CECH 344

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Value: 28 points total (dates are outlined in the Syllabus, in Brightspace, and

other daily announcements and lectures).

Three elements: Part 1- statement of topic intent (2 points); Part 2 – one

page outline/summary of your paper, or the first draft page of the 3-4

pages written out towards the full paper, to show that you are on track

with the assignment (6 points); Part 3 – final paper (20 pts)

Length: Final paper: 3-4 pages, approximately 7500 - 1000 words, excluding

figures, tables, or references, double-spaced, 12-point standard font, one-

inch margins.

OVERVEIW

Students will be required to choose a disaster that has occurred in the United States that

necessitated local, state and/or federal response. A list of potential disasters is provided

in this memo, and students may choose a disaster of their choice. Other disasters may be

accepted, at the discretion of the instructor.

The written component will contain two sections: (1) a concise description/overview of

the event, including its social and economic impacts, and (2) the implications/outcomes

for policy that occurred as a result. For the second section, students will be required to

clearly state what lessons were learned and what policies, procedures, and/or legislations

were put into place as a result, and what more possibly could have been done.

PART ONE: ‘TOPIC IDENTIFIED’

Please submit in the text box in Brightspace – or submit a word document if desired – the

disaster that you will be addressing in your paper. This can be a simple as the name of the

disaster, or you can elaborate on your topic and the approach you will take. This is a

none/all two points – I want to make sure you are tracking with the assignment and its

intent.

PART TWO: ONE-PAGE A) OUTLINE/SUMMARY OR B) FIRST PAGE DRAFT

Please submit a word document into Brightspace of your choice of either/or: a one-page

outline of your disaster topic with the structure of your paper and a summary of how you

College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity

CEHC 344: Emergency Preparedness

Paper Assignment

3–4-page case study disaster event issue paper

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will do your research and the issue that you will address in your analysis; or, you may

also submit the draft first page of your full paper as you are writing it in full.

This will be a total available of 6 points. My goal is to understand your thinking, your

progress, your writing style/ability, and your issues that you will be addressing in your

analysis. I will not have a rubric for this part. I will give you all or some of the 6 points

based on these elements.

PART THREE: FINAL PAPER

The final written paper will be composed of two sections: (1) event overview, and (2) the

outcomes. I will have a rubric inside Brightspace that will cover the following to address

the maximum of 20 points available:

Section 1: Event Overview

The first section of the report will provide a concise overview of the event, including its

date and time, location, magnitude, social, physical, and economic impacts, etc. The

brief should not exceed approximately 200 words.

Section 2: Outcomes

The second section is intended for students to provide a thorough review of the outcomes

that occurred as a result of your chosen disaster. These can include, but are not limited

to, changes in policies, procedures, and legislation; lessons learned; and changes in

practice. The second section should not exceed approximately 800 words.

An example format for the paper could include (other organization will be considered):

• Outline of the disaster event

• Introduction to the evaluation section

• Lessons Learned

o What worked well?

o What did not work well?

• Changes to Policy, legislation, or practice/procedures that resulted

• Conclusions/recommendations

NOTES

References: It is strongly recommended that students provide a minimum of 3 references

for their paper. The more you support your paper with peer-reviewed references, the

better. A good start will be to use the class readings, but you should also refer to peer-

reviewed journal articles and reputable websites. (Note- Newspaper articles, Wikipedia,

Blogs, and other ‘gray literature’ will be accepted but peer-reviewed references are

preferred.)

In-text citations: In-text citations should include (Author, year) for general information,

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and (Author, year: page number) for specific quotes and figures. Note that direct

quotations should be used very sparingly!

Plagiarism: As with all university coursework, this assignment adheres to the uAlbany

standards for academic integrity. Accordingly, all information that is not common

knowledge must be accompanied by an in-text citation. This is true even if the citation is

provided in the preceding or the following sentence.

It is the student’s responsibility to be familiar with the standards of academic integrity at

the University at Albany. Claims of ignorance, unintentional error, of personal pressures

are not sufficient reasons for the violation of academic integrity. More information on

academic integrity is available at the following website:

http://www.albany.edu/undergraduate_bulletin/regulations.html

Evaluation: Your grade will be based on the strength of the observations that you have

presented, the evidence that you have provided in their support, and your writing

proficiency.

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POTENTIAL DISASTERS

Students must choose a disaster of their choice. Additional events may be considered - please

notify me of your topic in the first graded part of the assignment (2 points).

Severe and Hazardous Weather

Hurricane Rita

Hurricane Harvey

1995 Chicago Heat Wave

1972 Black Hills flood (Rapid City Flood)

Big Thompson Canyon Flood in Colorado (July 1976)

Buffalo Creek Flood

Hurricane Ian

Terrorism

Oklahoma City Bombing

Orlando Nightclub Shooting

9/11

Technological and/or Industrial Disasters

Ohio train derailment in 2023

Flint, Michigan water crisis

American Airlines Flight 191

ValuJet Flight 592

Warrenton Nursing Home fire

2008 Chatsworth train collision

Earthquakes and Landslides

2005 La Conchita landslide

1994 Northridge earthquake

2009-17 Oklahoma earthquake swarm

Thistle, Utah landslide