A Focused Graduate Degree for Fire Chief?

Well aware that if he was to be promoted to fire chief he would need more than a stellar record as a battalion chief, Mathew (not his real name) searched for the best way to continue his higher education. Mathew’s online searches revealed several possible avenues, but no master’s degree program that could bolster his limited experience as an administrator.

Municipal budgets are for the most part cookie-cutter affairs, but Mathew’s time on a fire department wellness committee showed his lack of depth – it was a seemingly simple assignment that should have been a win-win for all parties, but competing interests soon bogged down the initiative. The union wanted certain language in the measure that the administration opposed; human resources, led by an impressive health professional, demanded total compliance by all department members.

Mathew sought a master’s degree that would address many of the contemporary issues fire and emergency services leaders face. A master’s in public administration is well-suited for a mayor, but in Mathew’s opinion, falls short as an ideal graduate degree for a fire chief.

A recent national study (Firehouse^® Magazine, November 2014) illustrates the need for a fire chief to possess at least a master’s degree for the top administrative position. In that study, nine departments require only a high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) diploma to be a fire chief, while 40 of 58 respondents said the threshold for fire chief should be a master’s degree. However, the respondents did not specify what concentration a master’s degree should possess. To that end, we have taken the liberty to suggest a curriculum for a master’s degree in fire service administration. This is by no means a definitive list, nor is it meant to be superior to programs or other excellent courses currently offered by a number of colleges and universities.

1. Human Resources for Emergency Services Administrators

This course offers an in-depth examination of many factors in hiring, discipline, retention and union representation in the fire service. Topics include:

• Firefighter “Bill of Rights”

• Responsible recruiting of fire and EMS personnel

• Communication and the chain of command

• The Affordable Care Act and how it will affect your department

• The psychology of the first responder

“(This) course…would be an important topic to cover,” says Chief Dale C. Herman of the 78-person City of Watertown, NY, Fire Department. “We spend many hours in dealing with FLMA (Family and Medical Leave Act), EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) and claims of harassment by employees and are lacking in definitive policies to aid us in these newer requirements of the job. Most of our HR (Human Resources) issues are handled by the city’s corporate counsel; however, having a foundation of general knowledge would be helpful to the fire administrator.” Herman recently completed the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer (EFO) Program.

2. Negotiating with a Bargaining Unit

The major focus of this course is to prepare the emergency services’ chief administrative officer with the tools necessary to survive in the collective bargaining world of the fire service.

• Public employee unions: history, prevalence and power

• Tactics at the bargaining table

Textbook: Labor Relations for the Fire Service, Paul J. Antonellis Jr.

3. Lessons in Leadership

Using leaders from the past, this course examines influential classical war leaders to compare and contrast contemporary leaders’ practices in fire and EMS.

• An examination of emergency services leaders and how their philosophies enabled their success

• First-year fire chief (adapted from the NFA’s course of similar title)

Suggested textbook: Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of Leadership by Barry Strauss.

4. Alternative Funding Strategies

Today’s emergency services chief faces a climate of increased demand for a wide array of services and a decreased budget. Finding the funds to assist in department operations is a key priority for these leaders. Grant funding, in some cases, can fill these budgetary shortfalls. This course provides an understanding of these grants and how to successfully apply for them.

• SAFER Grant and Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement Grant

• Alternative strategies to buying apparatus

Textbook: 2012 Funding Alternatives for Emergency Medical and Fire Services – Writing Effective Grant Proposals, Local, State and Federal Funding for EMS and Fire, Foundations and Corporate Grants by the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

5. Decision Analysis

Based on a variety of decision analysis models and theories, this course examines the myriad tools used to analyze decisions. Alternative theories that which debunk some contemporary models of decision analysis are also examined. Ethics in decision making is examined in the context of public-sector managers.

“I think that ethical decision making should be taught at some level based on the level of responsibility to the organization and community,” says District Chief Travis Ford of the Nashville, TN, Fire Department. “It appears that sometimes good chiefs end up in bad situations. For the chief, even when something may not necessarily be against the law, (an issue can) appear to land in one of those gray areas in decision making. Gray areas are sometimes perceived to go against public opinion.”

Textbook: Introduction to Decision Analysis (3rd edition) by David C Skinner

6. Legal Issues

This course provides the fire administrator with the basics of legal issues affecting today’s emergency services, from worker compensation laws to hiring practices.

As 40-year veteran of the legal system and its influence on emergency services, Larry Bennett, program chair in Fire Science & Emergency Management, University of Cincinnati, says, “Keeping up with federal and state legal requirements, and recent cases, is…no easy task. Fire chief careers are on the line. Fire chiefs and senior officers need to keep up with the changing laws, including significant court decisions. For example, an Ohio Supreme Court decision in 2012 held that fire apparatus operators and their public employers no longer enjoy qualified immunity if there is evidence of ‘recklessness.’ (Anderson v. Massillon.) This decision has led many fire chiefs to review their standard operating guidelines (SOGs) on emergency response and requiring full stops before proceeding through red lights. Lower courts are required to follow the Ohio Supreme Court precedent; see the Dec. 8, 2014, decision in Grace Burlingame v. Estate of Dale Burlingame, in which a fire truck’s siren stopped working and the collision at a red light killed two civilians.”

