B.A. in Mining Management & Safety

Degree Guide Key:

Traditional Day ProgramsWC

Evening & Weekend ProgramsSCD

Online ProgramsON

Graduate ProgramsGRAD

The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mining Management and Safety is designed for those who seek management careers in the fast-growing coal industry. Designed for those in mining who are progressing toward middle and upper management, as well as for entry-level positions, this degree provides a general overview of coal and coal mining, from exploration to combustion.

The coal curriculum includes such topics as coal, its storied history; coal geology; the location and quality of coal deposits; land and mineral acquisition; coal mining methods; coal preparation; quality control; marketing and sales; the transportation of coal; coal mining safety; environmental issues, and clean coal technologies.

This degree will be offered online and in an accelerated degree-completion format.

It is anticipated that holders of this degree will be qualified for numerous jobs within the coal industry, among which are land and mineral acquisition, office management, personnel management, quality control, bid preparation, transportation, and sales. With sufficient parallel experience in a mine, the degree will also prepare students for a managerial career in coal mining operations.

Ancillary to the coal industry, degree holders would also be qualified for positions in banking and finance, transportation, electric utilities, with industrial coal users, with companies that own and/or control vast mineral reserves, environmental regulation agencies, state and federal government agencies that regulate coal mining, and with numerous other employers, both public and private.

Midway College Online extends a one hundred and sixty-year old, private, liberal arts education to you anytime, anywhere. We seek to meet the needs of online learners by offering accelerated degree programs of the highest quality, in a manner convenient to any lifestyle.

Available through: ON

Term One	Semester Hours
CT 101 Critical Thinking This course is an introduction to critical thinking as a fundamental process instrumental in all reflective thinking. Critical thinking as a method will be practiced on a variety of topics dealing with diversity. Students will be introduced to a common vocabulary and set of standards, which will be carried into other classes across the disciplines.	3

MMS 300 An Introduction to Coal, Coal Mining, & Coal Markets Students in this course will learn about coal as a necessary natural resource, and how coal has been mined and used over the ages. They will learn about coal’s position in the world and U. S. energy markets. They will learn about the history of coal, the good and the bad, as well as the impact coal has had on history. They will have a brief introduction into the nature of coal. Because it is an essential part of our nation’s labor history, they will learn about coal miners, coal camps, the coal companies, the strikes, and the often resulting violence. Students will have a brief introduction into underground and surface mining, mine safety, and the environmental impacts of coal mining and coal combustion. This course is the prerequisite for all other courses in the Mining Management and Safety curriculum.	3

MMS 305 The Geology of Coal In this course, students will get a broad overview of the origins of coal including elements of the geology of coal, the geologic time table, the specific geological time periods when coal was formed, how peat deposits were formed, and the physical and chemical alterations to peat deposits that resulted in coal formation. In addition, students will continue to add to their knowledge of coal by learning about coal-bearing rocks such as shale, sandstone, and limestone, the classification and ranks of coal, and the location of coal deposits in Kentucky, the United States, and the World. Prerequisite: MMS 300	3

MMS 310 Land and Mineral Acquisition Topics include prospecting and exploration for coal; exploration permits; obtaining the right to mine by purchase or lease; mining on public lands; lands unsuitable; when a resource becomes a reserve; mapping and calculating coal reserves, location-specific financial analyses, coal severance tax and coal property valuations, and major owners of coal properties in the U.S. and the World. Prerequisite: MMS 300	3

Term Two
MMS 315 Coal Mining Methods Students will learn about the various methods by which coal is mined in both underground mining and surface mining. The course will also deal with mine safety concerns in conjunction with each of the mining methods. They will learn about the intertwined roles of labor, management, and capital equipment and how these three entities must be managed to achieve optimum productivity with minimal impacts on health and safety of personnel and on the environment. Prerequisite: MMS 310	3

MMS 317 Coal Mine Occupational Safety and Health The course covers an elemental understanding of safety and health concerns for coal mining. This includes safety hazards and regulatory standards to limit these hazards. It also includes a similar presentation for health hazards and methods to limit exposure to these hazards. A particular emphasis is placed on managing a safety and health program in a coal mine. The role of government agencies is presented along with a review of research programs that seek new solutions to the problems presented by occupational safety and health. Prerequisite: MMS 300	3

MMS 320 Coal Transportation and Usage Students in this course study the electric utility industry in the U.S. and globally; coal as an essential fuel for the electric utility industry; coal in the manufacture of steel, in cement production, in coal to liquid~, and in the production of various coal based products in the United States and world-wide. Students also learn about the whys and wherefores for the strategic locations of industries that rely on coal deliveries. Co-requisite: MMS 315	3

