PUC’s Emergency Management Program Now Offers Online A.S. to B.S. Degree

The Emergency Management Program at Pacific Union College, tucked away in Fisher Hall, has been an important and well-known program. The number of times students have heard the school’s siren go off, as members of the EMP rush off to their cars for a drill, has been a constant, thrilling reminder of its existence. In previous years, the department has only offered an associate’s degree, but now things are shaking up for a new and brighter future. This coming school year, EMP will be offering a new online program with an A.S. to B.S. degree.

Ever since EMP graduated its first baccalaureate class nearly a decade ago, they have been constantly fine-tuning its curriculum to make it both more relevant for today’s job market and to further the reach and effectiveness of its classes. Just this past academic year, three new courses were added to the program: Foundations of Homeland Security, Technology in Emergency Management, and Continuity Operations, all of which taught EMP majors valuable lessons and broadened their horizons on what emergency management could be, and different opportunities that might present themselves in their given field.

This new online Bachelor’s degree is just the latest in this series of innovations and excitement that has swept over the program. “The way we envision our A.S. to B.S. in Emergency Management will work is,” said Director of the Emergency Services Program Jeff Joiner. “Students can be admitted to the B.S. program with an A.S. in Emergency Services from PUC or an A.S. from another institution in Public Safety, Law Enforcement, Emergency Services, Fire Science, Business, Psychology, or Health Sciences.”

Transcripts for each incoming student will be evaluated to determine which courses are needed to ensure that the proper ones will be taken for degree completion. These courses will be taught asynchronously for all three quarters of the upcoming school year alongside their regular course offerings, with students required to complete additional course requirements for the B.S. and any remaining General Electives needed for graduation.

The desired result is that future students receive an even greater opportunity to complete their degree at PUC, and prepare for a future where the sky is the limit for where they can go and what they can do with the skills they have acquired from this excellent program. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and Georgia Department of Public Health (Epidemiologic Investigator) are just a few of the many careers PUC EMP graduates have found to be their calling. And with this new online program, many will see PUC as the place where they can build themselves up for a great future of opportunities in the field of Emergency Management, even if they are not on campus.

This program will take effect this fall quarter.