North Dakota Ag Connection - NDSU Student Hired by NDDES Planning Section

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NDSU Student Hired by NDDES Planning Section
North Dakota Ag Connection - 02/25/2021

Emergency management student Marcus Rehder recently was hired by the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services through a collaboration with NDSU's Department of Emergency Management.

Rehder, who will work as a planning specialist, was hired while completing his bachelor's degree at NDSU in emergency management. In this job, Rehder supports the development of local and state multi-hazard mitigation plans, the improvement of state recovery plans and mitigation integration initiatives by local, tribal and state planning teams.

Rehder's employment with NDDES is the latest development in a collaborative partnership agreement co-signed by the agency and NDSU in 2018.

"We are so thankful to have a strong partnership with NDDES," said Jessica Jensen, head of NDSU's Department of Emergency Management. "We are both committed to serving the citizens of North Dakota and continually exploring how to support one another in doing that."

NDDES has routinely offered opportunities to NDSU students, even during the state's COVID-19 response. Four students worked as interns, assisting NDDES's Planning and Response Sections, as well as the Joint Information Center to coordinate and release public information. Another five students worked as administrative professionals, recording minutes from important virtual meetings hosted online so response staff could reference the notes when absent for other duties.

Rehder's hire represents the first time an undergraduate has been recruited directly from NDSU's emergency management department to work at the agency full-time.

"This was a unique way of supporting our existing agreement with NDSU by not only hiring one of its emergency management students, but to further develop them as a professional for future positions," said Sean Johnson, NDDES Planning Section chief. "By advertising the opening through the university, in addition to our regular recruiting methods, we were able to interview very good candidates with a lot of potential. Now, we can work with Marcus and give him the experience that goes with his educational background."

Rehder will finish classes at NDSU while working remotely using online technology to perform his duties at NDDES.

"The ability to practically apply what I have learned during my time at both NDSU and NDDES has allowed for tremendous growth as a professional in the emergency management field," Rehder said. "NDDES has been very flexible, allowing me to work from home and maintain my commitments as a student. My hope is to grow in this space of continual learning and progress within the public sector after graduation."

Offering undergraduate and graduate degrees since 2003, NDSU's emergency management program educates students about hazards, our vulnerability to them and how to cope with hazard events. Graduates from the program work throughout the state and region in government agencies, school districts, hospitals, businesses and nonprofits in such positions as emergency management planners/specialists, continuity planners and safety specialists.

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