Emergency Management (Master of Science)

Application Deadlines

Rolling Admissions. Applications are accepted throughout the year as admissions must be met before the anticipated start term.

Application Materials Required for the MS with a Major in Emergency Management

Applicants for the MS with a major in Emergency Management must submit all of the following documentation to Graduate Admissions to be considered for admission:

Graduate Admissions
Jacksonville State University
700 Pelham Road North
Jacksonville, Alabama 36265-1602

  1. Completed JSU Graduate Application for Admission.
  2. Non-refundable $35.00 application processing fee.
  3. Official transcripts from the baccalaureate degree awarding institution and all transcripts from institutions where post-baccalaureate work has been completed. To be considered for admission, applicants must hold a degree from an institutionally accredited institution or its foreign equivalent. (Students who have previously attended JSU do not need to request a transcript from the university.)
  4. A statement of purpose/interest that shows why the MS degree is important to the applicant, what the applicant will bring to the program, and how the degree will benefit the applicant’s career aspirations.
  5. A professional resume including academic history, employment, and voluntary/community work.
  6. International student applicants must see the International Student Applicants section of this catalog for other application and enrollment requirements.

Admission Requirements for the MS with a Major in Emergency Management

A particular undergraduate major is not specified for admission to the program. Applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

Unconditional Admission

  • Applicants with an undergraduate GPA of 3.00 or higher from a institutionally accredited institution may be unconditionally admitted.

Conditional Admission 

  • Applicants with an undergraduate GPA of 2.50 to 2.99 from a institutionally accredited institution may be conditionally admitted.
  • Any applicant failing to meet the requirement for unconditional admission may be conditionally admitted with the recommendation of the graduate faculty in the applicant’s major.
  • Applicants who are awarded the Emergency Management (Graduate Certificate) program at Jacksonville State University prior to seeking admission to the MS with a major in Emergency Management program may have the minimum 2.5 undergraduate GPA admission requirement waived for conditional admission.

Applicants who are granted conditional admission must achieve a GPA of at least 3.00 on the first 12 graduate hours attempted. Failure to meet these conditions will result in the student being dropped from graduate studies.

Minimum Requirements for the MS with a Major in Emergency Management

An overall 3.00 GPA is required on all coursework attempted for the master’s degree. Transfer credit cannot be used to raise the GPA to the required 3.00.

A total of 30 graduate semester hours is required for the degree with 21 required hours of emergency management courses and nine hours of approved emergency management electives.

Course Title Credits
Required Emergency Management Courses
EM 505Foundations of Emergency Management3
EM 525Disaster Recovery3
EM 530Research Methods in Emergency Management3
EM 540Hazard Mitigation3
EM 545Emergency Preparedness3
EM 555Disaster Response3
EM 590Capstone in Emergency Management3
Electives
Select nine hours of the following: 1 9
EM 511
Disasters and the Media
EM 515
Legal Aspects of Emergency Management
EM 521
Exercise Design and Evaluation
EM 526
Advanced Radiological Incident Operations
EM 535
Terrorism and Homeland Security
EM 548
Vulnerability and Capacity-Building
EM 565
Management Systems in Disaster
EM 568
Crisis Management for Business and Industry
EM 570
Biosecurity
EM 575
Medical Aspects of Emergency Management
EM 576
Healthcare Leadership for All Hazards Incidents
EM 578
Advanced Public Information Officer for Health and Hospital Emergencies
EM 580
Current Issues in Homeland Security
EM 581
Disaster Analysis
EM 595
Directed Studies
EM 596
Internship
EM 598
Emergency Management Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Total Hours30

 30 Graduate Semester Hours Required for this Degree

1

Elective courses should be based on student interest and career objectives and are to be chosen from any 500-level emergency management elective offerings at JSU.

Graduation and Comprehensive Exam

No comprehensive exam is required for this degree. All students must apply for graduation by the given deadline of the semester in which they plan to graduate. Please see the Graduation and Comprehensive Exam section of this catalog for more information.