MSHS 7601    Homeland Security and Constitutional Issues - This required course provides an overview of Constitutional issues, statutes, and case law that govern Homeland Security professionals at the local, state, and federal levels.  Social, ethical, and political implications of actions intended to preserve the safety and security of the citizens are studied in relationship to the legal constraints placed on the systems.  This course will utilize case studies.

MSHS 7602    Research and Policy Analysis – This required course is designed to develop critical thinking skills that students need for completion of their academic work as well as in their professional lives.  The course will assist students in understanding the research process, develop a research question, assess relevant literature to support the research, select and use an appropriate research methodology, conduct the research and evaluate the results.  The end result will be a well written research report.

MSHS 7603    WMD/Terrorism Awareness – This required course will explore the use of weapons of mass destruction and the link to terrorist activities.  Included in the course are: definitions of effects of nuclear, chemical, biological, and radiological weapons; types and characteristics of biological and chemical warfare agents; potential modes of nuclear and radiological terrorism; use of improvised nuclear devices (INDs) and radiological dispersal devices (RDDs); Large Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIEDs); the motivations, capabilities, techniques, and practices of terrorist groups to acquire and use WMD; and the use and attempted use of WMD against countries by internal and external groups.

MSHS 7604    Strategic Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation – This required course will link strategic planning with strategic management. This is the capstone course of the program and requires the completion of a thesis.  Strategic planning links the vision, mission, and guiding principles with the internal and external environment in which the organization exists.  The course will explore security formulation, the drivers of homeland security issues for the historical and emergency issues, and the results of such policies.  Organizations need to understand how strategic plans are implemented and then reviewed and evaluated as part of a continuous improvement process.

MSHS 6601    Terrorism Issues and Implications – This course will investigate the concepts, ideologies, goals, strategies, tactics and methods used by terrorist groups in the current and historical perspectives.  The terrorist motives and their actions will be studied in relation to historic and current national and international policies.  Terrorist organizations will be studied based on their specific criteria to better understand their influence on other nations.  Also included will be the concepts of the media and terrorism, law and terrorism, the military response to terrorism, counter-terrorism and anti-terrorism approaches, and governmental responses to terrorism as well as how the intelligence community categorizes and prioritizes resources to target groups and issues. 

MSHS 6602    Computer and Network Security – This course will investigate advanced topics in computer security and forensics.  Included will be topics such as cryptography, automatic intrusion detection, firewalls, vulnerability scanning, and advanced pattern matching as well as statistical techniques.

MSHS 6603    Cyber Forensics Issues and Impacts – This course will investigate cyberterrorism and cyber crime, and how this differs from computer security.  Technological advancements that are on the cutting edge present opportunities for terrorists, and it is necessary to explore the current domestic and international policies relative to critical infrastructure protection and methods for addressing issues.       

MSHS 6604    Assessing Internal and External Threats – This course will investigate the usefulness of threat assessment in various contexts, such as the workplace, infrastructure protection, and public safety.  Included in the course will be basic methods for examining vulnerabilities to attack, evaluating capacities of the potential attackers as well as their motivation, and the role of the intelligence community in these actions.  The course will link strategic analysis with priority setting and accountability.

MSHS 6605    Preparing for Catastrophic Emergencies – This course will investigate a wide range of natural and manmade disasters, and develop appropriate plans for mitigating the problems. Natural disasters include a wide range of issues from outbreak     of diseases, floods, earthquakes, fires, and tornados.  Manmade disasters include emergencies such as chemical spills, nuclear incidents, terrorist threats, transportation accidents, and power outages.

MSHS 6606    Historical Perspectives of Terrorism – This course will examine the social basis of fear and terrorism, and the related consequences on society.  Factors such as race/ethnicity, class, religion, politics, local and international policies, and gender will be studied in the historical context of terrorism.  Case studies will include terrorist techniques that have been used in the past.        

MSHS 6607    Border Security: Policies, Actions, and Implications – Immigration policies and terrorism threats have increased the focus on national borders.  This course will investigate issues relative to border security from economic to security to social and cultural integration or separation.  The costs of attempting to maintain a secure border are discussed as are the implications of border security on free trade agreements.     

MSHS 6608    Terrorism and Disaster Management – This course will focus on planning and preparing for terrorist acts as well as the area of disasters.  There will be a      focus on the legal and ethical issues that surround planning for acts of terrorism or disasters, and a study of the National Response Plan and its implications.  The need for and how to develop interagency collaborative agreements from civilian, military, and governmental entities will be explored.

MSHS 6609    The Face of Terror – This course will examine various characteristics of terrorism from left-wing terrorism to nationalist terrorism to religious terrorism to group dynamics to secret societies, and cults and charismatic leadership.  Also included are identification of underground terrorist cells, both domestic and foreign and state supported and non state supported, as well as methods for dealing with the separate groups.  

