SCMT498 - Senior Seminar in Security Management

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

CO-1: Examine security management theory, concepts, principles, techniques, and practices.

CO-2: Apply academic knowledge to identify and counter organizational security risks and vulnerabilities.

CO-3: Identify strategic and tactical security solutions as part of a broad based organizational protection plan.

CO-4: Describe and detail organizational security programs.

Grading will be based on three essay assignments, three forum assignments (and six classmate responses – two in each of the three weeks), a formal research proposal, an extended or annotated bibliography per APA, a paper/project outline and thorough summary, a research paper/project, and a forum presentation of your paper/project (with “four” classmate responses in week eight).

Reading Assignments: See Announcements and Lessons

Supplemental Readings: See above

Forum Assignments:

1. Introduction Forum – due by Sunday of week 1. Students will introduce themselves in the Introduction Forum. The goal of the forum is to accomplish two things 1) to build peer-to-peer relationships by sharing introductions and background information with classmates and 2) to express learning goals and expectations for the class. This assignment requires 200 – 250 words and is a non-graded assignment.

1. Forums (posted in forums “only”) are due in weeks one, four and six. The assignments, to allow time for students to respond, must be “posted” by midnight EST Thursdays each of these weeks. Two classmate responses are also required and scored in “each” of these three weeks. Post only during the assigned course week (do “not” post in advance). Assignments must reflect some new or original information – do not just regurgitate data or opinion posted by previous students.

Scoring Notes: Ensure your forum postings are “on time and substantive.” Keep in mind that substantive means fully answering and developing your assignment answers and classmate responses. In the forum, do “not” be concise or brief (however, do not add “fluff”). Failing to address assignment questions will cause point deductions from your weekly assignment scores. This includes not thoroughly explaining your positions. Most assignments that receive full credit will be answered with multiple and extensive paragraphs (depending on the assignment, 500 to 1000 words is within the normal range. At a minimum, “classmate responses” – opposed to assignment answers, will be five “exceptional” sentences (not simply stating agreement and/or a reiteration of the student’s post) – usually much more.

Homework Assignments:

1. Assignments – There are three essay assignments due in weeks two, four and six. The first essay in week two must be 750 words, and the essays in weeks four and six must be 500 words each. The essays will discuss “HOW” the capstone project will address the seven undergraduate security management program learning objectives listed below under “research proposal”. The essays are NOT intended to discuss the objective itself, only HOW the objective will be incorporated into the project. The essays are due by Sunday of each week.

1. Research proposal – a formal research proposal is due by the conclusion (Sunday) of week two. The professor will approve, disapprove or approve with modifications all proposals.

Your research proposal will be based on an “issue or problem” aligned with the requirements and criteria for obtaining the BA Degree in Security Management. The essential criteria include the seven undergraduate security management program learning outcome objectives:

• Identify organizational security risk exposure; identify cost-effective mitigation strategies; and prepare for recovery strategies.
• Employ the use of risk analysis and vulnerability assessment processes.
• Critically examine the variety and extent of losses from criminal acts, natural disasters, and security breaches facing society.
• Analyze or compare and contrast concepts of information security, personnel security, and physical security and determine the planning approaches to prevent business losses.
• Analyze the trends affecting security and loss prevention and determine the approaches to reduce losses facing businesses and institutions.
• Evaluate, from a multi-disciplinary approach, non-traditional approaches to crime prevention.
• Distinguish between traditional criminal justice roles, function, theories, and concepts as a reactive institution to the security roles a preventive societal institution.

Your research application will propose an examination of a current issue or problem in security management.

You are to compare and contrast the selected issue or problem with past, present and potential future trends or solutions. Alternatively, you may compare and contrast the experience of organizations affected by a security industry trend or whom have developed solutions to the problem and conduct analysis of their success or failure.

Topic Selection: Topic selection may be difficult. Typically, a capstone research candidate has a general idea of an area within the discipline of security management they wish to explore. Students are encouraged to select a topic they are interested in, but which also has applicability to their organization. In this instance, personal enjoyment is combined with the satisfaction of potentially improving the security posture of your organization.

Research Topic: Conduct a review of previous studies: Begin your research with the tools and capable librarian/archivists available to you in the APUS Online Research Center.

See Lessons tab in the classroom.