reports, essays, exercises, presentations, posters 60%; project work 15%.

A compulsory Add+vantage module must also be completed: please see the page on the Add+vantage scheme for more details.

TEACHING CONTACT HOURS

In a typical week you will have up to 16 contact hours of teaching and this will break down as:

Personal tutorial/small group teaching: 4 hours of small group teaching each week

Medium group teaching: 6 hours of practical classes, workshops or seminars each week

Large group teaching: 6 hours of lectures each week

Personal study: 20 hours each week studying and revising in your own time

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