Public Safety Administration

PUBLIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION/MASTER OF SCIENCE

Total Credit Hours: 36

The 36 credit-hour Master of Science in Public Safety Administration provides a concise, accelerated, and contemporary course of study that is unique, flexible, and relevant to the changing needs of today’s public safety practitioner. It is designed to help those who are preparing to manage police, fire, emergency medical, private law enforcement services and other public safety occupations in our society. The program is characterized by

• A curriculum that offers both theory and practical application.

• Faculty that bring formal education and experience.

• Accelerated coursework that allows flexibility in scheduling. Courses are offered in an accelerated format on a year-round basis and scheduled to accommodate both students who wish to enroll continuously and those who stop and re-enroll later. Courses are eight weeks in length with six sessions per year and are offered in the evening. Individual class meetings are once a week for four hours.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this program are to provide students with the essential knowledge and skills that should enable them to function effectively as a manager or an administrator of a public safety agency.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

There are a number of learning outcomes associated with the Public Safety Administration degree program. It is the design of the program, and the intention of the University, that a graduate student of Public Safety Administration will

• Understand the contemporary practices of public safety management and responsibilities.

• Prepare budgets for a public safety organization.

• Demonstrate organizational development leadership through the practices of reflection on action, critical and spatial thinking, and analysis and interpretation of data and logic.

• Develop and maintain organizational effectiveness through the knowledge and employment of select training modalities.

• Maintain organizational and personal values that are ethical and socially responsible.

• Understand law that applies to the field.

• Articulate issues of employee relationships with the public safety organization.

• Develop theories and practices involving issues of risk management and crisis management.

• Demonstrate sound practice in human resource development.

• Make decisions consistent with the responsibilities of serving and relating to the community.

• Organize ideas in such a manner that communication is optimized within the organization.

• Work effectively in a diverse and multicultural organization and community.

• Evaluate the impact of costs, assets, losses, and politics.

• Analyze qualitative and quantitative data.

• Develop solutions for public safety problems.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Full Admission

Students must meet the following requirements for full admission:

1. Possess a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education with a major in Criminal/Social Justice, Fire Science, or Private Security.ORPossess a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education in another major with a concentration of 12 semester credit hours related to Criminal/Social Justice, Fire Science, or Private Security.ORPossess a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education and be currently serving as a Criminal/Social Justice, Fire Service, or Private Security practitioner with a minimum of five years experience.

2. Submit a completed application for admission.

3. Submit 2 letters of recommendation.

4. Submit official transcripts of all academic work previously attempted or completed. The last 60 hours of undergraduate work must equal a GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

5. Pay a non-refundable application fee submitted with a completed graduate application.

6. Receive acceptance by the Graduate Council of the College of Arts and Sciences.

PROVISIONAL ADMISSION

A provisional admission may be granted when a student has not met one or more of the above requirements. Full admission will be granted when the student has resolved all deficiencies.

If a student must satisfy the grade point average requirements, the student must have an undergraduate GPA of 2.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Upon satisfactory completion of a maximum of nine semester credit hours which must be completed with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, the applicant will be reviewed for full admission status by the Program Director.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

International students should consult General Information in this catalog for acceptable scores on the TOEFL as well as other pertinent information. The student must also meet the published requirements for admission to the Public Safety Administration degree program.

STUDENT-AT-LARGE STATUS

A student-at-large is not a degree candidate. If an at-large student decides to apply for full admission into the PSA degree program, only nine hours of completed course work will be accepted for credit toward the advanced degree. The courses must have been completed within five years of the time of application for admission.

ACADEMIC PROBATION

Students will be placed on academic probation should their GPA fall below 3.0. Students who do not raise their GPA to at least 3.0 during the following semester will be subject to dismissal by the Program Director.

TRANSFER CREDIT

A maximum of nine credit hours directly related to the program contents may be transferred from a regionally accredited institution provided the grade for each course is no less than a B.

TIME LIMITATION FOR COMPLETION OF PROGRAM

Students must complete all degree requirements within seven years from the time of completion of their first graduate course at Lewis University.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

Students must complete 36 semester hours of required course work with a GPA of no less than 3.0 to complete the Public Safety Administration degree. The student must also pass a comprehensive examination as a requirement for the completion of the degree.

INTERNAL TRANSFER OF LEWIS UNIVERSITY CREDITS

Students may transfer nine graduate credit hours from a different graduate program provided a degree had not previously been awarded for those credit hours.

Required Core Courses (36)

There are 12 courses required to complete this 36 credit hour program. At the conclusion of the coursework, the student must successfully pass a Comprehensive Program Examination.
91-520 Public Safety Administration and Management (3)
91-523 Fiscal Management for Public Safety Administrators (3)
91-527 Public Safety Leadership - Theory and Practice (3)
91-530 Critical Thinking and Decision Making (3)
91-533 Public Safety Training - Management and Development (3)
91-536 Ethics, Integrity and Social Responsibility (3)
91-539 Public Safety Law and Civil Liability (3)
91-542 Publice Safety Administration Incident Command (3)
91-545 Labor Relations in the Public Sector (3)
91-547 Risk/Crisis Management (3)
91-550 Human Resource Development (3)
91-553 Multicultural Diversity (3)

 

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