PROGRAM CHANGES

WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY

Submission Date: 11 March 2010

College: Social and Behavioral Sciences

Department: Geography

Program Title: Environmental Studies Track E

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

GEOGRAPHY COURSES ALREADY REQUIRED OF ALL MAJORS

Required Geography Courses (12 credit hours)

GEOG 1000 Natural Environments of the Earth (3)

GEOG 1300 Places and Peoples of the World (3)

GEOG 4050 Quantitative Methods in Geography (3)

GEOG 4990 Research Seminar (3)

GEOGRAPHY TRACK E

Environmental Studies Emphasis (24 credit hours)

Required Geography Courses (4 credit hours)

GEOG 3060 World Environmental Issues (3)

GEOG 1001 Natural Environment Field Studies (1)

Environmental Studies Electives (20 credit hours) to be selected from any of the courses listed below, with at least nine credit hours chosen from at least three different programs.* No Minor required.

BTNY 2303 Ethnobotany (3)

BTNY 2413 Natural Resource Management (3)

BTNY 2950 Elementary Field Botany (1-2)

BTNY 3214 Soils (4)**

BTNY 3403 Environmental Appreciation (3)**

BTNY 3454 Plant Ecology (4)**

BTNY 3473 Plant Geography (3)**

ECON 1100 Environmental Issues & Policy (3)

ENGL 3520 Literature of the Natural World (3)

GEOG 1002 Map Reading & Land Navigation (1)

GEOG 1400 Science of Global Warming (3)

GEOG 3050 Weather and Climate (3)**

GEOG 3070 Wetland Environments (3)

GEOG 3080 Arid Lands (3)**

GEOG 3090 Arctic & Alpine Environments (3)**

GEOG 3450 Intro to Cartography (3)

GEOG 3460 Advanced Cartography (3)**

GEOG 3500 Geography of Utah (3)

GEOG 4950 Advanced Regional Field Studies (1-3)

GEOG 4410 Land Use Planning (3)

GEOG 4420 Advanced Planning Techniques (3)**

GEOG 4950 Advanced Regional Field Studies (1-3)

GEO 3010 Oceanography & Earth Systems (3)**

GEO 3150 Geomorphology (4)**

GEO 3210 Quaternary Environmental Change (3)**

GEO 3400 Remote Sensing I (4)**

GEO 4210 Intro to Computer Mapping & GIS (4)**

GEO 4220 Technical Issues in GIS (4)**

HNRS 1500 Persp. in Nat Sciences - The Great Salt Lake (3)

HNRS 1540 Persp. in Humanities - Wilderness in American Lit (3)

HIST 3270 American Environmental History (3)

MICR 1153 Elementary Public Health (3)

MICR 3484 Environmental Microbiology (4)**

MICR 3502 Environmental Health (2)**

SOC 3300 Environment & Society (3)

ZOOL 3450 Ecology (4)**

ZOOL 3470 Zoogeography (3)**

ZOOL 3500 Conservation Biology (3)**

ZOOL 4470 Wildlife Ecology & Management (4)**

* Other environmental courses not listed here are acceptable with approval of advisor. This includes courses transferred in from other colleges or universities and any directed reading or individual research courses in any department where the topic deals primarily with the natural environment.

** Courses with prerequisites.

Check all that apply:

____New course(s) required for major, minor, emphasis, or concentration.

____Modified course(s) required for major, minor, emphasis, or concentration.

____Credit hour change(s) required for major, minor, emphasis, or concentration.

____Credit hour change(s) for a course which is required for the major, minor, emphasis, or concentration.

____Attribute change(s) for any course.

____Program name change.

____Deletion of required course(s).

_X___Other changes (specify) Removal of Environmental Studies Concentration from Track A and making it Track E Environmental Studies Emphasis Track E _________________________________________________________________

If multiple changes are being proposed, please provide a summary. Use strikeout (strikeout) when deleting items in the program and highlight (highlight) when adding items.

 

GEOGRAPHY COURSES ALREADY REQUIRED OF ALL MAJORS

Required Geography Courses (12 credit hours)

GEOG 1000 Natural Environments of the Earth (3)

GEOG 1300 Places and Peoples of the World (3)

GEOG 4050 Quantitative Methods in Geography (3)

GEOG 4990 Research Seminar (3)

TRACK A

(Regular Emphasis with Concentrations in General Geography or Environmental Studies -- 24-25 credit hours)

Required Systematic Courses (12-13 credit hours)

Select 4 of the following, with at least 1 course from each group.