Textbook: Fire Service Law, and online newsletter, by Lawrence T. Bennett.

7. Firefighter health and Wellness

Eighty-one firefighters died on duty in 2012, 45 of whom died as a result of “stress or overexertion,” according to FEMA. It cites, “Firefighting is extremely strenuous physical work and can be one of the most physically demanding of human activities. Stress or overexertion is a general category that includes all firefighter deaths that are cardiac or cerebrovascular in nature such as heart attacks, strokes, and other events such as extreme climatic thermal exposure. Classification of a firefighter fatality in this cause of fatal injury category does not necessarily indicate that a firefighter was in poor physical condition.”

The goal of this course is to encourage students ways to systematically monitor and encourage healthy firefighters, without invasive practices.

Textbook: Healthy Employees, Healthy Business: Easy, Affordable Ways to Promote Workplace Wellness by Ilona Bray, J.D.

8. Marketing and the Politics of Leading a Fire Department

An often overlooked and under-valued process, marketing a department to both internal and external stakeholders is the emphasis of this course. Marketing to internal audiences is examined to broaden the knowledge base for other community leaders. And the politics inherent of fire chiefs can be especially daunting.

“Most chiefs know how to handle a fire scene, and the infrequent natural disaster, but lack fundamental skills in presentations to audiences and marketing their services to the customers,” says Herman. “Mrs. Smith sure likes it when you get there fast, but the friendly service can go a long ways in aiding department’s mission.”

“A modern fire chief needs to have political acumen in order to be successful,” says Chief Douglas Schrage of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Fire Department. “Politics permeates nearly every aspect of fire service administration: in the budgeting process; consensus and collaboration – internal and external, vertical and horizontal; community relations and marketing; and labor relations.” Schrage leads a “full-time, paid fire department staffed with 42 full-time college students supervised by nine career officers. Many student firefighters are pursuing associate’s degrees in fire science or emergency medical services and baccalaureate degrees in emergency management/fire service administration.”

9. Social Media and Emergency Services

With the preponderance of social media in today’s society, this course examines internal and external factors associated with a variety of media, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Many documents cases of the misuse of social media by department members have been reported recently, yet managing these pervasive communication tools can benefit fire and emergency services.

• Departmental policies for employee use of social media

• Departments that create and use social media to better communicate with communities

Textbook: Social Media and Local Governments: Navigating the New Public Square by Patricia E. Salkin.

“I believe each of these topics is relevant,” says Assistant Chief Robert A. Mitchell of the Reedy Creek, FL, Fire Department, which “employs approximately 130 sworn firefighter personnel, 40 EMS-only personnel and 40 fire prevention and admin/clerical staff. We are a career department and cover about 46 square miles with a transient population of 250,000 to 300,000 visitors per day,” associated with Walt Disney World. “(A)n emphasis in disaster and emergency management is a critical direction as well. Courses that would require additional outside agencies to provide, I think, become tricky if the student needs to attend them remotely. For example, the Organizational Theory course at NFA (National Fire Academy), great course, but can the student get in to the course when they need it in the curriculum? Will the home agency have a problem allowing for the travel,” and related scheduling issues?

10. Community Risk Reduction

Born from the Vision 20/20 Project, and a new component to fire prevention initiatives nationwide, Community Risk Reduction (CRR) is a process that emphasizes identification and reducing specific community risks by encouraging partnerships with fire departments and other local resources. The capstone project for this course will involve producing a detailed risk-reduction plan using the “5-Es” of CRR: emergency response, engineering, enforcement, education, and economic incentives.

Textbook: Executive Analysis of Community Risk Reduction—Pre-Course Assignment Workbook by FEMA and NFA (available online).

11. Social Intelligence

“Social intelligence (SI),” unlike intelligence (IQ)…“is mostly learned,” according to Ronald Riggio, writing for Psychology Today. “SI develops from experience with people and learning from success and failures in social settings. It is more commonly referred to as ‘tact,’ ‘common sense,’ or ‘street smarts.’ ” Examining complex social interactions with the application of the original works of Edward Thorndike to contemporary theorists Nicholas Humphrey, this course provides participants the tools and awareness to become better leaders.

Textbook: Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships by Daniel Goleman.

While Mathew continues his quest for a meaningful curriculum, the NFA’s Ken Farmer (TITLE?) agrees that some latitude in courses designed for the post graduate student would do much to further some of the practical considerations of what a fire chief might encounter.

“One of the biggest needs involves not only marketing ourselves to the community, but to the other political entities in our jurisdictions.” he says. “We often hear how much a fire engine costs, but some politicians do not have a good idea about what the fire department does and how much they do not have to deal with. We need to get that message out there.”

Herman says, “The whole purpose of education is twofold; to aid those who wish to be fire chief in giving them fundamentals of preparing to do the job, and to aid those who are currently serving in the job be able to do the job better. If a student can apply what they are doing in the class with what they need to do for the job, is the best of both worlds.”

PAUL SNODGRASS, a Firehouse^® contributing editor, is a former fire chief with 20 years of fire service experience. He is the Laboratory Coordinator at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, KY. Snodgrass holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN, and a master’s degree from the University of Phoenix. He has been writing about, designing and teaching traditional and online courses since 2005. He can be contacted at [email protected].

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