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 four 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