Syllabus for HLS-620

HOMELAND SECURITY PREPAREDNESS: PREVENTION AND DETERRENCE

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Homeland Security Preparedness: Prevention and Deterrence focuses on how strategic planning, incident management, and intelligence techniques are brought together to provide the necessary foundation for anti-terrorism preparedness. Your assignments in this course are designed to give you engagement in these areas. You will learn how potential acts of terrorism are deterred and prevented through vigilance, observation, and the reporting of suspicious indicators of terrorist acts. Emphasis is placed on the level of planning and management involved in preparedness, prevention, and deterrence, and to the implementation of specific techniques and strategies.

The topics which will be covered in this course will include the protection of infrastructures, various aspects of the National Incident Management System, and various aspects of data collection and analysis techniques. In addition the course will address threat and vulnerability assessments, information sharing, resource planning, intelligence failures, and terrorism prevention and deterrence.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, you should be able to:

1. Appraise, understand, and facilitate planning relating to homeland security, prevention, and preparedness for various crisis situations.
2. Assess the various management techniques and strategies necessary to efficiently, effectively, and professionally address a variety of homeland security and crisis issues.
3. Examine and knowledgeably discuss various aspects of resource planning which is critical for seamless cooperation between a multiplicity of governmental and private entities to address preparedness, prevention, and deterrence of terrorism and other crisis situations.
4. Identify and discuss various intelligence failures and lessons learned from these activities relating to terrorism and crisis situations and the importance of information sharing.
5. Explain and analyze the intricacies of the preparedness model, anti-terrorism preparedness and deterrence in both the private and public sectors.  
6. Identify and analyze resources for preparedness threat and vulnerability assessments for various crisis situations.
7. Compare and contrast the similarities and differences between disaster planning and terrorism planning and how they interface in both sectors.
8. Evaluate the findings of the 9/11 Commission and others regarding the preparedness of the U.S. in September 2001.
9. Identify and evaluate sources of information used in Homeland Security that can be used for both sectors.
10. Discuss how the National Incident Management System and the Incident Control System are used to integrate the necessary components of planning for Homeland Security and emergency preparedness.
11. Explain information sharing regulations used in law enforcement and national security and evaluate their effectiveness.
12. Identify, assess, and rank critical infrastructure and other significant targets in order of vital importance.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to do the work of the course. The required textbook is available from the University’s textbook supplier, MBS Direct.

Required Textbook

• Laurence Barton,  Crisis Leadership Now: A Real-World Guide to Preparing for Threats, Disasters, Sabotage, and Scandal, 1st ed. (McGraw-Hill, 2008).

ISBN-13 978-0071498821

Supplemental Reading

THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT: FINAL REPORT OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON TERRORIST ATTACKS UPON THE UNITED STATES (9/11 REPORT)

COURSE STRUCTURE

Homeland Security Preparedness: Prevention and Deterrence is a three-credit online course, consisting of six modules. Modules include an overview, topics, objectives, study materials, and assignments. Module titles are listed below.

• Module 1: Were We Unprepared? Are We Prepared Now?
  
• Module 2: How Risk, Threat, and Vulnerability Assessments Are Used in Homeland Security Prevention
  
• Module 3: Major Infrastructure Security Planning—What Does it Mean?
  
• Module 4: NIMS and Training
  
• Module 5: Collecting Terrorism Data in the Information Age
  
• Module 6: How Critical Is Intelligence Prevention and Deterrence?

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in online discussion forums, complete written assignments, and complete a final project. See below for details.

Consult the Course Calendar for due dates.

Discussion Forums

You are required to participate in six graded discussion forums.

Written Assignments

You are required to complete five written assignments. The written assignments are on a variety of topics associated with the course modules. For specific details consult the individual course modules.

Final Project: Preparedness Plan

You are required to complete a final paper in the form of a preparedness plan. For specific details of this particular assignment consult the Final Project: Preparedness Plan section of the course

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

• Discussion Forums (6)—30 percent
• Written Assignments (5)—45 percent
• Final Project: Preparedness Plan—25 percent

All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or higher on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., assignments, discussion postings, projects, etc.). Graduate students must maintain a B average overall to remain in good academic standing.

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

• Read carefully the entire Syllabus, making sure that all aspects of the course are clear to you and that you have all the materials required for the course.
  
• Take time to read the entire Online Student Handbook. The Handbook answers many questions about how to proceed through the course and how to get the most from your educational experience at Thomas Edison State University.
  
• Familiarize yourself with the learning management systems environment—how to navigate it and what the various course areas contain. If you know what to expect as you navigate the course, you can better pace yourself and complete the work on time.
  
• If you are not familiar with Web-based learning be sure to review the processes for posting responses online and submitting assignments before class begins.