° Group 1

GEOG 3050 Weather & Climate (3)

GEOG 3070 Wetland Environments (3)

GEOG 3080 Arid Lands (3)

GEOG 3090 Arctic and Alpine Environments (3)

GEO SI3010 Oceanography and Earth Systems (3)

GEO 3150 Geomorphology (4)

GEO 3210 Quaternary Environmental Change (3)

° Group 2

GEOG 3060 World Environmental Issues (3)

GEOG 3210 Urban Geography (3)

GEOG 3300 Historical Geography of the United States (3)

GEOG 3360 Economic Geography (3)

° Group 3

GEOG 3450 Cartography (3)

GEOG 3460 Advanced Cartography (3)

GEO 4210 Intro to Computer Mapping & GIS (4)

GEO 4220 Technical Issues in GIS (4)

Electives (12 credit hours)

Concentration in General Geography:

Select from Geography courses (either upper or lower division) twelve additional credit hours.

Concentration in Environmental Studies:

For students wishing to concentrate on Environmental Studies, one or more of the following courses from related programs may be substituted for geography electives. Should other environmental courses be added to the Weber State curriculum, they also may be substituted.
Students should note that courses from the following list are optional and are not required for a bachelor's degree in geography.

BTNY DV2303 Ethnobotany (3)

BTNY 2413 Intro to Natural Resource Management (3)

BTNY 3214 Soils (4)

BTNY 3454 Plant Ecology (4)

BTNY 3473 Plant Geography (3)

BTNY 3523 Marine Biology (3)

ECON SS1100 Environmental Issues & Economic Policy (3)

ENGL HU3520 Literature of the Natural World (3)

GEO PS/SI1130 Introduction to Meteorology (3)

GEO SI3010 Oceanography and Earth Systems (3)

GEO 3080 Water Resources (3)

GEO 3150 Geomorphology (4)

GEO 3210 Quaternary Environmental Change (3)

GEO 3400 Remote Sensing I (4)

GEO 4400 Remote Sensing II (5)

HIST 3270 American Environmental History (3)

MICR 3484 Environmental Microbiology (4)

MICR 3502 Environmental Health (2)

SOC 3300 Environment and Society (3)

ZOOL 3450 Ecology (4)

ZOOL 3470 Zoogeography (3)

Submit the original to the Faculty Senate Office, MC 1033, and an electronic copy to kbrown4 @weber.edu

JUSTIFICATION:

This Environmental Studies Emphasis has been part of the Geography curriculum for nearly fifteen years as one of two concentrations in Track A. Some students and faculty colleagues in other departments have commented that our existing environmental studies component has too many geography courses in it and that the out-of-department environmental component of our existing concentration only constitutes twelve credit hours and that this is not enough to be a truly interdisciplinary program. We wish to address this concern by reducing the number of required geography courses in the emphasis to sixteen hours (down from twenty four) and replacing them with twenty hours of out-of-department environmental classes (many of which are geography courses taught in geography departments at other colleges and universities).

There already exists an environmental geoscience major in the College of Science that has always been oriented toward equipping graduates with specific technical skills they can use to get certain kinds of environmental jobs. Our aim is different from this in that we wish to provide a field of study that serves non-specialists who are interested in the natural environmental (for its own sake and not necessarily as a vocation) but do not wish to follow a highly technical curriculum. We expect that most students who might choose this projected new emphasis will be from this population.

In the last couple of years another problem has appeared in the University’s new CatTracks system, which only identifies geography majors according to the Track they have selected, rather than identifying what concentration they have selected. CatTracks does not distinguish between our Track A Regular Emphasis General Geography Concentration (stricken out above) and our Track A Environmental Studies Concentration (also stricken out above). The result is that we don’t really know how many of our Track A students are Environmental Studies students. Moving the concentration to a stand-alone Track E will make it easier to identify our environmental students. Our proposal also will make the program more visible to prospective majors.

Also, students who declare a General Geography Emphasis within Track A sometimes mistake the list of environmental courses in other departments as being requirements for our regular (general geography) emphasis. We have tried to make it clear in our catalog description that these environmental courses in other departments are not required to complete the regular emphasis. Despite this, some students still misinterpret the curriculum descriptions as requiring these out of department courses. We also expect that some lower division students make this erroneous interpretation and never become majors.

