Regent University Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program: New Emergency Management and Leadership Concentration Curriculum for the Robertson School of Government
Regent University Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program: New Emergency Management and Leadership Concentration Curriculum for the Robertson School of Government
Jeffrey C. Westling | 2025
Abstract
The world is entering a prolonged era of compounded and cascading crises, ranging from increasingly severe natural disasters and pandemics to geopolitical instability, infrastructure degradation, cyberattacks, other human-caused threats, and institutional mistrust. These threats are no longer hypothetical; they are present, intensifying, and revealing critical gaps in our ability to anticipate, absorb, and recover from disasters and disruptions. Scripture forewarns of an escalation in such events as the return of Jesus Christ approaches, describing them as “birth pangs” of a creation groaning for redemption (Matthew 24:6-8; Luke 21:10-11; Romans 8:22). These mounting signs demand not only greater preparedness, but a new generation of leaders who are spiritually discerning, ethically grounded, and strategically equipped to serve communities with foresight, moral courage, wisdom, and conviction.
This Doctor of Strategic Leadership project presents the development of a new three-course Emergency Management and Leadership concentration within the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at Regent University’s Robertson School of Government. This new course of study addresses the urgent demand for crisis leaders who can navigate complexity, lead across institutions, and embed resilience into systems before disasters strike. It prepares students to respond to today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment by uniting academic excellence with a robust biblical worldview. Through a comprehensive curriculum that integrates emergency management theory, crisis leadership models, strategic planning, and biblical ethics, students will be equipped to lead effectively in anticipation of and in response to disasters and crises. Students will gain fluency in emergency management frameworks, strategic foresight, crisis communication, and interagency coordination while developing as servant and transformational leaders who embody the principles of stewardship (1 Peter 4:10), prudence (Proverbs 8:12, 22:3), and faithful vigilance (Matthew 24:42-44).
This concentration is not merely academic; it is transformational. Graduates will be equipped to lead public, nonprofit, military, and faith-based organizations by bringing strategic direction and moral authority to environments marked by volatility and fragmentation. Students will learn to embed resilience into their organizations’ policies, infrastructure, and culture, ensuring that preparedness and mitigation are integrated into core operations. These leaders will serve as stabilizing forces during disasters, bridge-builders across institutions, and advocates for vulnerable populations by bringing clarity in confusion, order in chaos, and hope in hardship.
Ultimately, this DSL project advances the mission of the Robertson School of Government by forming ethical, transformational, and servant leaders who embody the highest standards of public service and are prepared to lead faithfully in the face of escalating crises. It reinforces Regent University’s commitment to shaping principled change agents who respond to the world’s most pressing challenges and do so as instruments of peace, restoration, and Kingdom impact. As future crises emerge with increasing speed and severity, this concentration offers both a timely academic innovation and a Kingdom response to prepare the leaders our world cannot afford to be without.