The information contained on this page is designed to give students a representative example of material covered in the course. Any information related to course assignments, dates, or course materials is illustrative only. For a definitive list of materials, please check the online catalog 3-4 weeks before the course start date.

HLS 811 FUNDAMENTALS OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (3 credits)

This course provides foundational knowledge about homeland security, including policy, organization, and legal issues in the U.S. context.

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Overview

HLS 811 - (3 credits) Fundamentals of Homeland Security and Emergency Management - provides foundational knowledge about homeland security, emergency management, preparedness, and resilience policy, strategy, organization, and legal issues in the U.S. context and in an all-hazards perspective. Principles and practices of emergency management planning are also discussed. Students will have the opportunity to examine key homeland security issues through formal writing assignments as well as to earn FEMA independent study certificates embedded in the course. This course serves as an introduction to the Base Program in the Intercollege Master of Professional Studies in Homeland Security (iMPS-HLS) Program and is a required course in the Homeland Security Graduate Certificate.

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Course Objectives

Students will come to understand the history of homeland security as it evolved from the traditional fields of civil defense and emergency management. Students will further come to appreciate the problems and prospects of establishing proactive homeland security and emergency management capabilities in a modern threat environment calling for a higher level of preparedness and significantly more awareness. Knowledge will be obtained about how to provide security against various hazards, natural or manmade (e.g., hurricanes, floods, bombings, chemical, biological, or cyber-attacks), how to protect critical infrastructures (e.g., transportation, agriculture), and how to plan for effective response and recovery efforts (e.g., first responder, law enforcement, humanitarian relief efforts). The principles and practices of emergency planning and management (e.g., risk analysis, emergency preparedness, incident command) are also discussed in this and other courses throughout the curriculum.  Instruction also focuses on relatively new emerging principles of operating in the interagency, multi-jurisdictional cooperation involving the private sector, law enforcement, academia, nonprofits, and private citizens.

Students will achieve the following objectives:

1. Analyze the broad range of homeland security and emergency management policies and procedures and describe their impact.
2. Investigate the organizations involved in homeland security and emergency management, how they are organized, how they interrelate, and their specific roles. 
3. Evaluate homeland security and emergency management issues and problems in building a resilent nation.
4. Demonstrate your knowledge gain of the homeland security discipline and related leadership challenges.
5. Explain the host of hazards (natural or anthropogenic) which threaten the safety and security of American society.
6. Conduct defensible analysis and demonstrate the ability to use library resources to support the analysis.

If you previously completed HLS 801, please note that some content and readings may look familiar. However, you will address this material and write your assignments from a different point of view and in a different context: The focus of HLS 811 is on preparedness, emergency management, and resilience. Among other things, you will take a thorough look at the National Preparedness System and its different Frameworks. In terms of assignments, while HLS 801 had a focus on mission-space professional writing, here in HLS 811 you will focus on producing scholastic papers, based on your own defendable analysis and critical thinking. You will thus pick up from where you left in HLS 801 with its final scenario paper.

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Required Course Materials

Most World Campus courses require that students purchase materials (e.g., textbooks, specific software, etc.). To learn about how to order materials, please see the Course Materials page. You should check LionPATH approximately 3–4 weeks before the course begins for a list of required materials.

E-Book Option: An online version of one or more of your texts is available at no cost as a Penn State Library E-Book. Some E-Books will only be available online, while others will be available to download in full or in part. You may choose to use the E-Book as an alternative to purchasing a physical copy of the text. You can access the E-Book by selecting the Library Resources link on the course navigation, and then selecting the E-Reserves link. For questions or issues, you can contact the University Libraries Reserve Help (UL-RESERVESHELP@LISTS.PSU.EDU).

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Library Resources

Many of the University Libraries resources can be utilized from a distance. Through the Libraries website, you can

• access magazine, journal, and newspaper articles online using library databases;
• borrow materials and have them delivered to your doorstep—or even your desktop;
• get research help via email, chat, or phone using the Ask a Librarian service; and
• much more. 

You must have an active Penn State Access Account to take full advantage of the Libraries' resources and service.  The Off-Campus Users page has additional information about these free services.

