SRA311,Fall2008,FINAL(11/06/08)1

RiskManagement:AssessmentandMitigation(SRA311)

Tuesday

and

Thursday

mornings,

9:45amto11:00am

(75‐minutespersession),in

205ISTBuilding



DESCRIPTION:



RiskManagement:AssessmentandMitigation

isa junior‐levelundergraduatecoursedesignedtoeducateaspiringriskprofessionalsontheproperapplicationofriskanalysisconceptstosecurity,intelligence,andotherproblems,andtoenhanceriskliteracy.Tothisend,thecoursecoversthebasicphilosophyofriskanalysistoincludedefinitionsofriskandthe“sixquestionsofriskanalysis;”scenarioconstruction;allaspectsofconsequence,threat,andvulnerabilityanalysis;qualitative,quantitative,anddescriptiveriskassessmentmethods;risktreatmentstrategiestoincluderiskacceptance,risktransfer,riskavoidance,andriskcontrolandmanagement;riskcommunication;andriskperception.Thecourseintroducestheseconceptsthroughcriticalreadingsfromtheriskanalysisliteratureandapplicationofthecoursematerialtoin‐classcasestudies,methodologyappraisals,andstudentprojects.

OBJECTIVES:

Studentssuccessfullycompletingthiscoursecan:1.

Describetheroleofariskanalysisinthedecision‐makingprocess2.

Articulatethe“sixquestionsofrisk,”andthoroughlydescribethetermsandnotionsassociatedwithsecurityriskanalysis3.

Explainthedifferenttypesofignoranceanduncertainty,andprovideexamplesofeachinasecuritycontext4.

Discusstheroleofriskperceptionandmethodsforrisktreatmentintheriskmanagementprocess5.

Discussthe14PRECEPTSforethicsinsecurityriskanalysis6.

Applyavarietyofstructuredanalysistechniquestoaidintheidentificationofeventsandoutcomesandtheassessmentofvulnerabilityandeventlikeliness7.

Appraisealternativeriskassessmentmethodsintermsoftheirconsistencywithestablishednotionsofriskandtheircompatibilitywithsimilarmethodologies8.

Applythe“sixquestionsofrisk”todesignariskassessmentmethodologythatmeetstheneedsofaspecificdecisionmakerwithspecificdecisionsupportrequirements9.

Evaluatealternativesecurityinvestmentstrategiesintermsoftheirabilitytoreducerisk,andcomparethesestrategieswithalternativerisktreatmentoptions10.

ReciteandApplytheEightElementsofThoughtandtheIntellectualStandardstocriticallyevaluatescholarlyarticlesandessaysonthetopicofriskanalysis11.

Criticallyevaluatethemainideasandargumentsdiscussedinseveralwidelyrecognizedbooksonthetopicofriskanalysis

SRA311TeachingTeam



Instructor



WilliamL.McGill,PhD,PE

AssistantProfessorofIST(andSRA)307BISTBuildingUniversityPark,PA16802(814)867‐0270(office)wmcgill@ist.psu.edu



Theinstructorisgenerallyavailablefor

outsideassistance

from

9:45amto11:15am

on

Mondays

andfrom

11:00amto12:30pmonWednesdays

,orbyappointment.



TeachingAssistant



Ms.WenYao

ISTGraduateStudent(PhD)

306AISTBuildingwxy119@ist.psu.edu



Theteachingassistantisavailablefor

outsideassistance

from

4:30pmto5:30pm

on

Mondays

and

Wednesdays

unlessotherwisestated,orbyappointment



TeachingIntern



Mr.RyanM.Dewar

ISTUndergraduateStudent

rmd5019@psu.edu

Prerequisites



•

Probability&Statistics(STAT200)

•

IntroductiontoSRA(SRA111)

•

TerrorismandCrime(SRA211)

•

DecisionAnalysis(SRA231)

•

College‐LevelWritingAbility



Recommended



•

SetTheoryandLogic(IST230)

•

Open‐mindedness

•

Extracurricularexperienceperformingsomeriskanalyticfunction

FINAL11/06/08

SRA311,Fall2008,FINAL(11/06/08)2

ASSIGNMENTSANDGRADING:

Courseassignmentsconsistcriticalreadingsofkeyarticlesonrisk,criticalreviewsofwidelyrecognizedbooks(particularlybyfutureemployers)onvarioustopicsofrisk,twogroupprojectstodevelopandrefineyourunderstandingoftheprinciplesofriskanalysis,andcompletionofafinalexamcoveringtheverybasicelementsofriskanalysisandcriticalthinking.

