CSU Disaster Management Faculty Consortium

Partnerships are crucial – not just cooperation. The main goal of this consortium is to provide a forum for CSU faculty from throughout California that are actively engaged in curricula development, research and degree programs in the area of emergency preparedness and response to attend an April 2006 collaborative workshop.  The workshop will result in a model for a Consortium of campus experts and build knowledge and support for improved regional cooperation, and result in universities being viewed for their resources in the area of bioterrorism and emergency preparedness.

I.Workshop goals:

To promote a culture of regional cooperation through:

Establishing of a Consortium of CSU faculty in bioterrorism and emergency preparedness.

Sharing existing curricular resources in emergency preparedness and response for students, health professionals and first responders. This also includes the eight specialized curriculum modules developed by CSULB through HRSA grant funding.

Discussing options to disseminate all available curricular resources on CSU campuses and to community partners, such as using web-based distance learning techniques.

Stimulating the development of new training modules and educational tools such as case studies, table-top exercises and Problem Based Learning (PBL).

Identifying new research opportunities and formulating partnerships where the participating institutions can apply for available funding as a part of the newly established research consortium

The lead faculty members are listed below, however, the group may seek consultation with other experts:

To maximize effectiveness and efficiency, prior to the workshop we will hold a series of teleconferences as shown in the timeline table. The teleconferences will address not only logistics but also start discussion to:

• Define the overall purpose and goals and name of the CSU Consortium
• Define the scope of Consortium activities
• Outline what we want the Consortium to accomplish and how we will measure whether it has achieved those goals
• Identify mechanisms as to how the various team members will communicate (e.g. list serve, follow-up think tanks at other CSUs)

How it directly relates to teaching and/or curriculum:

Strategic responses to a disaster draw upon foundational competencies that can be tailored to an event, even in unusual demanding circumstances.   There is a need to identify and establish formal engagement among CSU campuses and faculty that are contributing to foundational competencies in curricula and degree programs in the emergent fields of bioterrorism and disaster preparedness and response, focusing on public health, disaster medicine, engineering, mental health, law enforcement and disaster mitigation. 

Based upon the complexity of these specialties, CSU campuses would benefit by expert input on curricula that could be used in nursing, engineering, public health, social work, psychology and biology degree programs and by the exchange of ideas on methods of effective teaching and skill building.  Basic curricula could be customized by each campus appropriate to their own unique environment and specific departments and degrees offered through the university.

Curricula about even basic principles of public health would benefit students and faculty throughout the CSU system. Consider that campuses can play a role in importing pathogenic disease from different parts of the world (SARS, influenza) and in propagating an organism (like meningitis bacteria) to a significant portion of the campus population due to close interaction and common exposures.  In addition, life science knowledge and technologies on campuses can be misused for malevolent purposes and campuses should be aware of the federal plans to educate life sciences faculty and students.

II.Participating Campuses Curricula Programs & Materials

A. San Diego State University

• SDSU Tabletop exercise and SDSU Tabletop Evaluation questions

• Graduate, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Syllabus

• Graduate, Infectious Disease Tabletop Exercise and Evaluation

• Master of Science in Public Health, and interdisciplinary Masters in Homeland Security, information

B. California State University - Sacramento

• Undergraduate, Emergency Management, Syllabus

• Undergraduate, Public Safety and Emergency Management Major, information

C. San Jose State University

• Graduate, Emergency Management and Emergency Planning, Syllabus

• MTM Emergency Management Syllabus

• Graduate, Masters in Public Administration, specialization in Emergency Management, information

D. California State University - Long Beach

• HRSA module Introduction to Bioterrorism and Disaster HRSA module Incident Command Structure