Southeastern accepting applications for organizational leadership program
Contact: Rene Abadie
Date: May 30, 2013
HAMMOND – Applications are being accepted from students with some college credit for a new
totally Internet-based degree program in organizational leadership at Southeastern
Louisiana University.
With a focus on disaster relief management, the organizational leadership degree
program was approved this year and is being offered in cooperation with the eight
other institutions in the University of Louisiana System. The other institutions are
offering the degree with a variety of other concentrations.
Karen Fontenot, interim dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Studies,
said the degree is a good fit for Southeastern, which has served as a staging area
for various agencies during hurricanes, major storms and other disaster-related incidents.
The degree, she said, will help to prepare professionals who can recognize existing
and potential areas of disaster and who can plan and implement relief strategies before,
during and after incidents.
"Given the widespread occurrence of natural and industrial-related disasters
in every part of the country and world, professionals prepared in the field of disaster
relief management at all levels of government and in private agencies are becoming
increasingly valuable," Fontenot said.
The program is intended primarily for individuals who have completed some college,
providing them an opportunity to earn a bachelor's degree online without having to
go through traditional college courses.
To enter the program, students must be at least 25 years old and have completed
60 hours of college credit including general education courses. Students with less
than 60 hours will have opportunities to earn credit online or through prior learning
assessment that gauges skills learned on the job.
"We anticipate most of our students will be working full time or may be serving
in the military and need the flexibility offered through online learning," Fontenot
said.
Courses in the disaster relief management concentration include organizational
communication, hazardous materials management, disaster sociology, crisis communication,
private and public sector security, environmental and resource economics and a capstone
course that tests overall knowledge of the area.
The degree will consist of 30 hours of courses offered jointly by faculty at
the nine universities in the UL System and 30 hours in the disaster relief management
concentration offered by Southeastern. The online platform will be seamless, and the
cost will be uniform across concentrations and universities. Courses are offered in
five eight-week terms each year.
For more information or to apply, go to the Organizational Leadership web site
at southeastern.edu/orgleadership.
The degree is offered in cooperation with the state's Center for Adult Learning
in Louisiana (CALL), sponsored by the Louisiana Board of Regents. The other institutions
involved in the degree and their areas of focus include: Grambling State University,
human relations; Louisiana Tech University, project team leadership; McNeese State
University, strategic global communication; Nicholls State University, foodservice
strategies and operations; Northwestern State University, public safety administration;
University of Louisiana-Lafayette, health and wellness; University of Louisiana-Monroe,
financial services; and the University of New Orleans, cultural and arts institutions.