MSHS 6610    Bio-terrorism Preparedness and Response – This course will investigate options to address the threat of a biological attack.  Options for identifying a bio-attack and potential responses for addressing these issues will be included in the course.  Case studies of actual incidents will be included in the course.

MSHS 6611    Emergency Management – This course will explore the nature and rationale for emergency management policies and processes.  Included will be preparedness for natural and manmade hazards, optional strategies for dealing with such     issues, appropriate planning modalities, public awareness techniques to assist in the process, and stakeholder communication.  Legal and ethical issues that impact emergency management will also be studied.

MSHS 6612    GIS in Emergency Management – This course will provide an introduction to the basic concepts of geographic information systems as well as their application to specific issues.

MSHS 6613    Organizational Planning for Emergency Situations – This course will provide an overview of planning and management principles that can be utilized to address operational issues when an emergency situation arises as well as how to resume operations once the emergency is over.  The course will also focus on how to minimize the impact of disasters on business operations.

MSHS 6614    Effective Risk Analysis – This course will examine the natural and manmade disasters from a risk assessment perspective.  Development of plans to prepare for each type of disaster as well as control processes will be part of the coursework.

MSHS 6615    Managing Responses to Environmental Emergencies – This course will examine the theory and practices in terms of incident command systems and emergency operating centers.  

MSHS 6616    Stress Awareness and Management – Stress is a part of everyone’s life,      but in emergency situations, stressors may adversely impact the individual as well as those being served.  Leaders need to be aware of the impact of stress on the individual’s ability to perform at peak levels as well as the ability to make the best decisions.  This course will investigate stressors and how these factors can be mitigated.

MSHS 6617    Sociological Effects of Disasters – This course will explore how various populations respond to the various phases of disasters.  Included in the course are: response to warnings, reaction to evacuation orders, and civilian disobedience to orders as well as the development of strategies for the organization, individuals, and groups.   

MSHS 6618    Emergency Management Policies, Analysis, and Implications – This course will investigate management of complex emergency management operations using incident management systems.  The role of the emergency management operation centers in reacting to disasters will be explored as will current policies.  Case studies of emergency management policies and their implications will be analyzed to determine areas in need of improvement.

MSHS 6619    Collaborative leadership – This course will investigate the concept of leadership exhibited by a group that is acting collaboratively to resolve issues that all feel must be addressed.  Since the collaborative process insures that all people that are affected by the decision are part of the process, the course will explore how power is shared in the process and how leadership is developed.. 

MSHS 6620  Organizational Leadership – This course will investigate examples of past and present leadership models.  The moral framework for leadership and decision-making in organizations will provide the basis for exploring current organizational leadership models as well as assisting the students in assessing their own leadership roles.

MSHS 6621 Human Resource Management – This course addresses the challenges of managing human capital in organizations focusing on homeland security.  Current issues in recruiting, selecting, and moving individuals through the organization will be studied.  In addition, teambuilding, problem solving, decision-making, and human resource planning skills will be explored as will be the leadership skills of mentoring, advising, counseling, and disciplining individuals in the organization. 

MSHS 6622    Effective Team Building – As organizations move to empowering employees to work in a team setting with a high degree of autonomy, it is necessary to develop high performance teams.  This course investigates what makes teams effective.  Various methodologies will be studied that have resulted in exceptional teams and team results. 

MSHS 6623    Implementing Organizational Change – This course will explore the issues of resistance to change and obstacles to change in relationship to organizations.  Theories relative to change will be studied in terms of the restructuring process, leadership roles, and the settings in which the work is done.

MSHS 6624    Effective Decision Making for Organizations – This course explores the process for effective decision making using decision analysis theory, appropriate mathematical processes, evaluating inputs for applicability, and applicable quantitative and qualitative methods.  The course           will utilize “what if” challenges and will consider individual and organizational    preferences as well as environmental certainty and uncertainty.

MSHS 6625    Organizational Communication – An introduction to communication in organizations includes relevant theories, leadership, diversity, teamwork, and ethics.  Included in the course are definitions of organizational culture, leadership, teamwork,   diversity, ethics, and informal and formal communication as well as how they influence    and impact organizational communication.  The course will also investigate organizational communication systems and their relevant theories as well as comparing and contrasting the major theories.

MSHS 6626    Resolving Conflicts in Organizations – This course will investigate the sources of conflict in organizations, the sources of such conflict, and various modalities for resolving such conflicts.  Conflict in organizations can be manifested in various ways, such as interpersonal conflict, intra-group conflict, inter-group conflict, and inter-organizational conflict.  Resolving conflict includes compromise, collaboration, negotiation, and addressing individual sources of conflict.

MSHS 6627    Values and Ethics for Decision Making – Personal and organizational ethics and values guide decision making.  There are times when two or more ethical principles are in conflict.  This course will explore how to maximize the basic elements that form the context for ethical decision making.            

For more Information:

Paulette Laubsch, Ph.D
Director
201-692-6523 (V)
201-692-6529 (F)
mshs@fdu.edu (Email)