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Technical Requirements and Help

Course Schedule

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Grading

The World Campus follows the same grading system as the Penn State resident program. The grades of A, B, C, D, and F indicate the following qualities of academic performance:

A = (Excellent) Indicates exceptional achievement
B = (Good) Indicates extensive achievement
C = (Satisfactory) Indicates acceptable achievement
D = (Poor) Indicates only minimal achievement
F = (Failure) Indicates inadequate achievement necessitating a repetition of the course in order to secure credit

Deferred Grades

If, for reasons beyond the student's control, a student is prevented from completing a course within the prescribed time, the grade in that course may be deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. The symbol DF appears on the student's transcript until the course has been completed. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested by the student before the beginning of the final examination period. In an emergency situation, an instructor can approve a deferred grade after the final exam period has started. Under emergency conditions during which the instructor is unavailable, authorization is required from one of the following: the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled; the executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division or is a provisional student; or the campus chancellor of the student's associated Penn State campus.

For additional information please refer to the Deferring a Grade page.

Grading Criteria

Assignments and Grades

Assignment	Number of Assignments	% of Total Grade
Discussion Forum Participation	14	15%
Topic Papers	Topic Paper #1 - 25% Topic Paper #2 - 30%	55%
Completion of FEMA Courses	3 (3.33% each)	10%
Executive Summary Feedback Forum	2 (6% each)	12%
Topic Selection Forum	2 (4% each)	8%
Total		100%

Grading Scale

Grade Percentages

Grade	Percentage
A	100% - 94%
A-	< 94% - 90%
B+	< 90% - 87%
B	< 87% - 84%
B-	< 84% - 80%
C+	< 80% - 77%
C	< 77% - 70%
D	< 70% - 60%
F	< 60% - 0%

Please refer to the University Grading Policy for Graduate Courses for additional information about University grading policies.

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Assignments

Discussion Forums

You will find a Discussion Forum associated with each lesson throughout the course.

Discussion Forums (essentially your class participation) are worth 15% of your final grade, so please take these seriously.  To maximize your score, make thoughtful, timely, and meaningful contributions to the forum.  I do, however, value quality over quantity.  Quality is defined by content as well as grammar and spelling.  Students often ask, "How long should the postings be?"  Again, I value quality over quantity, but over the course of the last several semesters, I have found that students use approximately 300-400 words to adequately answer the discussion forum questions. You can use current events and external research to support the readings found in the course material.  It is always best to include points based on facts, rather than opinion.  However, do not hesitate to include your personal observations or especially your personal and/or professional experiences in your postings.  This adds tremendously to the adult learning model.  Also, keep in mind that students often get seeds of ideas for formal writing assignments from the Discussion Forums.

The objectives of these specific Discussion Forums are to allow for the exchange of information and knowledge through communication with classmates and the instructor and to develop a “discussion thread” that stimulates critical thinking and in-depth dialogue.  You are required to answer the Discussion Forum question no later than Thursday and then respond to at least two of your classmates' postings each week no later than Sunday.  Professionalism and common courtesy are the watch words during these weekly dialogues.  Feel free to ask questions, make constructive comments, and expand upon the topic for that week.        

Homeland Security Topic Papers

Each student is required to produce two (2) scholastic homeland security topic papers, based on their own defendable analysis and critical thinking.  As a point of departure, students should select as a basis for a topic one of the current homeland security core missions as established in the QHSRs. There are a myriad of issues implied in these. Students should be able to develop a focused topic from any one of them.  Alternatively, students may select a basis for their papers: any one of the four principal goals of DHS that guide and unify the nation's homeland security efforts; the legal basis for homeland security; executive branch policies and strategies; or homeland security plans and programs.

The recommended additional textbook, Kilroy, R.J. (2018). Threats to Homeland Security: Reassessing the All-Hazards Perspective, 2nd Ed., is an excellent resource to inform your topic choices and serve as foundation/point of departure for your topic papers. 

These papers are worth 55% of your final grade (25% for Topic Paper #1, 30% for Topic Paper #2).  As stated in the course introduction, the study of homeland security has tremendous depth and breadth.  Therefore, students are encouraged to pick their own topics.  The paper will describe and critically analyze, using scholarly research, the selected homeland security issue.  The student is also expected to make recommendations and/or draw conclusions where appropriate. This is key to demonstrating critical thinking.

In addition to the final Topic Papers, for each paper, you will be required to participate in discussion forums to:

1. Post your paper topic
2. Post your Executive Summary (prior to the final paper due date) in order to receive feedback from your classmates and your instructor

Students shall use the following format with appropriate section headings (you may use subheadings, for example in your Discussion and Analysis Section, if necessary):

• Title page (per APA format);
• Abstract;
• Introduction or Background, to include a thesis statement;
  • discuss the issue or problem to be examined, why you selected it, why it is important, and what can be expected from your analysis -- what the scholarly objective of the paper is;
  • keep this section as brief as possible;
• Discussion and Analysis
  • the heart of the paper;
• Conclusions and/or Recommendations; and  
• Reference page (per APA format).

