Emergency Management Student Survey

The survey addressed the following areas: basic program information, program evaluation, general faculty evaluation,

job placement and internship opportunities, distance learning, and student demographics.

Data Analyzed by William McPeck, MSW, Jill Garcia & Randal Fote

Survey created by William McPeck, MSW, Jill Garcia, Randal Fote,

Carol Cwiak, B.S.L., J.D. & Shaun Ohlms

NOAA

www.DisasterStudent.com

452 Student Surveys (Mid-April to Mid-May)

•50 Colleges and Universities

•4 International Universities

•13 International Surveys

•25% Traditional Students

•75% Returning Students

Top Five Schools for Response

California State University - Long Beach 81

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill 56

University of North Texas 43

Jacksonville State University 40

St. Joseph’s University 28

Type of Program***************************

Traditional Distance LearningCombination 189 140 123

Associate8

Bachelor208 Master

150 Doctorate23

GeneralCertificate

12Undergraduate

Certificate5

Graduate Certificate

43

Student's Degree or Certificate Level

3 did not answer

Academic Department

Public Safety 71 Planning and Mgmt

63 Public Health 55 Management

51 Other 49 Fire Science/Admin.

39 Public Policy/Admin. 36

Engineering27

Environmental Studies23

Sociology22

Other, Social Science 6 Planning 4 Medicine 3 Geography 2 Unknown 1

N = 452

What Students Would Change About the Courses Specifically to

Improve Them203 More Case Studies

103 Better Reading Material

58 Course Descriptions that Match Course Content

52 More Knowledgeable Professor

41 More Reading Material

29 Less Work Assigned

Comments include a need for more “hands-on” material/coursework.

Programs need to focus on actual job related tasks and situations.

What Students Would Change About the Courses Offerings

181 More Frequent Offerings of Core Courses

177 More Diverse Course Selection

75 Distance Learning Opportunities

69 Adding or Enhancing the Number of Night and Weekend Courses

What Students Would Like to See Their Program Improve Internship

Opportunities In…232 Federal Government

197 Private Industry

194 State Government

189 Local Government

120 Non Profit Organization

50 mixed comments that internships are not applicable and/or all of the above

Emergency Management Student Survey

What Distance Education Students Said

Distance Education Students

1. Programs using a combination of in-person and distance ed formats

N=140 respondents2. Programs using a distance ed format

alone N=123 respondents263 (58.2%) respondents out of a total of

452 respondents

Schools Represented

31 schools representing combination and distance education programs

Schools with the largest responses included: California State University–Long Beach – 81 University of North Carolina Chapel Hill – 56 Jacksonville State University – 40 Arkansas Technical University – 24 American Public University System - 18

Data Issues

Concern - Several schools were listed as both combination and distant education only programs. For example: University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill California State University – Long Beach Jacksonville State University

Database needs cleaning up

Q2 – Why Did You Choose the Specific Program You Did?

Combination Location – 69 (32.7%) Reputation – 38 (18%) Program Focus-38 (18%) Cost – 36 (17.1%) Classes – 16 (7.6%) Admin Policies– 2 (0.9%) Other – 12 (5.7%)

N = 211 Total Reflects More Than

One Choice

Distance Ed Only Location – 45 (20.8%) Distance Format– 41

(19%) Reputation – 39 (18.1%) Cost – 34 (15.74%) Program Focus – 32

(14.8%) Classes – 9 (4.2%) Other – 9 (4.2%)

N = 216 Total Reflects More Than

One Choice

Q3 – Degree or Certificate Level Represented

Combination Degrees

Associate – 1 (0.8%) Bachelor - 69 (56%) Masters – 33 (27%) Doctorate – 4 (3.3%)

Certificates Undergrad – 0 Graduate – 12 (9.8%) Stand Alone-4 (3.3%)

Distance Ed Only Degrees

Associate – 6 (4.3%) Bachelor-54 (38.6%) Masters – 48 (34.3%) Doctorate – 0

Certificates Undergrad-3 (2.1%) Graduate-24 (17.1%) Stand Alone-5 (3.6%)

