West Texas A&M University
Emergency Management Administration
Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences Degree
BAAS.EMA (Major Code 603) 

Dr. Edwin Maloy, Academic Advisor
Office Telephone: 806-651-2436
Office Fax Machine: 806-651-3610

 

The purpose of the Emergency Management Administration program is to provide a quality bachelor’s degree accessible to emergency-services personnel through distance education. The goal of the program is to prepare students for advanced levels of administration and management within the emergency-services community.

One unique aspect of the program is that the major area of emphasis is administration and management. Students in the program learn skills necessary to assume managerial positions within the emergency services. These skills will allow graduates to interact effectively with law enforcement and public works, city councils and mayor, and county-government personnel.

The EMA program was developed through collaborative efforts of West Texas A&M University, the Emergency Services Training Institute, and a committee of Texas fire chiefs.

The Program

The Emergency Management Administration program welcomes firefighters, emergency-medical-service providers, law-enforcement officers, military personnel and contractors, industrial-safety employees, and other emergency-services professionals. The program was established because many Texas firefighters had earned community-college associate’s degrees, but needed four-year university degrees to advance in their careers. The program was expanded to include all emergency-services professionals.

Minimum criteria to apply to the program include:

When the program was established, it was anticipated that an incoming student with a community-college associate’s degree could obtain an EMA BAAS degree with four years of WTAMU study. 

The Emergency Management Administration degree is the functional equivalent of a Public Administration degree or a Business Administration degree. However, West Texas A&M University’s Public Administration and Business Administration programs cannot give academic credit for technical/vocational courses. The EMA program can give credit for technical/vocational courses. In addition, to participate in the EMA program, a student must have technical/vocational course credits. The technical/vocational course work requirement is strictly enforced.

General Requirements

Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences Degree programs are bachelor’s completion programs. These programs assume, but do not require, an associate’s degree from an accredited university or community college, including a block transfer of technical/vocational course work (commonly called "BAAS hours"). For the Emergency Management Administration BAAS degree, the advanced and professional-development coursework focuses on management and administrative skills.

There is no limit on the number of hours that West Texas A&M University will accept in credit from a community college. However, at least 39 hours of 3000- or 4000-level courses must be taken at WTAMU. Thirty of the 39 hours must be the final hours counted toward a degree. (Continuing-education courses do not count in the 39 hours of advanced work at WTAMU.)

No grade of "D" in a program's major requirements or major subject can transfer for credit.

Since there are a maximum of 36 elective hours for the EMA program, there is an effective limit of 36 hours of technical/vocational credits that can be transferred for the EMA program.

Summary of Course Hours

General-Education Core

42 Hours

Electives, Including Block Credit Transfer

36 Hours

Advanced Professional-Development Core

42 Hours

Minimum Hours Required for EMA Degree

120 Hours

A fulltime on-campus class load is twelve or more hours (usually four or more courses). That would be an almost impossibly difficult online schedule for someone working fulltime, because online courses take more time than traditional courses. In a classroom class, students hear the instructor’s lectures. In an online course, students read those lectures in addition to reading the same textbook assignments that classroom students read. As technology evolves, some of the reading assignments are replaced by videos and other advancements, but these are also time-consuming.

Online classes also require more writing assignments than classroom classes, because examinations and writing assignments are the primary ways that online instructors can evaluate students, especially in upper-division courses.

Universities recommend that students should spend at least three times as many hours on classwork outside of classroom as they spend inside the classroom. Thus, a three-hour class requires twelve hours of work each week. Online classes can be more time-consuming.

Many students equate “online” with “easy.” However, students will attest that online classes are more difficult than classroom classes.

Online students with fulltime jobs should plan on taking two classes (usually six credit hours) in Fall and Spring semesters and one class (usually three credit hours) in Summer semesters. If an online student finds that two courses in a Fall or Spring semester or one class in the Summer is not challenging, the student can take more hours in subsequent semesters.

When the Emergency Management Administration program was established, it was anticipated that an incoming student with an associate’s degree would need four years to complete the degree. That has been the experience, except that many emergency-services professionals experience some semesters when their jobs require them to take one or no classes. Because of promotional exams, weather or other emergencies, or family obligations, many EMA students have taken five or more years to obtain their degrees.

