After attending classes all day on campus, the occasional online class can be a welcomed relief. For Emergency Management students at WTAMU however, online classes are a way of life through the Emergency Management Administration program.

The Emergency Management Administration program at WT is the only online EMA program in the state of Texas where students can achieve their entire bachelor’s degree in emergency management without having to leave their homes.

“For people like me that are working in the work force, it’s a wonderful thing to have the opportunity to get to go back and finish something like this,” Bryan Parker, a firefighter in South Dallas and EMA major at WT, said.About 11 years ago, the program was designed to give emergency professionals the tools to advance their career without having to quit their jobs.

“They’ve got their jobs and they’ve got families,” Dr. Reed Welch, department head of Political Science and Criminal Justice, said. “Most of them are middle age and they’re looking to move up into management in their agencies. In order to do that, they can’t quit their job and come to WT.”

According to Dr. Dwight Vick, assistant professor of Political Science and Criminal Justice, the Texas State Legislature realized the need for better-trained experts for emergency management and offered to pay the tuition for any firefighter, police officer or paramedic who majored in emergency management. WT chose to help provide such experts via online courses.

“[The program] had to go online so we could provide this to all firefighters, police officers and other EMTs who are in our program,” Vick said. “That way they don’t have to quit and move to Amarillo.”

The government’s help with emergency responders’ opportunities to go back to school also means providing communities with well-trained and educated professionals to serve and protect individuals.

“People may diss government all the time,” Vick said. “But it’s that same government that guarantees our mail will be delivered on a daily basis. It’s the one that we pay for through our tax dollars, that guarantees that we’re going to be safe and that there’s going to be a trained police force that will protect us.”

Though normal online classes at WT are run through WT class, the EMA program takes a different approach to online education.

Vick explained the program adopted a state-of-the-art online conferencing program named WebEx which allows students to attend live lectures on campus without being on campus.

“It’s like being in class while you sit in your house,” Vick said.

Having the only online EMA program in Texas means more than just increasing enrollment numbers for WT. Welch explained the effect the program has by reaching the state level.

“It’s good for the state of Texas because we need an educated work force,” Welch said. “We want people to be trained and educated and that’s what universities are all about.”