Q5 – Student Status

Combination Traditional – 21

(17.1%) Returning – 102

(82.9%)

N = 123

Distance Ed Only Traditional – 19

(13.6%) Returning – 121

(86.4%)

N = 140

Q8 – Employment Status

Combination Unemployed – 6 (4.9%) Part-time – 13 (10.6%) Full-time – 104 (84.6%)

< 30 hrs = Part-time N = 123

Distance Ed Only Unemployed – 11

(7.9%) Part-time – 9 (6.4%) Full-time – 120 (85.7%)

< 30 hrs = Part-time N = 140

Q10 – Primary Job Title

Combination Fire Service – 29 (25%) Law Enf – 22 (19%) Emergency Mgt – 10

(8.6%) Healthcare – 10 (8.6%) EMS – 3 (2.6%)

Top 5 Categories N = 116

Distance Ed Only Fire Service – 16 (12.6%) Emergency Mgt – 12

(9.4%) Healthcare – 11 (8.7%) Law Enf – 9 (7.1%) Military – 9 (7.1%)

Top 5 Categories N = 127

Q11 – Does Work Pay for Your Education?

Combination

Completely – 17 (13.8%) Partially – 44 (35.8%) Not At All – 53 (43.1%) Not Applicable – 9 (7.3%)

N = 123

Distance Ed Only

Completely – 19 (13.6%) Partially – 52 (37.1%) Not At All – 54 (38.6%) Not Applicable – 15

(10.7%)

N = 140

Q12 – Why Did You Enroll in the Program?

Combination Professional

Development – 84 (69.4%)

Mandated – 0 Interested in EM - 26

(21.5%) Other -11 (9.1%)

N = 121

Distance Ed Only Professional

Development – 100 (71.4%)

Mandated – 1 (0.7%) Interested in EM – 30

(21.4%) Other – 9 (6.4%)

N = 140

Questions Specific for Distance Education Students

For the following six questions, the Combination Program and Distance Ed Program subsets were combined to reflect all the distance education students.

Q33 – The Use of Technology to Deliver Course Work

Interfered with my ability to learn – 12 (4.6%) Enhanced my ability to learn – 165 (62.7%) Had no effect on my ability to learn– 65 (24.7%) No Opinion – 21 (8%)

N = 263

Q34 – I Received Timely Feedback from Faculty Members

Strongly Agree – 94 (35.7%) Agree – 113 (43.0%) Neutral – 22 (8.4%) Disagree – 17 (6.5%) Strongly Disagree – 6 (2.3%) No Opinion – 11 (4.2%)

N = 263

Q35 – I Received Adequate Feedback From Faculty Members

Strongly Agree – 87 (33.1%) Agree – 122 (46.4%) Neutral – 20 (7.6%) Disagree – 17 (6.5%) Strongly Disagree - 5 (1.9%) No Opinion – 12 (4.6%)

N = 263

Q36 – I Received Timely Notice of Grades

Strongly Agree – 95 (36.1%) Agree – 102 (38.8%) Neutral – 25 (9.5%) Disagree – 17 (6.5%) Strongly Disagree – 8 (3.0%) No Opinion – 16 (6.1%)

N = 263

Q37 – My Courses Encouraged Collaboration With My Fellow Students

Strongly Agree – 93 (35.4%) Agree – 124 (47.1%) Neutral – 23 (8.8%) Disagree – 8 (3.0%) Strongly Disagree - 5 (1.9%) No Opinion – 10 (3.8%)

N = 263

Q38 – My Courses Provided Ample Opportunities To Learn From My Fellow

Students Strongly Agree – 81 (30.8%) Agree – 117 (44.5%) Neutral – 36 (13.7%) Disagree – 14 (5.3%) Strongly Disagree - 5 (1.9%) No Opinion – 10 (3.8%)

N = 263