A downloadable PDF EMA-degree class-requirement checklist is available at http://www.wtamu.edu/student-support/degree-checklists.aspx under Emergency Management Administration. The 2008-2009 catalog shows that the EMA program requires 123 hours. Beginning with the 2009-2010 catalog, the EMA program requires 120 hours.

Classes available each semester are listed at https://sis.wtamu.edu/WebAdvisor/WebAdvisor?&TYPE=M&PID=CORE-WBMAIN&TOKENIDX=6369620836 on either the Students or Prospective Students menu. Go to “Search for Classes.” The easiest way to find online classes is to find the correct semester on the “Term” dropdown menu. Leave “Subjects,” “Course Levels,” “Course Number,” and "Section" blank. Enter "WEB-BASED" in the Location dropdown menu at the bottom of the page.

This will create a list of all Distance-Education classes, including some classes that require some campus attendance. As technology has developed, West Texas A&M University has created “hybrid” courses. These courses are delivered partially online and partially in a classroom. Since several of these courses are listed in the catalog as WEB-BASED courses, it is necessary for students and the EMA Academic Advisor to ascertain that a WEB-BASED course is truly an online course.

If you determine that a class that you must take is filled, contact the EMA Academic Advisor. It is occasionally possible to get a capacity override.

General-Education Required Core

Communication Skills

Mathematics

Natural Sciences

Humanities

Visual and Performing Arts

Social and Behavioral Studies

Institutionally Designated Option

Since some Laboratory Science course are four-hours credit and some Institutionally Designated Option courses are three-hour credit, it is possible to take up to 44 hours in the General-Education Core. If this is done, the elective hours are reduced.

If transfer student from a Texas community college took a different course to fulfill a General-Education Core requirement, that course fulfills the WTAMU required General-Education Core even if the course is not taught at WTAMU.

Professional-Development Required Core

Emergency-Management

Economics

Administration and Management

Law

Government Finance

Human Resources

Organizational Behavior

Ethics

Marketing

Public Relations

Statistics

No substitutions are allowed in the Professional-Development Core.

Admission to the University

Apply to West Texas A&M University at http://www.wtamu.edu/. Click on “Future Students,” then “Transfer,” and then http://www.applytexas.org under 1) Apply. The university is West Texas A&M University. The college is the College of Education and Social Sciences where the EMA major, Major Code 603, is the last major listed on the dropdown menu. The $25 application fee can be paid by credit card at the end of the Texas Common Application form.

Any student reapplying to the university must submit a new application but does not have to pay the $25 fee. Any student that does not take a class in a Fall or Spring semester must reapply to the university to enroll in an ensuing semester. Students who took a Spring class but who did not take a Summer class do not have to reapply to the university for the Fall semester.

Admission to the EMA Program

1.     Request official transcripts from every college and university ever attended.

Consider the following:

Have official transcript(s) sent to:

WTAMU Admissions Office

WTAMU Box 60907

Canyon, Texas 79016

A student cannot be admitted to West Texas A&M University until a transcript is received from every college and university that the student has attended. A student can be enrolled for one semester using unofficial transcripts or faxed copies of official transcripts, but a subsequent enrollment will not be allowed until an official transcript is received.

If a West Texas A&M University student takes even one class at any other college or university, the student must have that institution send a new transcript to WTAMU at the end of the semester when the class is taken. This is a university-accreditation requirement. If a WTAMU employee learns that a student has taken a class at another university without sending a new transcript, the employee is obligated to block the student’s enrollment.

2.     Send documentation verifying minimum years of employment and current employment.

Under the Emergency Management Administration program's authorization provisions, every student must prove eligibility. The Emergency Management Administration program is unique. It is both a program and a major. A student can declare EMA as a major, but unless the student is admitted into the program through the employment-verification-document process, the student cannot receive credit for technical/vocational transfer credits and cannot graduate from the university.