Refer to the course schedule for the due dates.  Please contact your faculty instructor if you have any questions on topics for these writing assignments.

The homeland security topic papers must:

• be in American Psychological Association (APA) format (a helpful APA tutorial is available here);
  • also see the Writing Resources folder in the modules section; there is a plethora of information there;
  • but the best approach is to actually use the APA Manual; 
• be objective research papers, not opinion pieces, editorials, or first person narratives;
• be 8-9 pages of text for Topic Paper #1
• be 8-9 pages for Topic Paper #2
  • the pages of text do not include the title page, abstract, or reference page(s). 
• be typed and double-spaced;
• have one-inch margins;
• be in Arial font 11; and
• be submitted to the appropriate Drop Box as an MS Word document no later than the assigned due date;
  • the uploaded file must use the following naming convention:
    • Last name_first name_Topic paper X

One of the objectives with this type of assignment is to get the student to convey complex subject matter clearly and concisely.  You will not be able to "solve world hunger" or "cure cancer" with these papers.  Your thinking, as well as your writing, must be clear and crisp.  Do not waste time on the "history" of your selected topic/issue.  A history lesson is neither desired, nor required.  You can assume the reader (me) has some knowledge of the subject matter.  Your focus should be on briefly describing the issue, analyzing it, and then making appropriate recommendations.  In other courses in the iMPS-HLS program (e.g., HLS 812) you will be asked to convey equally complex subject matter in even shorter papers (executive briefing papers).  If in the future you come to work in the homeland security field you will find that your boss, most likely, will not have the time to read the full content of extensive reports.  This will become readily apparent the more senior your boss is, and your boss will come to value your ability to succinctly convey key points of more lengthy documents.  And when you are the boss you will appreciate this skill in your staff.

The student is responsible for the content and presentation of the paper.  This means graduate-level research and writing.  Incomplete sentences, faulty paragraphs, poor grammar and syntax, poor punctuation, and misspelled words are often signs of poor writing, poor proofreading, and lack of attention to detail.  Therefore, be especially careful to proofread your paper closely before submitting it.  Grammar and presentation are essential elements of all writing, but especially when presenting analysis to policy makers.  Consequently, excessive grammar and presentation errors will result in a significant grade deduction. If you feel your writing abilities are not up to graduate-level standards, the iMPS-HLS faculty recommends that you obtain the services of a private writing tutor or the services of the Graduate Writing Center (contact information for the Graduate Writing Center can be found in the iMPS-HLS Student Guidebook). 

Again, APA format is required; use the Seventh Edition for your assignments.  Failure to provide appropriate citations which document your sources will constitute plagiarism.  A helpful suggestion is: when in doubt, cite.  Endnotes or footnotes will be used only to expound on the text.  Any submitted paper, which has been, in part or whole, plagiarized will receive a grade of zero.  A grading rubric provides additional detail.

Click here to link to the PSU Libraries APA Citation Guide.

FEMA/Emergency Management Institute (EMI) Independent Study (IS) Courses

Students are required to complete three FEMA/EMI Independent Study Courses and submit a copy of their certificates of completion for IS-453 and IS 230 their to the appropriate Drop Boxes prior to the first day of Lesson 8 and IS 235.C in Lesson 11.

NOTE: More information about enrolling in the FEMA/EMI course can be found in the Getting Started Lesson.

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Academic Integrity

According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity , an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.

Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity ). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic outcomes, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes which may include ineligibility for Dean’s List, pass/fail elections, and grade forgiveness. Students may also face consequences from their home/major program and/or The Schreyer Honors College.

How Academic Integrity Violations Are Handled
World Campus students are expected to act with civility and personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment of academic integrity is requisite to respect for oneself and others, as well as a civil community.

In cases where academic integrity is questioned, the Policy on Academic Integrity indicates that procedure requires an instructor to inform the student of the allegation. Procedures allow a student to accept or contest a charge. If a student chooses to contest a charge, the case will then be managed by the respective college or campus Academic Integrity Committee. If that committee recommends an administrative sanction (Formal Warning, Conduct Probation, Suspension, Expulsion), the claim will be referred to the Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response.

All Penn State colleges abide by this Penn State policy, but review procedures may vary by college when academic dishonesty is suspected. Information about Penn State's academic integrity policy and college review procedures is included in the information that students receive upon enrolling in a course. To obtain that information in advance of enrolling in a course, please contact us by going to the Contacts & Help page .

