Public Safety Administration [BS]

Location(s): In-person/hybrid

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The Bachelor of Science in Public Safety Administration program is an interdisciplinary program involving coursework in three departments from two colleges within the University. It is a competency-based curriculum resting on a strong liberal arts foundation. The curriculum is intended to meet the professional development needs of in-service and entry-level personnel in public safety organizations including law enforcement, public safety, fire protection, private security, disaster and emergency management, and corrections.

The public safety manager’s focus is on leadership, public policy, politics, and administration. The public safety manager is concerned with issues such as the causes of crime, the nature and impact of criminal behavior, threats to public safety arising from fires, environmental and natural disasters, and the nature and operation of correctional institutions. The administrator’s responsibilities extend to addressing how the public safety organization develops a response to these problems, the nature of the response, and how resources - budgets and personnel - are obtained, utilized and evaluated in responding to problems.

The program builds on the public administration major. Courses are drawn from three groups:

An interdisciplinary foundation group
An administration group directed toward developing an understanding of public and nonprofit organizations and related personnel, budgeting, policy, and administrative skills, as well as an understanding of the conditions, strategies, and practices found more specifically in public safety agencies
An area concentration
An academy or internship component
The program capstone course, PLSC 450 , is offered in Winter semesters and should be taken in a student’s final or nearly final semester.

The program combines major and minor requirements, and graduating students will be awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in public safety.

Transfer students from associate degree programs in related fields may matriculate into the program. However, students transferring from another college must complete all General Education course work as required by the University for the bachelor’s degree.

Additional Information

Transfer Agreements

Department Information

Political Science 601 Pray-Harrold, 734.487.3113

Barbara Patrick, PhD, Department Head

Advisor Information

David Klein, PhD, 601 Pray-Harrold, 734.487.3113

General Education Requirements:

For specific requirements, see General Education or view the General Education Worksheet [PDF] .

Major Requirements: 51 hours

Academy or Internship/Co-op Experience: 3 hours

Pre-service students must complete an internship or cooperative education placement or an accredited academy program; in-service students may substitute credits from an accredited academy program, or upon submission of an academy certificate may take three credits of related electives with advisor approval.

Minor Requirement:

This major does not require a minor.

Program Total:

Students must earn a minimum total of 120 credits at the 100-level or above.

Critical Graduation Information

Each undergraduate student will be responsible for fulfilling the requirements (or their equivalents) of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration at a college or university or a subsequent catalog, including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.

In the event an undergraduate student does not complete the degree requirements within seven years of the date of their original registration at a college or university, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their major/minor in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.

Minimum requirements for all bachelor’s degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University

Some majors and minors require more than the minimum in one or more of the areas below; students are urged to consult this catalog for the requirements of their particular programs.

Earn a minimum total of 120 credit hours at the 100-level and above.
- Courses numbered below 100 are not counted toward this degree requirement.
- At most, eight credit hours of physical education (PEGN) activity courses are counted toward this requirement.
Meet the requirements of the General Education program (see information below), including completing a Writing Intensive (GEWI) course in the student’s major.
Earn a minimum of 60 credits from a four-year college or university; courses taken at community colleges cannot be used to meet this requirement (Some formal program-to-program articulation agreements modify this requirement. See specific agreements for details).
Earn a minimum of 30 credits from courses taken at EMU.
Complete 10 of the last 30 hours for the degree from courses taken at EMU.
Have a minimum of 30 unique credit hours in their major and 20 unique credit hours in their minor for a total of at least 50 unique credit hours between them. Some majors that require 50 or more hours themselves do not require a minor. A double major automatically satisfies the need for a minor unless one of the two majors requires a specific minor. Students should check the requirements of the selected major in the undergraduate catalog to see if a minor is required.
Earn no more than 60 credit hours in one subject area (prefix). Credits over the 60 maximum will not be counted toward the minimum of 120 credits required for a bachelor’s degree.
Earn the minimum number of credits in 300-level and above courses in each major and minor as specified below - these credits must be earned in distinct courses; that is, no course can be used to fulfill this requirement in more than one major or minor.
- Earn a minimum of 6 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each minor
- Earn a minimum of 9 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that requires a minor.
- Earn a minimum of 15 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that does not require a minor
Transfer credit will be awarded for courses taken at colleges and universities that are accredited by one of the recognized regional accrediting bodies only if the courses are college-level (equated to 100-level or above at EMU) and the student earned a “C” (or 2.0 on a 4 point scale) or better. Transfer credit may be awarded on a case-by-case basis for college-level courses in which a “C” (2.0) or better was earned at institutions outside the U.S. or at non-accredited U.S. institutions; individual departments/schools conduct the internal review of such courses within EMU, and additional documentation may be required. Please note: EMU awards only credit for transferred courses; grades are not used to calculate an EMU GPA.
Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in courses taken at EMU to graduate. In addition, a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 must be reached in each major and minor. Only courses a student takes at EMU and those applied to their major or minor are used to calculate their major and minor cumulative GPAs. (Note: some programs may require a higher GPA - check with your program advisor.)

General Education Requirements - EMU’s General Education Program requires students to choose from a menu of approved courses in several different areas; do not assume that other courses in the same department or similar names will fulfill these requirements. A detailed description of General Education requirements is available in the General Education section of the catalog.

Students who transferred to EMU may have modified general education requirements based on Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) or articulation agreements; consult your academic advisor for additional information.