Please be sure the documentation is on official letterhead and contains the following information:

Have the employment-verification document sent to:

Dr. Edwin Maloy

EMA Degree Program

WTAMU Box 60807

Canyon, Texas 79016-0001

Unless a student changes employment, a student needs only one employment-verification letter while in the EMA program.

This letter must be an physical letter, not a fax or an email attachment. It must contain an actual signature, not a stamped or other artificial signature.

Other Documents

West Texas A&M University cannot give students academic credit for "work experience" "life experience" such as firefighters’ job ratings or grades. However, classes taken to obtain job ratings or grades may be eligible for academic credit if the classes are listed in the ACE Manual, the reference that guides colleges and universities in how much academic credit can be awarded for a technical/vocational or military-training class. For these BAAS credits, the university requires students to provide all certificates (and nonacademic transcripts, like military ACE or SMART transcripts).

These certificates and nonacademic transcripts should be sent to:

Dr. Edwin Maloy

EMA Degree Program

WTAMU Box 60807

Canyon, Texas 79016-0001

However, since there is an effective transfer limit of 36 hours of technical/vocational credits to the EMA program, students should consult with Dr. Maloy before mailing the documents. Most students with associate’s degrees will have more technical/vocational and/or elective transfer hours than needed for the EMA degree.

Tuition and Fees

West Texas A&M University tuition and fee information is available at http://www.wtamu.edu/administrative/vpa/sfs/costs.htm.

WTAMU honors Section 54.208 of the Texas Education Code. This Section, entitled “Firemen Enrolled in Fire Science Courses,” provides a limited tuition and fee exemption for Texas firefighters:

The governing boards of the states institutions of collegiate rank supported in whole or in part by public funds shall exempt from the payment of tuition and laboratory fees any person who is employed as a fireman by any political subdivision of the state and who enrolls in a course or courses offered as part of a fire science curriculum.

Texas attorney general’s Opinion No. GA-0397, available at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinions/op50abbott/ga-0397.htm, extended the Texas Education Code, which had originally applied only to community colleges’ fire-science and similar programs, to four-year universities’ public administration and similar programs.

To qualify for the firefighters’ tuition waiver,

1.     A student must be a(n):

A)   permanent, full-time law enforcement officer designated as fire and arson investigator by an appropriate local authority;

B)   aircraft rescue and fire protection personnel; or

C)   permanent, full-time fire department employee who is not a secretary, stenographer, clerk, budget analyst, or similar support staff person or other administrative employee and who is assigned duties in one or more of the following categories:

i)                   fire suppression;

ii)                 fire inspection;

iii)               fire and arson investigation;

iv)               marine fire fighting;

v)                 aircraft rescue and fire fighting;

vi)               fire training;

vii)             fire education;

viii)           fire administration; and

ix)               any other position necessary or customarily related to fire prevention or suppression.

2.     A student must provide a tuition-waiver letter each semester.

Please be sure that the letter is on official letterhead and contains the following information:

Have the tuition-waiver document sent to:

Dr. Edwin Maloy

EMA Degree Program

WTAMU Box 60807

Canyon, Texas 79016-0001

A new tuition-waiver letter is needed every semester, except that a letter submitted for a Summer semester can also serve as the Fall semester tuition-waiver letter. (The tuition-waiver-letter requirement is different than the employment-certification-letter requirement. They are two different letters, but since the two letters can contain the same information, one letter can fulfill both requirements for the first semester that a student is enrolled. Thereafter, a new tuition-waiver letter will be needed every semester – except one letter can obtain a waiver for both a Summer and the following Fall semester.)

Both the employment-certification and tuition-waiver letters must be physical letters, no faxes or email attachments. There must be an actual signature, no stamps or other artificial signatures.

Distance-Only Fee Waiver

Students that take only online classes (and/or Independent Study classes) are also eligible for a Distance Education Student Fee Waiver. The form is available at the top link on the http://www.wtamu.edu/administrative/vpa/reg/forms.htm page. The Distance Education Student Fee Waiver will waive the Health Fee, the Traffic Safety Fee, the Student Center Complex Fee, the Athletic Fee and the Recreational Sports Fee.