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

• To stay on track throughout the course, begin each week by consulting the Course Calendar. The Calendar provides an overview of the course and indicates due dates for submitting assignments, posting discussions, and scheduling and taking examinations.
  
• Check Announcements regularly for new course information.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Thomas Edison State University is committed to maintaining academic quality, excellence, and honesty. The University expects all members of its community to share the commitment to academic integrity, an essential component of a quality academic experience.

Students at Thomas Edison State University are expected to exhibit the highest level of academic citizenship. In particular, students are expected to read and follow all policies, procedures, and program information guidelines contained in publications; pursue their learning goals with honesty and integrity; demonstrate that they are progressing satisfactorily and in a timely fashion by meeting course deadlines and following outlined procedures; observe a code of mutual respect in dealing with mentors, staff, and other students; behave in a manner consistent with the standards and codes of the profession in which they are practicing; keep official records updated regarding changes in name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address; and meet financial obligations in a timely manner. Students not practicing good academic citizenship may be subject to disciplinary action including suspension, dismissal, or financial holds on records.

All members of the University community are responsible for reviewing the Academic Code of Conduct Policy in the University Catalog and online at www.tesu.edu.

Academic Dishonesty

Thomas Edison State University expects all of its students to approach their education with academic integrity—the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception. All mentors and administrative staff members at the University insist on strict standards of academic honesty in all courses. Academic dishonesty undermines this objective. Academic dishonesty can take the following forms:

• Cheating
• Gaining or providing unauthorized access to examinations or using unauthorized materials during exam administration
• Submitting credentials that are false or altered in any way
• Plagiarizing (including copying and pasting from the Internet without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources)
• Forgery, fabricating information or citations, or falsifying documents
• Submitting the work of another person in whole or in part as your own (including work obtained through document sharing sites, tutoring schools, term paper companies, or other sources)
• Submitting your own previously used assignments without prior permission from the mentor
• Facilitating acts of dishonesty by others (including making tests, papers, and other course assignments available to other students, either directly or through document sharing sites, tutoring schools, term paper companies, or other sources)
• Tampering with the academic work of other students

Plagiarism

Thomas Edison State University is committed to helping students understand the seriousness of plagiarism, which is defined as using the work and ideas of others without proper citation. The University takes a strong stance against plagiarism, and students found to be plagiarizing are subject to discipline under the academic code of conduct policy.

If you copy phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole documents word-for-word—or if you paraphrase by changing a word here and there—without identifying the author, or without identifying it as a direct quote, then you are plagiarizing. Please keep in mind that this type of identification applies to Internet sources as well as to print-based sources. Copying and pasting from the Internet, without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources, constitutes plagiarism. (For information about how to cite Internet sources, see Online Student Handbook > Academic Standards > “Citing Sources.”)

Accidentally copying the words and ideas of another writer does not excuse the charge of plagiarism. It is easy to jot down notes and ideas from many sources and then write your own paper without knowing which words are your own and which are someone else’s. It is more difficult to keep track of each and every source. However, the conscientious writer who wishes to avoid plagiarizing never fails to keep careful track of sources.

Always be aware that if you write without acknowledging the sources of your ideas, you run the risk of being charged with plagiarism.

Clearly, plagiarism, no matter the degree of intent to deceive, defeats the purpose of education. If you plagiarize deliberately, you are not educating yourself, and you are wasting your time on courses meant to improve your skills. If you plagiarize through carelessness, you are deceiving yourself.

For examples of unintentional plagiarism, advice on when to quote and when to paraphrase, and information about writing assistance and originality report checking, click the links provided below.

Examples of Unintentional Plagiarism

When to Quote and When to Paraphrase

Writing Assistance at Smarthinking

Originality Report Checking at Turnitin

Disciplinary Process for Plagiarism

Acts of both intentional and unintentional plagiarism violate the Academic Code of Conduct.

If an incident of plagiarism is an isolated minor oversight or an obvious result of ignorance of proper citation requirements, the mentor may handle the matter as a learning exercise. Appropriate consequences may include the completion of tutorials, assignment rewrites, or any other reasonable learning tool in addition to a lower grade for the assignment or course. The mentor will notify the student and appropriate dean of the consequence by e-mail.

If the plagiarism appears intentional and/or is more than an isolated incident, the mentor will refer the matter to the appropriate dean, who will gather information about the violation(s) from the mentor and student, as necessary. The dean will review the matter and notify the student in writing of the specifics of the charge and the sanction to be imposed.

Possible sanctions include:

• Lower or failing grade for an assignment
• Lower or failing grade for the course
• Rescinding credits
• Rescinding certificates or degrees
• Recording academic sanctions on the transcript
• Suspension from the University
• Dismissal from the University