1. Course Syllabus & Outline
Course Title: Internship in Homeland Security & Emergency Management
Course Number: X 408.807
Quarter: All quarters
Instructor: Paul Myers, PhD
PaulM359@ucla.edu
Meeting Times: To be arranged with sponsor organization
Length of Course: 75 hours minimum to be completed in a 12 week period
Location: To be arranged by student
Office Hours: By appointment
Course Description
This course provides practical experience in Homeland Security and Emergency Management
with a leading business, organization, or government department (hereafter referred to as
“organization”). Applicable projects and assignments can include, but are not limited to:
assisting in Disaster/Emergency Plan development; providing client communications support;
preparing security/threat reports or briefings; helping with community preparedness initiatives;
or conducting research. Qualified students are placed in job settings for a minimum of 75 hours.
Sponsor organizations provide internship positions with no obligation to provide compensation
to interns. The internship is a practical method of applying previously learned material from the
certificate program’s courses.
Prerequisites: Students must be enrolled in the Homeland Security & Emergency Management
Certificate and have completed five core courses in the program. Advanced permission from the
certificate advisor is also required. In addition, F-1 Students must have permission from the
International Student Office before enrolling.
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2. Goals and Objectives
To give students practical experience in the field representing the certificate program and to
enable students to have a hands-on approach to the practice of homeland security and/or
emergency management.
To participate in on-the-job special projects, supervised by an emergency management
professional.
To provide students with internship hours that can be counted towards the International
Association of Emergency Managers’ (IAEM) Work History and Experience component of
becoming a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM).
Required Readings
Course Text:
None
Recommended Readings:
Newsletters, publications, Twitter profiles and other sources of information pertinent to the
field, such as:
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Public Health Matters Blog
(http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/)
• Department of Homeland Security updates (various updates available by subscribing at
http://www.dhs.gov/subscribe)
• National Governors Association Homeland Security Newsletter
(http://www.nga.org/cms/center/hsps)
• Twitter profiles, including: @NTARC (National Terror Alert Response Center);
@SecurityDebrief (George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute);
@DHSGov (Department of Homeland Security); @NationalVOAD (National Voluntary
Organizations Active in Disaster); @HazCenter (University of Colorado at Boulder
Natural Hazards Center); @Red Cross (American Red Cross)
• US Department of Education Safe & Supportive Schools News Bulletin
(http://www2.ed.gov/news/newsletters/listserv/preventioned.html)
• US Department of Health and Human Services Disaster Information Management
Research Center updates (http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc.html)
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3. Course Grading
Course grades will be based on:
% Item
50 1) Student project, due at the end of internship period and determined in advance
by the instructor, student, and sponsor organization.
50 2) Evaluation of the student’s performance at the mid-point of the internship
program and by the instructor and sponsor organization at the end of the
internship period.
Grading Scale
A = 90 – 100%
B= 80 – 89%
C= 70 – 79%
D = 60 – 69%
F= 50 – 59%
Please note that ALL COURSE GRADES ARE FINAL
Expectations
Students are expected to:
A. Course Specific
1) Complete an internship application form which will give the sponsor organization
information on the student’s background, education, special skills and areas of
expertise.
2) Complete the student project with a grade “B” or better.
3) Sign a confidentiality agreement with the sponsor organization and with the
instructor.
4) If required by the sponsor organization, pass a background check.
B. Internship Specific
1) Meet all time commitments with the sponsor organization barring unforeseen
circumstances, and provide proper notice to the sponsor organization of any
special circumstances that arise. Keep in mind that the sponsor organization may
be making special arrangements to accommodate your internship, (e.g., working
Saturdays or evenings), so your commitment to fulfilling the 12 week program is
crucial to the success of this program offering.
2) Provide feedback to the instructor regarding the intern assignment on a
predetermined basis.
3) Participate in a mid-quarter check-in with the course instructor regarding the
internship experience to date.
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4. Course Outline
Steps Internship Program Responsibility
A. The student will meet with the instructor before the internship begins to
discuss career objectives and interests.
B. The student will be given a list of available Homeland Security and
Emergency Management organizations and will be encouraged to
interview with several to find a mutually desirable “match”. In this
manner, the student’s preference for specific interest areas will be taken
into consideration. Once the student selects an organization, the
instructor will have the final responsibility in approving the placement.
The student will interview with the sponsor organization to secure the
internship and review work schedule.
C. The organization will appoint a manager to supervise the student’s
activities and ensure the work experience basic requirements are being
satisfied.
D. The instructor will meet, as appropriate, with the sponsor organization’s
appointed liaison and/or other principals of the organization to explain
the University’s expectations regarding the internship. Applicable
projects and assignments can include, but are not limited to:
• assisting in Disaster/Emergency Plan development
• providing client communications support
• preparing security/threat reports or briefings
• helping with community preparedness initiatives
• conducting research
E. The instructor will follow up via phone and/or a site visit in order to
evaluate work assignments and the student’s performance.
F. Mid-quarter Interim feedback and instructor and student communication will be
evaluation established in the first two weeks. The student, instructor, and sponsor
will complete a mid-term evaluation.
G. Upon completion of the internship, both the student and the sponsor
organization will complete evaluation forms and return them to the
instructor.
H. Student Project The student project will be determined at an agreed upon date, but no
later than the third week of the quarter. The project should relate to a
specific effort, e.g., helping with a community preparedness event. The
project should not be a diary of daily experiences.
Enrollment is limited to the number of available internship opportunities as approved by
UCLA Extension’s Business, Management, and Legal Programs Department.
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