Online students will be assessed the Distance Education Fee of $40 per semester credit hour. In addition, they will be responsible for the Technology Fee, the International Education Fee, the Library Use Fee, the Records Fee, and the Student Services Fee. All West Texas A&M University students, whether on-campus or off-campus, share in the development and maintenance of the university of which they are a part.

Some fees benefit all students and are paid by all students. Some fee-based services are student-specific. (The student-specific fees for which the off-campus students cannot receive the benefits are waived by the distance-only fee waiver.) However, some fee-supported services which appear to be on-campus are available for off-campus students. If a student does not know how to access the many publications and documents provided by the Library Use Fee, the student should contact Mary Jarvis at 806-651-2212 or mjarvis@wtamu.edu. She will either provide assistance or direct a student to the Cornette Library employee who can provide the assistance.

A student without any waivers will pay approximately $1,250 in in-state tuition and fees for six hours of online credit in a Fall or Spring semester. A firefighter with a tuition-waiver and a distance-only fee waiver will pay approximately $480 in fees for six hours of credit in a Fall or Spring semester. (Out-of-state tuition is substantially more than in-state tuition.)

A separate distance-only waiver form must be submitted for each semester that a student enrolls for only Internet and/or Independent Study classes. A student taking only taking Internet or Independent Study classes in both Summer I and Summer II (or both Summer I and Fall) must file different forms for each semester (or must circle both semesters on one form if the student enrolls in both semesters at the same time).

Veterans’ Programs and Other Financial Assistance

A student receiving tuition assistance through the Hazelwood Act or other veterans’ programs should contact Sharon Childers in the Registrar’s Office at 806-651-4936 or schilders@wtamu.edu for assistance.

Students receiving financial assistance are almost always subject to some fees. It is the students' responsibility to determine what fees they must pay. Usually, if fees are not paid, the students' enrollment is cancelled and the students become subject to additional reinstatement fees.

EMA Academic Advising

Dr. Theo Edwin Maloy, associate professor of public administration, has been the EMA Academic Advisor since the program’s inception. He was a member of the committee that designed the program. Dr. Maloy has a doctorate in public policy, a master of business administration degree, and a bachelor of journalism degree. Because of his varied degrees, he offers several EMA-program classes, including Public Administration, Administrative Management, Public Personnel Administration, Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Organizational Theory in the Public Sector, Municipal Government, Applied Economics for Emergency Managers, Risk Management, and Emergency Management Directed Research.

Dr. Maloy is the Academic Advisor for all EMA students. He also assists prospective and incoming EMA students in admission and registration.

Each semester, before a student enrolls, the student must contact Dr. Maloy to be “greenlighted” (approved for enrollment).

The greenlighting process was created because a large number of students were attending state universities for more than the usual four years without obtaining proper credits to graduate. In the greenlighting process, advisors consult every student in an effort to help students select classes that are appropriate for an academically valuable – and quick – graduation. A student cannot enroll until an advisor changes the student’s computer code to reflect the completion of the advising process.

Enrollment Process

After a student is advised, the student is “greenlighted” and the advisor changes the student’s coding in Buff Advisor, the university’s registration web site at https://sis.wtamu.edu/WebAdvisor/WebAdvisor?&TYPE=M&PID=CORE-WBMAIN&TOKENIDX=6369620836, so that the student can access Buff Advisor and enroll in the classes on which the student and Academic Advisor have agreed.

If the student and Academic Advisor have selected a class that requires “instructor consent,” the student cannot enroll in the class. Instead, the instructor will enroll the student in the class.

If a student attempts to enroll in a class through Buff Advisor but is not able to enroll, the student should contact Trish McCormick at the Registrar’s Office (806-651-4935 or pmccormick@wtamu.edu) for assistance. 

Buying Books

A student can obtain all required and suggested books through the University Bookstore at http://www.wtamu.edu/. Go to “Bookstore” on the dropdown “University Links” menu in the middle of the page. Then click on “Textbooks” in the middle of the next page. Select the semester and then the academic department. Then select the class section. (Sections 70 and 71 are almost always taught by the same instructor. A student may be enrolled in section 71 but may find that only section 70 is listed. Buy the book for section 70.)

