Sub-skills for Professional Emergency Managers

1. Sub-skills for Professional Emergency Managers Dr. Tom Phelan, President Strategic Teaching Associates, Inc. Associate Professor, American Public University System Instructor, Elmira College

2. Management Skills • Administrative Management • Public Policy • Personnel Management • Recruiting, retaining, managing people • Program Management • Fiscal Management • Resource Management • Information Management • Organizational Management • Creating Public Value Skills

3. Sub-skills • Reading • Writing • Speaking • Computer Skills • Budgeting • Supervising • Grant Writing

4. Job Description Requirements • Produce written documents with clearly organized thoughts using proper English sentence construction, punctuation, and grammar. • Communicate orally in a face-to-face on-on-one setting, in group settings, or using a telephone.

5. Job Posting Excerpts • Ability to effectively communicate orally with top-level officials in Federal, state, local and tribal government. • Ability to effectively communicate in writing with top-level officials in Federal, state, local and tribal government. • Ability to communication both orally and in writing to collect and verify information from a variety of people due to the effects of a disaster and to provide customer service.

6. APUS Basic Knowledge Component Students hould expect to demonstrate proficiency in… Core knowledge of English • Demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills • Organize information coherently • Utilize appropriate format and language for different audiences

7. Reading • Reading is visual. • Avoid visual distractions • Cluttered desks • Television or computer screen • Improper lighting • Reading is physical and takes time • Plan time to read • Read in a comfortable setting, free from distractions • Use highlighters or take notes • Documentation • Record bibliographic information first • Keep page numbers in your notes

8. Writing • Good writing requires editing • Prepare a first draft • Proofread • Use a recognized style guide (APA 5, MLA) • Use plain language (www.plainlanguage.gov) • Spell Check is not sufficient. • Good writing requires feedback • Use Track Changes

9. Speaking • Encourage presentations by students • Coach for effective speaking • Covello’s 27/9/3 Template • Use video when possible for critiques • Model with i-pods or webinars • Present excellent examples as models

10. Computer Skills • Insist on word processing and power point • Provide demonstrations of applications • E-Team, Web EOC, JEPRS, LDRPS • Excel Spreadsheets • GIS • Go to Meetings • File management • E-mail and Social Networking

11. Budgeting • Require budgets or proposals • Use Excel or QuickBooks Applications • Use charts, diagrams and tables • Prepare budget summaries

12. Supervising • Teach supervisory skills • Practice with partners • Review HR forms • Teach the law • Facilitation Skills • Develop your people • Train backups

13. Grant Writing • Read successful grant applications • Review annual grant calendars • Plan for costs to be higher than expected • Allow sufficient time to write a proposal • Require students to prepare a proposal

14. What Students Are Saying • The textbook was pretty good, however I also liked the way that reading assignments included the actual documents such as HSPD-5 and NRF rather than just reading about them in the book. • I learned a great deal about APA style formatting. I liked the way Dr. Tom edited the assignments and included comments in the word doc. This makes it much easier to understand than just having an explanation by email.

15. What Students Are Saying • I also felt that Dr. Tom’s way of correcting our papers and helping us use the correct APA format will make us better writers throughout our college experiences. • I appreciated that Dr. Tom challenged us to ensure that what we wrote as researchers was accurate by double checking each piece of information that we read with another source.

16. What Students Are Saying • Lastly, I would like to thank Dr. Tom for challenging us with our homework and encouraging us to use the correct APA formatting in our graduate level writings. • And last but not least I need to improve my formatting and writing style a little bit more. • I also, was able to work on my writing, hopefully have improved a little.

17. A Final Word • I would also like to thank all of our classmates for making this online learning experiences fun and exciting to be able to learn together from all around the world.

18. Thank You! 6385 Willson Road Vernon Center, NY 13477 (315) 829-4199 drtom@drtomphelan.com www.drtomphelan.com Dr. Tom Phelan