The four modules which comprise this postgraduate certificate are created to provide you with the opportunity to gain a master’s-level qualification in a directly relevant discipline.
Employers recognise that the challenges found in postgraduate study positively changes the way you analyse problems and create solutions. This course provides you with a space to network with others from a diverse range of experience and disciplines, to learn and apply concepts, theories and academic skills to professional practice.
This course can be studied on campus or 100% online. The course’s flexibility and delivery pattern of 4.5-day blocks enables full-time students to develop their knowledge alongside opportunities to gain practical experience. Alternatively, as a full-time student, you can study 100% online across a ten-week teaching period whilst also gaining practical experience in the workplace. The part-time route allows those already in emergency management to balance their studies with other work and life commitments and apply academic rigour to their practical experience. Whilst we would like to give you all the information about our part-time offering here, it is tailored for each course each year depending on the number of part-time applicants. Therefore, the part-time teaching arrangements vary. Please request information about studying this course part-time.
You will reflect on and develop a high level of knowledge of the relationship between risk assessment, anticipation, preparedness and resilience approaches within organisations, linking organisational learning, change and transformation at an operational and strategic level, leadership, personal resilience and working across teams. Our aim is for you to advance your skills in evaluating complex situations, developing creative and innovative solutions, and implementing post-incident learning. There will be opportunities to take part in training and exercises through simulated emergency scenarios in our state-of-the art, immersive Simulation Centre.
Coventry University was the first UK university to establish courses in disaster management and emergency planning over 20 years ago (Hulse & Moseley 1998) and is still a leading provider of Higher Education courses and Consultancy services in emergency and disaster management capabilities. We have more than 25 years of alumni who sit in senior positions in organisational resilience across the world.
As a Coventry University graduate, upon successful completion of the course you should have gained the skills you need to move your career in emergency preparedness and management forward, both in the UK and overseas. These skills and knowledge are transferable - dealing with risk, problem solving, decision making under uncertainty, team and leadership skills and place you in an enviable position to pursue a career in a wide range of public sector and industry occupations.
All modules are offered on a rolling basis, at least once every eight months, ensuring they can be approached flexibly and fitted around the demands of full-time employment. Full time study is one year and part-time study is normally up to two years. Whilst we would like to give you all the information about our part-time offering here, it is tailored for each course each year depending on the number of part-time applicants. Therefore, the part-time teaching arrangements vary. Please request information about studying this course part-time.
All modules on this course are mandatory.
Modules
- Business continuity and Crisis Management
This module will provide you with the necessary evaluative skills to assess internal and external risk contexts and apply appropriate approaches for managing risks within organisations. The impacts of incidents can quickly become a serious threat to both the internal and external operating environment for organisations. Traditionally, business continuity and crisis management techniques have been applied in order to manage these risks. Increasingly risks are unknown, complex and dynamic requiring more adaptive management practices and responsive governance systems. Critical incidents can spill over into political, economic, social, technical, legal and environmental domains requiring effective assessment, communications and media management so as to limit impacts and losses.
(15 Credits)
- Resilience, Security and Emerging Technologies
This module investigates today’s complex technology-dependant society and organisations, and the factors that influence security and resilience in complex and integrated systems. The module investigates vulnerabilities, risk and security challenges at an organisational, national and transnational level, going beyond the traditional cyber security purview to look at the demands in wider interconnected systems across critical infrastructure and city resilience, existential threats and global risks. The module evaluates the potential opportunities and risks associated with emerging technological advancements and considers them as part of a horizon-scanning approach.
(15 Credits)
- Risk, Incident and Leadership
This module will develop an in-depth understanding of a range of risk interpretations, and explore non-technical skills, minimisation techniques and leadership models that can be applied during incidents and crises. It will use models, theories and simulations to critically evaluate the challenges for leadership and decision making within the constraints of some command and control practices. Incidents are recognised as vital opportunities for learning lessons but there are usually challenges to facilitating and leading the implementation of change; you will investigate ways in which these barriers and challenges can be overcome.
(15 Credits)
- Training and Exercise Design and Delivery
This module will facilitate your competence to plan, design, and manage an exercise in the context of disaster, crisis and emergency management. The module will place exercises in the wider context of preparedness and organisational resilience, examining theories and approaches to training and exercising. In addition, the module will help you critically assess and evaluate generic principles of training and apply them to training needs for disaster, crisis and emergency management. Approaches to the evaluation of exercises and associated learning will be developed, and the project management requirements for managing and organising exercises are also examined.
(15 Credits)
- Supporting Transition to Postgraduate Study
A formative module which will assist and prepare you in the transition to postgraduate education by developing your academic skills, in order to improve and enhance your personal effectiveness as a learner. It is particularly useful if you are new to Higher Education or have been away from study for some time. The module will look at areas such as critical reading, academic writing and referencing skills.
Throughout the module, you are encouraged to reflect on your learning in order to deepen your understanding and effectiveness as a quality independent learner. The module will set out clearly what we expect of students at postgraduate level and equip you with the resources to be able to meet expectations in this environment. This academic skill set is transferable and will be valuable not only in the immediate context, but also for continuing professional development. There is no assessment for this module.
