EMAN630 Final Essay Exam Latest 2021

EMAN 630-9040 (Summer 2021)

Final Essay Exam

Please review the Syllabus, as well as the Guidelines, Expectations and Grading Rubrics for the Essay Exams, and follow the instructions below:

•           Please include a cover sheet with the course title, a sub-title of “Final Essay Exam,” your name, and the date of submission.

•           Select and respond to one question from each session/week, for a total of five responses.

•           Make sure to indicate which questions you selected by using the same, corresponding numbers with your responses (e.g., #2, 4, 6, 7, 9) so that I can easily match up your responses with the proper questions. Please don’t repeat or restate the questions.

•           Your responses should be clear, complete, succinct and substantive, addressing all of the main themes, elements or sub-questions in each overall question selected.

•           Your own critical thinking and analysis should be supported by evidence of research in appropriate sources such as assigned or supplementary sources used in this course, or from other scholarly/authoritative sources found in your own research, with source attribution and in-text citations in your responses in proper APA format for all conclusions, statements of fact, quotations, ideas or other supporting content.

•           Please do not cite my introductory overview presentations, or any comments from others in discussion forums, although you may repeat or expand on some of your own comments from the discussion forums with no need for citations.

•           This is not a research paper, so please don’t overdo it in terms of direct quotes, reproduced lists or tables, or citations. At the same time, while I want to see what you think about these topics, I’m not looking merely for opinions; rather, well-reasoned arguments or assertions supported by evidence with at least a few citations from authoritative sources. The challenge is to maintain a high proportion of original work, and limit the use of material quoted or paraphrased from the sources you cited. 

•           UMGC requires the use of an accepted manual of style for citations, as indicated in the Syllabus. APA is preferred.

•           Please include a single overall list of References or Works Cited with full citations at the end of the exam rather than piecemeal after each response.

•           I would expect at least one in-text citation corresponding with each full citation in the list of References or Works Cited, and each in-text citation should match up clearly with a full citation in the list of References or Works Cited.

•           Make sure to follow a single, correct, consistent citation style for both in-text citations in your responses and full citations in the list of References or Works Cited; don’t “mix-and-match” APA with other styles in the same exam.

•           Proofread and edit your replies for organization, coherence, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

•           Your responses should be in Times New Roman, size 11 or 12 font, and may be either single or double-spaced.

•           Please include pagination (i.e., insert sequential page numbers).

•           Your completed exam should total approximately 5-10 pages (a minimum of one page or 250-300 words per response—a little more is better than a little less), excluding the cover sheet and list of References or Works Cited.

•           Remember, you may submit drafts and generate Turnitin Originality/Similarity Reports for yourself and make revisions until the final version is due. There is no official UMGC policy on this, but I recommend trying to limit your Similarity score to a range of less than 20%.

•           The exam will be scored according to the Written Assignments and Final Paper Grading Rubrics attached in the Assignment folder.

Your exam is as follows. There are two multi-part questions relating to each of the five weekly sessions in terms of the main topics, assigned readings and discussion forum questions we have covered thus far in each sequential week since the Mid-Term Essay Exam. You may see that some of the questions (but not all) reflect a synthesis or expansion of some of the discussion forum topics. Select and respond to five of the following ten questions, one from each week or session:

Session/Week 7: Media Dynamics and Dealing with Media Interests

(Select and respond to one question for Session 7)

1.) Find and review videoclips and articles involving press conferences or media releases about one of the following incidents:  The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012; the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando in June 2016; the Las Vegas shootings of October 2017; or the ongoing Coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis. What is your assessment of those press conferences or media releases in terms of the content and tone of the messages or information, the skills and poise of those being interviewed or serving as spokespersons, the frequency of the crisis communications, and the media involved? What was done well, and what wasn’t? Were there any audiences or media that appeared to be overlooked?

2.) Find a video from an agency or media website, YouTube, or other good source, of a formal press conference or news briefing regarding a major natural disaster (e.g., flood, hurricane, tornado, wildfire, earthquake, etc.) or major technological disaster (e.g., oil or HazMat spill, transportation accident, widespread power outage, foodborne illness or infectious disease outbreak, data breach, etc.). This should be something substantive, and not simply a 5-second "soundbite" from a "talking head" interview on the 6 o'clock TV news. Preferably, this would involve some incident or event different than you personally examined for one of our discussion forums (it's OK if someone else discussed that event). 

