The Emergency Management Program at Flathead Valley Community College
Check out our list of Online Emergency Management Degree Programs.
The Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree program in emergency management at Flathead Valley Community College takes a detailed look at the five key areas of emergency management. Students learn how to protect and prevent those situations from happening, how to prepare for emergency issues, the best way to respond to those situations, the recovery methods that work best and mitigation techniques that they can use. Graduates of the program work in fire and police departments, federal government agencies, private organizations and on the local level.
This program includes 67 credit hours of classes that students complete over four separate semesters. Though they will need to take some general education and basic courses, most of their classes relate to emergency management. Those classes include Disaster Response, Public Information Officer, Negotiations and Conflict Resolution, Mass Fatalities Incident Response and Responding to Terrorism. During the last semester of the program, students take an emergency management capstone and show what they learned.
The college also offers an emergency medical technician certificate program designed for those who want to work as paramedics. Students spend just one semester in the program and take courses that include labs and fieldwork. They will then sit for the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians exam. Once they pass the test, they can work as EMTs in the state. This short program looks at human anatomy and emergency response techniques. Students learn what to do during a crisis, how to keep people safe and what they can do to help patients until they get to a hospital.
About Flathead Valley Community College
Flathead Valley Community College is a two-year community college that offers a range of associate degree programs. Established in 1960, it was the first community college in the Flathead County area. Only one out of every five students who graduated from a local high school went to college at that time. A member of the school board, Owen Sowerwine, spent several years traveling across the state and country to get an idea of how other colleges operated. He brought his findings back to Montana and helped launch plans for the community colleges. Locals overwhelming voted in favor of the school in 1967, which led to the college opening soon after.
Also called FVCC, it is now the primary community college and vocational training center for students in Kalispell, Montana. A PSEOP program offers dual enrollment options for high school students and helps them finish their high school requirements while earning college credits at the same time. The college offers more than 20 Associate of Applied Science programs and majors for both Associate of Science and Associate of Arts students. FVCC established a brewing science program and added a brewery to its campus in 2015, which allows students to gain firsthand knowledge of brewing operations. FVCC is now one of the only community colleges in Montana to offer on-campus housing for students too.
Flathead Valley Community College Accreditation Details
The NWCCU granted regional accreditation to FVCC, which is the same type of regional accreditation held by major colleges in the northwest. This is what lets Flathead Valley accept credits that students already have and why students can carry their credits to another school. It allows any student who qualifies for financial aid to get assistance from the government. The college’s allied health, medical assisting, physical therapy assisting and paramedic programs all have individual program accreditation too.
Flathead Valley Community College Application Requirements
FVCC welcomes all types of students with an interest in higher learning to apply. Students can submit the college’s application online or submit a PDF printed version of the application through the mail. This application consists of just a few sections and asks for information about whether the student finished high school, attended college or has any professional experience. They will also need to provide official high school transcripts and sealed transcripts from any colleges attended or proof that the applicant has a GED. Students will also need to supply proof that they have their MMR vaccinations or that they received a vaccine exemption due to medical or religious reasons.
Students who meet these simple requirements will get an acceptance letter from the college. They will then get their login information, which they’ll use on the student portal to sign up for a placement test. Any student who already took and passed a college math class or took the ACT/SAT within the last two years and submits a score is exempt from the test. This test helps the college see what skills the student has and whether they can test out of certain subjects or if they need to take prerequisites. FVCC then asks students to talk to their advisors and register for classes.
Tuition and Financial Aid
As FVCC offers classes on two different campuses, it’s important that students look at the cost of attendance on each one. The main campus offers an in-district rate for those who live in Flathead County and Lincoln County. Those students pay $126.20 plus fees, which brings their costs up to $168.50 per credit hour. Seniors qualify for a reduced rate of just $42.30 per credit hour. Montana students who do not live in one of these counties will pay $217.50 per credit hour, which is the same rate the college charges senior students. Students from outside of Montana pay $423.50 per credit hour. The college allows students from western states to take part in its Western Undergraduate Exchange program, which reduces their tuition to $290.50 per credit hour. Students taking classes on the Lincoln campus pay different rates.
Scholarships are available from FVCC for students taking classes during any session. One academic scholarship goes to current students with a minimum GPA of 3.5 who completed at least 30 credits of classes. This scholarship reduces the cost for nonresidents down to the same rate that Montana residents pay. Students have until February 15 to apply for scholarships, and if there are any funds left, the college will accept scholarship applications up through the beginning of October. The college also accepts the traditional aid that students can get when they complete the FAFSA. Government funds combined with scholarships can help students pay for the emergency management program at Flathead Valley Community College.