Master of Science in Risk Management (online)

Department

Charles Yoe, PhD
Director of Risk Management Program

Degrees offered

Master's

Campuses

Main Campus

Business interruption, market developments, cyber incidents, natural catastrophes, changes in legislation and regulation, macroeconomic developments, infrastructure collapse, political risks and violence, loss of reputation or brand value, changing budget priorities, and new technologies are but a few of the reasons why organizations around the globe brace themselves against an era of greater uncertainty. Organizations need risk managers in order to be prepared to respond to this risky environment. The high demand for Risk Management Directors across the United States has resulted in high pay, fast growth, and a strong quality of life rating for professionals pursuing this field. Notre Dame of Maryland University’s Master of Science in Risk Management empowers students entering this profession with an industry leading domain of expertise supported by practical, insightful, useful, and adaptable knowledge of risk analysis science including risk management, risk assessment, and risk communication.

Notre Dame of Maryland University's graduate programs in Risk Management are the training choice of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, one of the world's largest public engineering, design, and construction management agencies.

Program Objectives

This Master of Science in Risk Management is designed for professionals with a completed bachelor's degree and substantive professional experience who seek the skills required to introduce or apply the principles of risk analysis science in a risk management framework within their organizations. In particular, this Program of Study targets students who desire further professional qualifications in the newly emerging and fast growing field of Risk Management. Students in this Program of Study should possess strong mathematical/quantitative skills, as evidenced in previous coursework. International students are required a strong command of the English language as indicated by an official TOEFL score (550 or higher).

Potential career opportunities include Risk Management Director, Assessor, Risk Manager, Risk Analyst, Risk Management Consultant, Risk Control Supervisor, Director of Corporate Risk Management, and Chief Risk Officer.

The Master of Science in Risk Management enables its graduates to:

Introduce the best practice techniques of risk management and risk analysis science to their organizations;
Acquire the skills required to manage risks to avoid loss and to take prudent risks for potential gain;
Build on qualitative and quantitative risk assessment skills introduced and used in the Program;
Communicate effectively in crisis and risk situations that threaten your organization or its constituents and stakeholders;
Conduct one’s self-ethically in situations where systems breakdown and rules of conduct are challenged; and,
Introduce a risk management framework to risk-management naïve organizations or to enhance the effectiveness of existing risk management practices.

Curriculum (18 Credits)

RIS-501 Risk Management (3)
RIS-502 Risk Assessment (3)
RIS-601 Uncertainty (3)
RIS-602 Quantitative Risk Assessment (3)
RIS-603 Risk Communication (3)
RIS-604 Enterprise Risk Management (3)
RIS-6xx Decision Making Under Uncertainty
RIS-630 Ethics and Risk Governance (3)
BUS-502 Managing Together (3)
BUS-5xx Adaptive Leadership (3)

No graduate credits may be transferred from other accredited institutions.

Working online with other professionals from around the nation and world, students will learn risk analysis science including risk management, risk assessment, and risk communication in energizing, eight-week courses. They will also receive invaluable knowledge to help them implement or improve the practice of risk management within their organizations. Students may complete required work when it is convenient. This rigorous Program requires 15-20 hours per week.

Most students are currently employed and are acquiring the skills necessary to meeting the growing need for risk management and risk analysis science in their own organizations. The Master of Science Degree is an excellent pairing with one’s current professional training that opens new opportunities in any field. This is not a risk management certification program.

Students can elect to prepare a portfolio of risk products and to design course exercises to meet the needs of their organization.

Courses

RIS-501 Risk Management

Provides an introduction to the risk anaylsis paradigm where organizations intentionally manage, assess and communicate about risk. Risk management is about making effective decisions under conditions of uncertainty. A generic risk management model is introduced and developed. Students learn to apply several risk management methodologies. [ 3 credits ]

RIS-502 Risk Assessment

Provides an introduction to a generic and generalizable risk assessment model as well as to several qualitative risk assessment techniques. Students learn to apply qualitative techniques. [ 3 credits ]

RIS-601 Uncertainty

Surveys epistemic and aleatory uncertainty. Explores the use of probability distributions to address these sources of uncertainty. Explores the use of prabability to represent uncertainty using probability distributions. [ 3 credits ]

RIS-602 Quantitative Risk Assessment

Introduces deterministic and probabilistic risk assessment. Students learn to build and use probabilistic risk assessment models. Emphasis is placed on communicating uncertainty to decision makers. [ 3 credits ]

RIS-603 Risk Communication

Prepares students to respond professionally to the special challenges of coordination among risk managers and risk assessors and focuses primarily on risk and crisis communication where there is considerable uncertainty. Students learn how to map risk communication messages. [ 3 credits ]

RIS-630 Ethics and Risk Governance

Examines the ethical issues and social responsibility related to risk problems through the lends of current events. Topics include such things as ethical principals in the face of system collapse, protecting the most vulnerable, the public's role in decision making, and managing risk for development. [ 3 credits ]