The officials giving the press conference or briefing may represent federal, state, local or tribal government, an NGO or volunteer organization, a major hospital, a school, or an academic institution. There may be a single PIO or spokesperson, or several officials involved in the briefing (e.g., the president, mayor or governor, police chief or FBI agent, fire chief, emergency manager, etc.).

Considering the issues, challenges, tips, and guidelines for media dynamics covered in this session, provide a concise assessment or evaluation of that press conference or briefing. Be sure to identify several elements, aspects, or comments that were especially effective or "good," and some that were not. Can you glean any best practices or lessons to be learned from this press conference or briefing about dealing with the media?

Session/Week 8: National Communications Systems and Interoperability Issues

(Select and respond to one question for Session 8)

3.) In your view, what are the most significant obstacles or challenges hindering the development and implementation of truly reliable and interoperable public safety or emergency communications systems among all jurisdictions, disciplines, agencies and level of governments? What would you recommend in terms of a single, overarching policy or approach to achieve this goal, or at least facilitate significant progress? Do you think any progress has been made in this area since events like the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995, the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, Hurricane Katrina, or other major disasters? Why or why not?

4.) What is your assessment of national or federal plans, programs, systems or strategies such as the National Communication System, DHS Office of Emergency Communication (OEC), the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP), the SHARES program, the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS)? Are they essential for, and contribute to, enhanced emergency and crisis communications, or are they too complex, overlapping or deficient in some way to make a positive difference? Explain your views.

Session/Week 9: Key Communications Issues: EOCs, ICS and Unified Command (Select and respond to one question for Session 9)

5.) What do you think are the most significant or important impacts or implications of crisis and risk communications taking place in the context of the incident command system and NIMS?  Thinking of a disaster or crisis that affected an organization or jurisdiction that you are familiar with, who did, or who should, have authority over crisis communications in that context: The chief elected official of the jurisdiction (i.e., state, city, county) or chief executive officer of the agency or company, or the emergency manager or EOC for that jurisdiction, agency or private sector organization, or the incident commander or unified incident command group? Explain your selection.

6.) Briefly describe the evolution of national emergency alert systems and the organization or main elements of the current IPAWS system. What is your assessment of that system? Is it comprehensive and effective, or should it have evolved in different directions with more or fewer components or elements? Provide examples to support your views.

Session/Week 10: Exercising/Testing/Validating the Communications Element of the EOP (Select and respond to one question for Session 10)

7.) Describe the approach to drills and exercises designed to test and validate EOPs and crisis communications in an organization or jurisdiction that you are familiar with. Is there a regular, progressive exercise program involving key stakeholders, entities and personnel? Do you know, or have any sense, whether comprehensive after-action reports are developed, and whether improvement planning for the EOP or crisis communications actually occurs, resulting in improvements to the EOP? What are the potential consequences or impacts for failure to engage seriously in drills and exercises? 

8.) What are the unique or important circumstances, issues, challenges and needs that arise in regard to communications during response to disasters or critical incidents where both an Incident Command Post and EOC—and possibly multiple EOCs (e.g., local, state, federal) are activated and operating concurrently? How do those dynamics change, if at all, if the event is larger scale or more complex and a Unified Incident Command approach is implemented? What is the best way to test and validate the EOP and the types or methods of communication involved in those circumstances?

Session/Week 11: Social Media and New Communication Issues (Select and respond to one question for Session 11)

9.)  What do you think are the most significant challenges, but also the potential benefits, of social media for emergency managers and PIOs in emergency management and crisis communications? Describe an example of an actual disaster or crisis incident in which social media had a major impact, whether good or bad. What is your assessment of how the organization, official or jurisdiction handled, used, or responded to social media in that event? Can social media ever actually be “managed?” Why or why not?

10.) What are the differences between active and passive approaches to using social media for crisis and risk communications, and what are the implications of using each approach? Is one approach more effective than the other in terms of monitoring and addressing rumors, false or incorrect information, or can both approaches be used in combination? Which officials or entities should manage the use of either approach to social media, and what must they do in order to be effective or successful?

Your completed exam is due in your Assignment folder by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday night, August 10, 2021, which marks the official end of the summer semester at UMGC. Any extensions must be approved in advance.