1 October, 2007

Dear Mr Pells,

My name is Scot Phelps and I am a Associate Professor of Emergency Management at Southern Connecticut State University.  I read your editorial today regarding the need for project management to make inroads into disaster planning and I agree.  At my last position at Metropolitan College in New York, where I also managed a Master’s in Emergency & Disaster Management, I have included the project management lifecycle process in all of my classes and have developed a 1-day project management course for emergency management professionals.  Now at SCSU, I have the opportunity to make it even more prominent- it will be a required class in both the certificate and degree programs beginning this Spring.  One thing you and your readers may not be aware of is that project management principles are (kind of) included in the professional practices of the Disaster Recovery Institute, the dominant certification organization for Business Continuity Professionals (private sector emergency managers) in the Americas.

The reason that I’m writing is to help take you (and your readers) up on your call for action:

• PM Research

• PM Methodologies

• PM Tools & Technologies for ER/DR Projects

• Attention Raised & Information Shared

• PM Education for ER/DR professionals

• Funding for ER/DR Project Management

I’m willing to do my part to bridge-the-gap, and would love to work with interested project managers in exposing emergency managers to project management. Please pass this along to the project management community and let me know how to move forward!

Regards,
Scot Phelps, JD, MPH, Paramedic, CEM/CBCP/MEP
New Haven, Connecticut, USA
phelpss1@southernct.edu

On the Subject of the Phases of a Project Management Career