Volume II | Fall 2023

Department News & Updates

Fall 2023 Newsletter

2023 EM Doctoral Seminar

We had a wonderful 2023 Doctoral Integrative Seminar at the JSU Merrill Hall Auditorium and at McClellan Center from August 7- August 11. Dr. Shirley Feldman-Jensen from California State University- Long Beach and Dr. DeeDee Bennett Gayle from SUNY-Albany were the keynote speakers. You can see some of the pictures of the Seminar at the end of newsletter.

EM Master's Program Ranks # 1

JSU's Master of Science Program in Emergency Management (MSEM) continues to hold # 1 rank in 2023 following the same ranking in 2022 & 2021. Intelligent.com analyzed 154 schools, on a scale of 0 to 100, with only 28 making it to the final list.

Best Master's in EM 2023 Ranking

Congratulations 2023 Summer Graduates!

In the photo from left to right: Mr. Quandarious Catlin, Dr. Laura Olson, Ms. Tammie Pierce, and Ms. Angelisse Nazario at JSU summer commencement.

Come see us at the IAEM Conference!

The Department of Emergency Management & Public Administration at Jacksonville State University looks forward to connecting with you at the IAEM Annual Conference in Long Beach, CA from November 3-9, 2023.

We'll be in the exhibit hall (booth # 137), so we hope you stop by for a chat (and to grab a giveaway). Be sure to network with our JSU-IAEM Faculty Advisor, Dr. Laura Olson and chapter members including Noah Maddox and Mikel Gordon.

The Department Welcomes New Faculty!

Dr. Chan Wang joins as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2023. She received her PhD from the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University. Dr. Wang's specialization/research interests include crisis policy making, emergency preparedness and response, risk communication, social network analysis, and qualitative comparative analysis.

Dr. Scott Manning joins as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Fall 2023. Dr. Manning is a graduate of our D.Sc. program in Emergency Management as well as MSEM and MPA programs. Scott's specialization/research interests include strategic planning, leadership theory and organizational behavior, and homeland security planning and preparedness.

Faculty Updates

NOAA Grant Awarded

Dr. Chongming Wang recently received a research grant award from NOAA's Weather Program Office (WPO) - Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBES) for her project on emergency communications and preparedness among the deaf and hard-of-hearing community that will span the next two years. Congratulations, Dr. Wang!

New Journal Article Published

D.Sc. student, Thomas Brindle and Dr. Shih-Kai Huang recently co-authored an article titled "What captures attention in the risk communication process: Exploring streaming video attractiveness during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China" in Computers in Human Behavior, which is a Q1 journal in the area with an impact factor of 9.9. Congratulations!

Article Link

New Journal Article Published

Dr. Alessandra Jerolleman recently co-authored an article titled "Assumptions and understanding of success in home buyout programs" in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction! Congratulations!

Article Link

New Book Published

Our Distinguished Affiliate Professor, Dr. David McEntire recently published a new book titled "The Distributed Functions of Emergency Management and Homeland Security: An Assessment of Professions Involved in Response to Disasters and Terrorist Attacks".

Congratulations, Dr. McEntire!

Book Link

FEMA HiEd Symposium 2023

FEMA HiEd Symposium Field Trip at Gettysburg

The Department had a strong presence this year at the 25th Annual FEMA Higher Education Symposium in Emmitsburg, Maryland from June 5-7, 2023. Dr. Arjola Balilaj and Dr. Tanveer Islam presented their FEMA funded research on the assessment of DEI efforts in state and local EMAs. Dr. David McEntire conducted a workshop for new teachers in emergency management and also moderated a community impact panel. Several D.Sc. students and alumni attended the symposium including Antoine Richards, Sean Fay, John Carr, Jody Hodge, Dr. Amy Hyman and Dr. Paula Buchanan.

EM Faculty Position...We are hiring!

The Department of Emergency Management and Public Administration of the Jacksonville State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences is seeking to hire a scholar for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor. Review of applications will begin on January 8, 2024. This position has an anticipated start date of August 2024.

We are particularly interested in individuals with both practical experience and scholarly expertise in U.S. emergency preparedness, disasters, response, recovery, resilience, mitigation, and historically underrepresented populations in disaster science and practice. Applicants should complete the online application and submit required documents at the following link:

https://careers.jsu.edu/cw/en-us/job/496624/assistant-professor-emergency-management

Student Updates

Spring 2023 President's List

Shout out to the EM undergraduate students who made to the President's List

Congratulations!

Homeland Security Minor:

Dissertation Defense in Fall 2023

Congratulations to Dr. John Carr (cohort 2017, picture above) and Dr. Thomas Brindle (cohort 2016, picture below) for successfully defending their dissertations this fall.

Dr. Carr's dissertation title is "Disaster Movies and the Perception of Human Behavior Myths in Disasters". He currently works as an Emergency Management Specialist at Argonne National Laboratory.

Dr. Brindle's dissertation title is "Using Industry Sector Entropy to Measure Economic Community Disaster Resilience: Real-world Verification from the COVID-19 Pandemic". He is currently a Clinical Associate Professor and Program Director of Industrial Distribution at University of North Texas.

Doctoral Program in Emergency Management

D.Sc. Student Received I-DIEM Scholarship

Doctoral Student Ms. Tamara Croom Doss received $5000 scholarship award from the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management (I-DIEM). Ms. Doss works as the Deputy Director of Tuscaloosa County EMA.

Congratulations, Tamara!

JSU First Responders Scholarship

JSU offers a 20% tuition scholarship for first responders employed full-time by a law enforcement agency, fire department or emergency service agency. The scholarship is applicable to our Bachelor of Science (BSEM) and Master of Science in Emergency Management (MSEM) programs. Please visit the link below and/or email enroll@jsu.edu for eligibility.

First Responders Scholarship

Contribute to EM/PA

We have about 500 active students and approx. 2500 graduates in all 50 states of the United States and all 7 continents! Below is a word cloud of locations of most of our students and alumni. If you are interested contributing to our programs, visit the link below. (select 'Make a Donation', then select "Colleges and Departments" then "College of Social and Behavioral Sciences" from drop down option menu, then enter 'Emergency Management & Public Administration'). Thank you!