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Course specification
The current and official versions of the course specifications are available on the web at .
Please consult the web for updates that may occur during the year.

PRL8009 Disaster Communication

Semester 2, 2020 Online
Short Description: Disaster Communication
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Humanities & Communication
Student contribution band : Band 3
ASCED code : 080509 - Public Relations
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Other requisites

Students will require access to e-mail and have internet access for this course.

Rationale

Research has shown that in Australia (Ryan and Matheson, 2010), 20% of the problems in the management of disaster and emergency incidents relates to communication with the community before, during and after the disaster. Reasons for this include lack of inclusion of communication teams by operational teams, and lack of professional standing of communicators. This course aims to improve the professional standing and skills required by communicators to ensure that disaster operations include communication with the community as a matter of course.

Synopsis

This course will prepare students for working in a disaster management environment in their own country, and international disaster management principles. Students examine the history of disaster management and the practical application of disaster communication theory. They also investigate disaster management arrangements, the disaster management environment, and leadership in disaster, and examine the role of the communication team in each of these aspects. Students also analyse and apply communication techniques, skills and processes that are unique to disaster communication.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. work competently within disaster management frameworks and arrangements of their home countries and organisations;
  2. apply leadership, managerial and communications knowledge to effectively plan, champion and facilitate emergency and disaster communications best practice;
  3. identify the value of, and be able to build strategic partnerships within and across teams and agencies;
  4. lead and manage communication teams and priorities of resources;
  5. apply theory and concepts of community engagement to include the community in every aspect of disaster communication planning and implementation;
  6. apply theory, history and past research to predict and manage human behaviour in disaster and to inform planning for disaster communication in future;
  7. apply communication theory and practice to available technology in order to effectively connect with specific target publics in a range of circumstances.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. History of disaster management 5.00
2. Theory of disaster, human behaviour and communication 20.00
3. Disaster management arrangements and approaches 10.00
4. Communication roles and responsibilities 10.00
5. Communication in preparation 15.00
6. Communication in response 10.00
7. Communication in recovery 15.00
8. Leadership and planning 15.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=02&subject1=PRL8009)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

There are no texts or materials required for this course.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Attorney General's Department, Australian Government 2008, Emergency Warnings: Choosing Your Words, Emergency Management Australia,
<>.
Coppola, D P & Maloney E K 2017, Communicating emergency preparedness: Strategies for creating a disaster resilient public, 2nd edn, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.
Haddow, G D & Haddow, K S 2014, Disaster Communications in a Changing World, 2nd edn, Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington, Massachusetts.
Kruger, F, Bankloff, G, Cannon, T, Orlowski, B & Schipper, E L 2015, Cultures and disasters: understanding cultural framings in disaster risk reduction, Routledge, New York.
Tierney, K 2014, The social roots of risk: Producing disasters, promoting resilience, Standford 精东传媒app Press, California.
The website of the leading emergency management organisation in your home country.

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Assessments 20.00
Directed 精东传媒app 97.00
Private 精东传媒app 48.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS 100 30 12 Aug 2020
FRAMEWORK DISCUSSION 100 30 15 Sep 2020
INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION 100 30 15 Oct 2020
STUDYDESK PARTICIPATION 100 10 27 Oct 2020

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students鈥� responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks.

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

  6. Examination information:
    There is no examination for this course.

  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    There is no examination for this course.

  8. 精东传媒app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene 精东传媒app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Assessment notes

  1. Referencing in assignments must comply with the Harvard (AGPS) referencing system. This system should be used by students to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (APGS) style to be used is defined by the USQ library鈥檚 referencing guide. This guide can be found at .

Evaluation and benchmarking

In meeting the 精东传媒app鈥檚 aims to establish quality learning and teaching for all programs, this course monitors and ensures quality assurance and improvements in at least two ways. This course:
1. conforms to the USQ Policy on Evaluation of Teaching, Courses and Programs to ensure ongoing monitoring and systematic improvement.
2. forms part of the Graduate Certificate of Business (Emergency and Disaster Communication) and the Master of Project Management and is benchmarked against the

  1. internal USQ accreditation/reaccreditation processes which include (i) stringent standards in the independent accreditation of its academic programs, (ii) close integration between business and academic planning, and (iii) regular and rigorous review.
  2. Recommendations of an advisory panel of practitioners from Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Other requirements

  1. Computer, e-mail and Internet access:
    Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at

Date printed 6 November 2020