Minor in Disability Inclusive DRR & Emergency Planning

The Disability-inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction & Emergency Planning Program (DEP) is an 18-credit graduate certificate and undergraduate minor program that trains professionals to work in the growing fields of disaster and emergency management.

As the world’s first and only university-level program of its kind, the DEP Program combines course-based, hands-on, and site-based components that serve as an incubator for innovation in a wide range of activities, including; Deaf centered risk assessment of physical structures and human rights/DEIA, policy recommendations, effective emergency communication, community participatory Disaster Risk Reduction training, and research, among other skill sets.

The DEP program is taught by an interdisciplinary faculty from the graduate programs in International Development, Interpreting & Translation, Public Administration, and Social Work, and faculty from the School of Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health. DEP faculty developed the DEP Program as a response to real-world conditions, and from insights generated from their areas of research and practice. Key insights include: i. extreme weather and climate change events are increasing in frequency and severity; ii. Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing, Deaf-plus, and people with disabilities tend to be marginalized from disaster and emergency communication, information, training, and professional work worldwide; iii. Deaf communities possess cultural and linguistic knowledge and skills necessary to improving disaster risk reduction and emergency management at local, national, regional, and international levels.

The program consists of six courses, culminating with a Summer Institute conducted with Deaf-Led organizations, emergency management, and/or research partners in a disaster impacted site in the US or another country where disaster planning activities are taking place.

To enroll in the graduate certificate program, students must be admitted to Gallaudet University as graduate or professional students and maintain a GPA of 3.0.

To satisfy the requirements for the graduate certificate, students are expected to earn a grade of “B” or above in all courses, and to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above.

All certificate program/undergraduate minor students will pay a fee of $1000 to cover travel, room, and board for the Summer Institute, coordinated by Education Abroad in a country where disaster planning activities are taking place.

Admissions Requirements

Undergraduate students interested in pursuing a minor track in Disaster and Emergency Planning within their undergraduate Public Health, Social Work or other undergraduate degree program, must demonstrate evidence of:

• Current enrollment in a Gallaudet undergraduate program.
• Cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.8 or above
• Complete 18 credits of prerequisite courses from the list below and earn a “C” or better:
  • BIO-105 Human Biology
  • BIO-241 Ecology
  • PHI-450 Bioethics and the Deaf Community
  • PHS-202 Foundations of Environmental Health
  • PHS-203 Introduction to Personal and Community Health
  • PHS-204 Foundations in Global Health
  • SWK-203 Introduction to Social Work
  • SWK-304 Social Welfare Policy
  • SWK-307 Human Behavior and the Social Environment in Micro
  • SWK-308 Human Behavior and the Social Environment in Macro
  • SWK-318 Human Diversity
  • SWK-337 Case Management

Undergraduate students are encouraged to meet with their academic advisor in their home program and the IDMA program director as early as possible to determine eligibility for the minor track.

To declare the DEP minor, interested students should:

• Contact their Academic & Career Success Advisor (for undeclared students) or their Faculty Advisor (for declared students) and confirm readiness to declare the minor.
• Contact the DEP program at dep@gallaudet.edu to discuss the minor track application process, which includes the following:
  • A one-page written essay and a video in ASL responding to admission questions indicating the reason for your interest in pursuing a minor focused on Deaf leadership in Disaster Risk Reduction & Emergency Planning.
  • Copy of unofficial transcript.
  • One letter of recommendation.
  • Interview with DEP faculty.
  • Demonstrated proficiency in American Sign Language and English (via personal statement, ASL video, and interview).

Technology requirements and Computer Requirements/skills: A Mac or PC computer with access to the internet capable of running a most recent and updated web browser is necessary for participation in our online courses. The minimum operating system is Windows XP or higher for PC and MacOS 10.5 or higher for Mac. See Online Computer Requirements for more detailed information. Students are responsible for obtaining their own Internet access and are expected to have basic computer and internet literacy prior to the start of the course, including use of email, word processing programs, presentation programs (such as PowerPoint), and the internet to search.