The University of South Carolina announced Monday that emergency management has been added as a concentration to its Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree.
The addition of this concentration means more graduate students have the chance to be employed in governmental, profit and nonprofit sectors that help in planning and responding to disasters.
The MPA program at USC is the oldest accredited MPA program in the state, with over 1,500 graduates since its founding in 1968. This particular program will be the first of its kind at any accredited MPA program in South Carolina.
MPA program director Christopher Witko said that the program has been in the works since 2014.
“This is something we started working on last fall,” Witko said. “It takes a long time for these programs to get approved … we got the final approval about a month ago.”
According to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD), South Carolina is vulnerable to nearly every major natural disaster, save volcanoes. The state is also susceptible to numerous man-made hazards like nuclear emergencies and homeland security threats. That vulnerability was more than evident from the unprecedented rainfall and subsequent flooding on the weekend of Oct. 4.
SCEMD Director Kim Stensonbelieves the field is constantly expanding and the need for qualified, educated and capable professionals is always there.
“Emergency management as a profession has grown tremendously over the last 20 years,” Stenson said in a press release. “The disaster response and recovery programs that exist today are extensive and detailed. The modern emergency manager has to have a solid educational foundation coupled with real-world experience in order to make the best recommendations about people's safety in times of crisis.”
“It will attract people already working in emergency management and planning that want to improve their skill set and knowledge, and it will also attract undergrads who want to have more marketable skills for their first ... ‘real jobs,'" Witko said.
Third-year hospitality management student Dylan Smith thinks that the concentration would be an excellent program for many students to pursue after they graduate.
“I’m kind of in a flux with my major right now … But it definitely sounds like something the state could use, especially right now,” Smith said. “The more people we have who are prepared for things like [the flooding], the better.”
Witko believes those looking for employment in emergency management will have a leg up if they go through the program, but, more importantly, that it will positively impact South Carolina and the Southeast as a whole.
“We think that it will help in the future — governments, non-profits, companies, etc. — respond in a timely and effective manner to emergencies when they arise,” Witko said. “Having more people with the skills and knowledge in this area can only be a good thing for the state, and really, for the region.”