Mission and Goals

Mission Statement

To deliver a comprehensive bachelor degree program for prospective and current public safety specialists to obtain the required knowledge and skill to effectively lead, manage, and serve in a dynamic all-hazards environment where critical incidents require multi-agency collaboration and coordination activities.

Core Values

With integrity, innovation, collaboration, and rigor, the following are emphasized for student success:

• Excellence in teaching through Cowboy Quality certification.
• Excellence in program administration through program accreditation.
• Inclusiveness and diversity of students and their ideas.
• Student-centered curriculum and advisement.
• Promoting faculty professional development.
• Transparency of program administration and information.

Vision

The Public Safety Management Bachelor of Technology program is an innovative leader in delivering quality public safety education using a multi-disciplined approach to foster professional relationships and build a community of public safety leaders.

Program Description

Emergency responders are public safety specialists who serve with pride, professionalism, and compassion. When fellow citizens are in crisis, public safety specialists are called upon to help. There are high expectations of how public safety specialists perform in the routine situation and during a disaster. This expectation begins before an emergent event ever occurs. Public safety specialists must have the education, training, professional development, and community commitment to effectively manage the all-hazard environment in which we reside.

The Public Safety Management Bachelor of Technology program has a comprehensive curriculum package that prepares prospective and current public safety specialists for the dynamic work environment and for advancement into leadership positions. Coursework in the program is delivered 100% online in the Desire2Learn (D2L) system. Students study a variety of topics in a multi-disciplined classroom setting that includes critical incident response, emergency management principles, human resource management, strategic planning and risk analysis, legal and ethical issues, research design, community relations, public information, and a practical experience. Students are assessed on their knowledge acquisition in a comprehensive assessment process and defended by students in a capstone course.

Program Goals

Excellence in Program

Goal #1: Curriculum – maintain appropriate, rigorous curriculum to meet the mission.

Strategies to Achieve Goal

• Continue to evaluate courses for appropriateness to today’s all-hazard public safety field.
• Comply with the federal credit-hour definition in 34CFR600.2 and as adopted by the Higher Learning Commission and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
• Develop/revise curriculum to support changes as guided by the advisory board.
• Continually evaluate course sequencing and offerings for a smooth path to graduation.
• Institute changes in degree requirements as set by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
• Collaborate with other departments to ensure curriculum is rigorous to the level offered and enhances the assessment of student learning in the program.
• Continue to certify online courses to the Cowboy Quality or Lite standards.
• Be innovative in the technological design of the online course.

Measurements

• Curriculum change data.
• Credit-hour worksheets.
• Assessment report documents changes for improvement.
• Cowboy Quality certification data.

Goal #2: Accreditation – maintain/support program and institutional accreditation.

Strategies to Achieve Goal

• Maintain program accreditation from the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress.
• Serve on campus committees to support institutional accreditation.
• Continually monitor compliance with accreditation standards.
• Continue to be a mission-centered program with regular review and revision as needed.
• Continue to be guided by an active advisory board with a diverse representation of the public safety community.

Measurements

• Accreditation status.
• Committee assignments.
• Program review – advisory board minutes.

Goal #3: Assessment – maintain a comprehensiveness of assessment of student learning.

Strategies to Achieve Goal

• Ensure all reports are completed with an attention to detail.
• Implement changes as guided by the assessment process.
• Keep the assessment cycle moving.
• Regularly review the program outcomes with the advisory board to ensure appropriateness. Make revisions as necessary.
• Ensure assessment of outcomes is comprehensive and supports the quality improvement process.
• Ensure outcomes are aligned to the mission, goals, objectives, and curriculum.

Measurements

• Assessment report.
• Program review – advisory board minutes.

Goal #4: Faculty – maintain and support faculty professional development.

Strategies to Achieve Goal

• Support faculty attendance at conferences, seminars, and training sessions.
• Support faculty in serving on committees and organizations.

Measurements

• Conference/training completion.
• Committee assignments.

Student Learning Goals

Student Success

Goal #1: Assessment – assessment of outcomes leads to quality improvement and student success.

Strategies to Achieve Goal

• Continue to evaluate courses for lessons that support assessment in capstone course.
• Continue to include direct and indirect measures in assessment report.
• Evaluate direct and indirect measures in assessment to determine what improvements can be recommended to support student success.

Measurements

• Assessment plan and curriculum map completion.
• Obtain direct and indirect measures of outcomes.
• Document course improvements on assessment report.

Goal #2: Retention and Persistence – students are supported during their education.

Strategies to Achieve Goal

• Outreach to students is achieved in the classroom from their primary instructor.
• Early alerts and instructor communication are supportive to student success.
• Availability of student activities to support engagement.

Measurements

• E-mail communications.
• Success rates from early alerts.
• Use of SSOC services.
• Course grade comparisons.
• Honors, Student Learning, Public Safety Student Association data.

Goal #3: Graduation – students are supported through to graduation.

Strategies to Achieve Goal

• Advisement services provided to students.
• Course sequencing supports program completion.

Measurements

• Degree audit data.
• Advisement data.
• Enrollment data.
• Graduation rates.

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