MMS 325 Coal Preparation, Sampling, Quality Control Students in this course will study how coal is matched to customers’ specifications through the unit operations of coal preparation, which is sometimes referred to as washing. These operations include liberation, sizing, separation, dewatering, and waste disposal. They will also learn about ASTM International (once known as the American Society for Testing and Materials) and its standards for coal and coal-related products, including sampling and analysis. Students will also learn why coal is sampled and analyzed so many times from the time it is mined until it is used and will learn of some of the environmental consequences of coal processing. Prerequisites: MMS 305 and MMS 320	3

MMS 335 The Marketing and Sale of Coal Students in the course will learn about coal sales as related to the spot market, long-term contracts, dedicated reserves, sampling by the shipper and b the consumer, analyses, transportation, and price adjustments, upward or downward, for variations in calorific qualities or other specifications. Prerequisites: MMS 305 and MMS 320	3

Term Three
MMS 420 Coal and the Environment Students in this course will learn about coal-related environmental challenges to air, land, and water. These include soil erosion; dust, noise, and water pollution; coal-mine drainage; methane emissions; and, from coal combustion, sulfur emissions, carbon dioxide emissions, and acid rain, all of which are predicted to contribute to global warming and climate change. Prerequisite: MMS 335	3

MMS 430 Coal and Clean Coal Technologies Students in this course will learn about advanced and hypothetical coal-cleaning and coal-conversion technologies that will enable pollution-reduced coal use. These methods are applied both pre- and post-combustion and include control of particulate emissions and of nitrogen and sulphur oxides; they also include methods to capture and store carbon dioxide and to convert coal to clean hydrocarbon gases and liquids. Prerequisite: MMS 420	3

MMS 435 Basics of Coal Mine Management In this course, students will learn how traditional line and staff managerial styles apply to coal mines. The particular element of worker empowerment exists in both traditional and modern coal mine management schemes and the student will see how this works. Students will explore methods for managing change and how they apply to coal mining. The criteria for success in management begin with production and productivity. Students will learn about data and information reporting systems that support coal mining managers. There will be an emphasis on the qualification and certification elements of coal-mine management and the very specific legal responsibilities borne by coal-mine managers. Students will investigate one or more case studies to see how theory is applied. Prerequisites: MMS 315 and MMS 317	3

MMS 440 Coal Mine Environmental Management Systems Students will review the environmental protection requirements in federal and State regulations with particular attention to the responsibilities of managers. They will review the relationship between mine designers and the operations team of the mine. They will learn about the modern approach to environmental management systems (EMS) and its basis on elements of total quality management (TQM) including worker involvement in realizing goals. Students will become familiar with the essential elements of an EMS including mission and vision statements, policies and goals, aspects and impacts, personnel, involvement of senior management, continuous improvement, and internal and external audits. Students will examine actual case studies of coal-mine EMS’s and they will design one for a prototype coal mine. Prerequisite: MMS 435	3

Term Four
MMS 445 Coal Mine Safety Management Systems Students will review the safety and health requirements of federal and State regulations with particular focus on the responsibilities of managers. They will also review the theories of management that apply to human resources and the encouragement of particular work attributes. The elements of Total Quality Management, including Continuous Quality Improvement that apply to safety will be reviewed. Students will examine safety data specific to a mine unit and use those data to complete the “plan-do-check-act” cycle. Students will examine actual models of safety management from the coal industry. They will look at the impact of education and training as well as inspection and enforcement on safe behavior of workers. They will design prototype new miner orientation classes, work-apprenticeship classes, and job-safety analyses. They will design a safety program for a hypothetical coal mine. Prerequisite: MMS 435	3

MMS 450 Underground Mine Safety – Internship In this course, each student, under the ongoing direction and supervision of the instructor, will receive individualized and directed on-the-job safety training at one or more underground mining locations. Specific safety training will include all aspects of underground coal mining processes: reserve identification, mining plans, extraction, processing, shipping, and reclamation. Prerequisite: MMS 435 and co-requisite MMS 445	3

MMS 460 Surface Mine Safety – Internship In this course, each student, under the ongoing direction and supervision of the instructor, will receive individualized and directed on-the-job safety training at one or more surface mining locations. Specific safety training will include all aspects of surface coal mining processes: reserve identification, mining plans, extraction, processing, shipping, and reclamation. Prerequisite: MMS 435 and co-requisite MMS 445	3

Total	48