CriticalArticleReviews

(25%)



Eachstudentisresponsibleforproducingnofewerthanfive(5)criticalreviewsofscholarlyarticlesonriskorriskanalyses.Thisactivityisdesignedtoexposestudentstomodernperspectivesonsecurityriskanalysiswhilepracticinghisorherabilitytocriticallyevaluateeachauthor’sargument.Articleswillbedueeachlecture,butstudentsneedonlysubmitareviewontheirindividualscheduledduedates.Ifastudentcompletesall5oftheirassignedarticles,anyadditionalarticlessubmittedthatscorehigherwilloverwritelowerscores.



CriticalBookReviews

(20%).

Eachstudentwillsubmitacriticalreviewoneachoftwo(2)massmarketbooksonthesubjectofrisk.Thebooksavailableforreviewarewidelyknowntorealdecisionmakersandmayactuallyhaveinfluencedtheirperceptionsandunderstandingofrisk.Thefirstreviewwillbeonabookthatallstudentswillread,andforthesecondbookstudentswillbedividedupevenlyamongthetitlesaccordingtothepreferencesfordifferenttopics.Readinggroupswillbeassembledtohelpwiththisactivity.

MethodologyAppraisal

(10%).

Eachstudentwilldissectoneortwosecurityriskanalysismethodologiesorstudiesintermsofterminology,approach,results,etc.fromonemethodologycompareswiththeresultsfromothers.Teamsmaybeformedforthiseffort,butthenumberofmethodologiesreviewedandrequirementsforappraisalincreaseswiththesizeoftheteam.

RiskAnalysisProject

(25%).

Eachstudentwillparticipateinariskanalysisproject,eitheraloneoraspartofagroup,thataddressesareal‐worldsecurityriskanalysisproblem.Eachprojectrelatestoarealquestionorproblemthatservestheinterestsofarealdecisionmaker.Successfulprojectsmaybeusedtoinformrealdecisionmaking,andmayprovidethebasisforfutureopportunities.

FinalExamination

(20%).

Eachstudentwillcompleteanin‐classfinalexaminationcoveringthebareessentialtopicsofthiscourse.Thefinalexamwillconsistoftwoparts:thefirstpartisacriticalarticlereviewonarelativelyshortrisk‐relatedarticle,andthesecondpartconsistsof10‐20multiplechoicequestionsspanningthebareessentialtopicsofthiscourse.

IMPORTANTNOTE:

TheSRAmajorrequiresthatallSRAstudentsachievea

gradeofCorbetter

inthiscoursetograduate(

≥

70%).



SRA311,Fall2008,FINAL(11/06/08)3

READINGMATERIALS:

Most,ifnotall,oftheday‐to‐daycoursematerialswillbeintheformoftechnicalarticlesongeneralandsecurityriskanalysistopics.LinkstocoursematerialsasPDFfileswillbemadeavailableonlineviathecoursewebsite.Twocategoriesofprintedbooksareintegraltothiscourse:three(3)requiredbooksandfive(5)optionalbooks[asdescribedbelow].



RequiredBooks

.

Thefollowingtitlesareallrequiredforthiscourse.BUYTHESERIGHTAWAY.



•

TheMiniatureGuidetoCriticalThinking:ConceptsandTools

,byElderandPaul(ISBN:0944583105)

[anexcerptisavailableat:http://www.criticalthinking.org/files/Concepts_Tools.pdf ]



•

TheMiniatureGuidetotheArtofAskingEssentialQuestions