UW-Stout M.S. Risk Control and Safety Management Program Enhancement

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ABSTRACT Curricular and Instructional Enhancement of the M.S. in Risk Control and Safety Management Program PI/Program Director: Brian Finder, DIT, CIH finderb@uwstout.edu Program Characteristics and Grant Purpose This reapplication is for a training program grant which will support the University of Wisconsin-Stout’s M.S. Risk Control and Safety Management program. This graduate program was initiated in 1974 as a M.S. Safety degree and was changed to M.S. Risk Control in 1990 to reflect the needs, expectations and challenges of individuals who work the field of worker safety/health, property and environmental protection. The program’s total asset protection perspective requires students to be competent beyond simply understanding safety practices and regulatory compliance. The philosophy of risk control attempts to elevate and integrate the technical areas of safety engineering, industrial hygiene and environmental protection from lower operations issues to being upper management-level concerns. In 2020, the program name was further modified to M.S. Risk Control and Safety Management to clarify its strong employee protection focus. The program’s mission is to preserve tomorrow's workforce and their communities by instilling risk control and safety management-based principles, knowledge, and skills into the students to promote the protection of employee, property and environmental-based assets. The program has produced 559 graduates since its inception and recent annual enrollments range between 25 and 30 students. The program offers traditional face-to-face on-campus weekday evening classes which are augmented with an online instructional teleconferencing system to deliver live lectures to distance-based students. The purpose of this grant is to enhance the curriculum and instruction of the Master of Science Degree in Risk Control and Safety Management program at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. The specific focus of the enhancement effort involves financial assistance in recruitment of qualified students, faculty teaching flexibility and development, and instructional support. Trainees Individuals with undergraduate degrees in engineering, technology, chemistry, and biological sciences as well as management and business backgrounds are recruited into the M.S. in Risk Control and Safety Management program. A significant emphasis is placed on recruiting individuals from underrepresented and underserved groups. Training Facilities The primary training facility is the University of Wisconsin-Stout campus consists of classrooms and laboratories. Local industrial facilities are also used for application exercises. Summary of How Funds Were Appropriated Since 7/1/2016, the grant funds which were provided to UW-Stout by NIOSH were used to operationally enhance the M.S. in Risk Control and Safety Management. Scholarships, stipends and professional development opportunities were provided to 21 different graduate trainees. Funding for a one-third time graduate assistantship awarded to an out-of-state student which permitted her/him to only pay in-state tuition. This represents a tremendous tool for recruiting out-of-state students and individuals from underrepresented / underserved backgrounds. The NIOSH grant funding was used to support instructional needs to purchase various forms of ergonomic and industrial hygiene equipment. Finally, the grant provided faculty with the necessary funding to participate in professional development-related opportunities such as conferences and online courses.