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1. 1. Student Success and Support Resources

      The Chaiken Center for Student Success at Penn State World Campus guides you to the right resources and support you need–when you need them–along your academic journey. You can connect with peers and support teams to find direction, information, and networking opportunities. On the website, you'll find information and resources on many aspects of being a World Campus student:

      • Finances—tuition, scholarships, and financial aid
      • Inclusion and Wellness—diversity and inclusion, mental health services, disability accommodations, care and advocacy
      • Enrollment and Registration—course planning, adding and dropping courses, and much more
      • Course Work and Success—academic advising, tutoring, and other services
      • Involvement and Opportunities—career resources, student organizations, internships, service, study abroad, and more

      Following are some key resources.

      Student Disability Services

      Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University’s educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities, including World Campus. The Disabilities and Accommodations section of the Chaiken Center for Student Success website provides World Campus students with information regarding how to request accommodations, documentation guidelines and eligibility, and appeals and complaints. For additional information, please visit the University's Student Disability Resources website.

      In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.

      Counseling and Psychological Services

      If you have a crisis or safety concern, mental health services are available to you as a Penn State student. Crisis and emergency contacts are available, no matter where you are located:

      • Anywhere in the United States: Call the Penn State Crisis Line at 1-877-229-6400 or text LIONS to 741741. You can also contact your local crisis services or hospital for emergencies.
      • Outside the United States: Please contact emergency services in your current location. You can also use the International Crisis and Emergency Services listings.
      • At University Park: Assistance is available at Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) locations on campus.
      • At a Penn State branch campus: You can search for counseling information at your campus.

       

      Military Student Information

      Veterans and currently serving military personnel and/or dependents with unique circumstances (e.g., upcoming deployments, drill/duty requirements, VA appointments, etc.) are welcome and encouraged to communicate these, in advance if possible, to the instructor in the case that special arrangements need to be made.

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      Additional Policies

      • Privacy Notice:

        Please note that course access is limited to those individuals who have direct responsibility for the quality of your educational experience. The course instructor and any teaching assistant(s), of course, have access to the course throughout the semester. Each course offered via the World Campus has several instructional design staff members assigned to assist in managing course content and delivery. These instructional design staff members have access to the course throughout the semester for this purpose. Also, World Campus technical staff may be given access in order to resolve technical support issues. In addition, mentor, department head, or program chair may be provided with course access in order to ensure optimal faculty availability and access. Each of these individuals will keep confidential all student course and academic information.

      • Student Responsibilities and Conduct:
        
        
        1. Students are responsible for online course content, taking notes, obtaining other materials provided by the instructor, taking tests (if applicable), and completing assignments as scheduled by the instructor.  As a general rule, students should plan on logging into the course at least three times per week and spending at least three hours per course credit per week on the course, e.g., if the course is three credits, the student should plan on spending at least 9-12 hours per week on the course, just as they would in a residence course.
        2. Students are responsible for keeping track of changes in the course syllabus made by the instructor throughout the semester.
        3. Students are responsible for monitoring their grades.
        4. Students must contact their instructor (and teammates when working on any collaborative learning assignments) as soon as possible if they anticipate missing long periods of online time due to events such as chronic illnesses, death in the family, business travel, or other appropriate events. The instructor will determine the minimal log on time and participation required in order to meet course responsibilities. In the event of other unforeseen conflicts, the instructor and student will arrive at a solution together.
           1. Requests for taking exams or submitting assignments after the due dates require documentation of events such as illness, family emergency, or a business-sanctioned activity.
           2. Conflicts with dates on which examinations or assignments are scheduled must be discussed with the instructor or TA prior to the date of the examination or assignment.
        5. Students are responsible for following appropriate netiquette (network etiquette) when communicating with their instructor and classmates. For reference, see the Academic Success Kit.
        6. Behaviors that disrupt other students’ learning are not acceptable and will be addressed by the instructor.
        7. For severe and chronic problems with student disruptive behavior, the following will be applied for resolution:
           1. Senate Committee on Student Life policy on managing classroom disruptions: Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response.
           2. Penn State Values.
      • Report Bias:

        Penn State takes great pride to foster a diverse and inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff. Acts of intolerance, discrimination, or harassment due to age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religious belief, sexual orientation, or veteran status are not tolerated and can be reported through Educational Equity via the Report Bias webpage.

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Disclaimer: Please note that the specifics of this Course Syllabus are subject to change, and you will be responsible for abiding by any such changes. Your instructor will notify you of any changes.