Buying textbooks from the University Bookstore online is almost identical to buying from any online retailer. There is a shopping cart, etc. New or used books can be chosen. Prices for each are shown. Books are mailed to students.

A student is not required to buy textbooks from the University Bookstore, but it is the easiest method to obtain books and prices are competitive. In addition, the University Bookstore is obligated to find textbooks for students. (Other online retailers occasionally fail to deliver promised books. When they fail to deliver books, they refund credit-card charges but sometimes the notification does not come until after the semester has started. It happens most often in specialized subjects where the textbooks are only printed when ordered by the instructor. EMA courses often fall in this category.)

If a student wants to shop for textbooks, the student can obtain required and suggested book information from the University Bookstore listing and use the information as a shopping guide.

Access to Classes

Students access classes at https://wtclass.wtamu.edu/frames.aspx.

It is the student's responsibility to access the classes. It is the student's responsibility to contact instructors. It is not the instructors' responsibility to contact students.

Pi Sigma Alpha and Honors Graduates

Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, is the only honor society for college and university students of government in the United States. West Texas A&M University has a charter of Pi Sigma Alpha, a member of the Association of College Honor Societies.

Each January, at the beginning of the Spring semester, Dr. John David Rausch Jr., the WTAMU chapter advisor, determines who is eligible to become a member. The primary requirement is to have completed 10 semester hours of Political Science courses with a B grade-point average. Many EMA students are eligible for membership and will receive a letter notifying them of eligibility early in the calendar year. Society members are eligible to wear honor cords at the WTAMU graduation ceremonies. The national society web site is http://www.apsanet.org/~psa/

If you are eligible and are interested, contact Dr. Rausch at jrausch@wtamu.edu

Students who have at least a 3.5 grade-point average for all work completed at WTAMU (with a minimum of 60 hours in residence) are eligible for honors notations on their diplomas and transcripts (and are eligible to wear honors cords at graduation).

Degree Plans

As West Texas A&M University receives students’ official transcripts from other universities and colleges, the class credits are translated into WTAMU class numbers. After a student has enrolled at WTAMU, the translated class credits are used to create a Degree Plan for the student. The Degree Plan is an exact list of what classes a student will have to take to earn an EMA degree.

Because many students are admitted to WTAMU but never enroll in classes, and because Degree Plans are complicated and difficult to prepare, a Degree Plan is not prepared until a student is actually enrolled.

In addition, because many prospective students wait until the last minute to enroll, a student’s transcripts may not be translated into WTAMU class numbers until the student is enrolled and taking classes. Thus, a student’s first greenlighting and enrollment may be based on the student’s memory of what classes have already been taken along with the EMA Academic Advisor’s unofficial class-number translation.

Current EMA Enrollment

Approximately 100 EMA students are enrolled each semester.

The Emergency Management Administration program has graduated 29 students since it was established in 2001.

EMA Mailing List

Dr. Edwin Maloy maintains an EMA mailing list for his personal use. He uses the list to send EMA students information about the program, about the admissions process, the greenlighting process, and university deadlines.

While Dr. Maloy attempts to provide complete university information to EMA students, university information is available at a variety of Internet locations and from on-campus university employees, and it is the students’ responsibility to know what information is needed and it is their responsibility to find it.

Dr. Maloy provides the information as a courtesy. The university and program information sometimes includes tidbits that students would learn in campus classroom conversations. While the information is usually correct, it is not always official university policy, procedure, or announcements.

Anyone who does not want to be on the EMA mailing list can contact Dr. Maloy. He will immediately remove the person from the mailing list.

Contact Information

Academic Advisor

Dr. Edwin Maloy

WTAMU Box 60807

Canyon, Texas 79016-0001

Telephone: 806-651-2436

Fax: 806-651-3610

emaloy@wtamu.edu

Or if using FedEx, UPS, or a messenger services that needs a street address:

Dr. Edwin Maloy
Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice
West Texas A&M University
2403 Russell Long Boulevard
Canyon, Texas 79016

Dean of College of Education and Social Sciences

Dr. Eddie Henderson

Box 60208

Canyon, Texas 79016-0001

Telephone: 806-651-2603

ehenderson@wtamu.edu