 

 

INFORMATION PAGE

Attach a copy of the present program from the current catalog and a revised version (exactly as you wish it to appear in the catalog).

 

Did this program change receive unanimous approval within the Department? __yes__ If not, what are the major concerns raised by the opponents?

 

Explain any effects this program change will have on program requirements or enrollments in other departments including the Bachelor of Integrated Studies Program. In the case of similar offerings or affected programs, you should include letters from the departments in question stating their support or opposition to the proposed program.

Letters are attached. Not every department or individual contacted responded.

 

Indicate the number of credit hours for course work within the program. (Do not include credit hours for General Education, SI, Diversity, or other courses unless those courses fulfill requirements within the proposed program.) 36

Indicate the number of credit hours for course work within the current program. (Do not include credit hours for General Education, SI, Diversity, or other courses unless those courses fulfill requirements within the current program.) _36___

 

 

PRESENT VERSION in CATALOG:

TRACK A

(Regular Emphasis with Concentrations in General Geography or Environmental Studies -- 24-25 credit hours)

Required Systematic Courses (12-13 credit hours)

Select 4 of the following, with at least 1 course from each group.

° Group 1

GEOG 3050 Weather & Climate (3)

GEOG 3070 Wetland Environments (3)

GEOG 3080 Arid Lands (3)

GEOG 3090 Arctic and Alpine Environments (3)

GEO SI3010 Oceanography and Earth Systems (3)

GEO 3150 Geomorphology (4)

GEO 3210 Quaternary Environmental Change (3)

° Group 2

GEOG 3060 World Environmental Issues (3)

GEOG 3210 Urban Geography (3)

GEOG 3300 Historical Geography of the United States (3)

GEOG 3360 Economic Geography (3)

° Group 3

GEOG 3450 Cartography (3)

GEOG 3460 Advanced Cartography (3)

GEO 4210 Intro to Computer Mapping & GIS (4)

GEO 4220 Technical Issues in GIS (4)

Electives (12 credit hours)

Concentration in General Geography:

Select from Geography courses (either upper or lower division) twelve additional credit hours.

Concentration in Environmental Studies:

For students wishing to concentrate on Environmental Studies, one or more of the following courses from related programs may be substituted for geography electives. Should other environmental courses be added to the Weber State curriculum, they also may be substituted.
Students should note that courses from the following list are optional and are not required for a bachelor's degree in geography.

BTNY DV2303 Ethnobotany (3)

BTNY 2413 Intro to Natural Resource Management (3)

BTNY 3214 Soils (4)

BTNY 3454 Plant Ecology (4)

BTNY 3473 Plant Geography (3)

BTNY 3523 Marine Biology (3)

ECON SS1100 Environmental Issues & Economic Policy (3)

ENGL HU3520 Literature of the Natural World (3)

GEO PS/SI1130 Introduction to Meteorology (3)

GEO SI3010 Oceanography and Earth Systems (3)

GEO 3080 Water Resources (3)

GEO 3150 Geomorphology (4)

GEO 3210 Quaternary Environmental Change (3)

GEO 3400 Remote Sensing I (4)

GEO 4400 Remote Sensing II (5)

HIST 3270 American Environmental History (3)

MICR 3484 Environmental Microbiology (4)

MICR 3502 Environmental Health (2)

SOC 3300 Environment and Society (3)

ZOOL 3450 Ecology (4)

ZOOL 3470 Zoogeography (3)

 

REVISED PROGRAM in CATALOG:

TRACK A

(Regular Emphasis -- 24-25 credit hours)

Required Systematic Courses (12-13 credit hours)

Select 4 of the following, with at least 1 course from each group.

° Group 1

GEOG 3050 Weather & Climate (3)

GEOG 3070 Wetland Environments (3)

GEOG 3080 Arid Lands (3)

GEOG 3090 Arctic and Alpine Environments (3)

GEO SI3010 Oceanography and Earth Systems (3)

GEO 3150 Geomorphology (4)

GEO 3210 Quaternary Environmental Change (3)

° Group 2

GEOG 3060 World Environmental Issues (3)

GEOG 3210 Urban Geography (3)

GEOG 3300 Historical Geography of the United States (3)

GEOG 3360 Economic Geography (3)

° Group 3

GEOG 3450 Cartography (3)

GEOG 3460 Advanced Cartography (3)

GEO 4210 Intro to Computer Mapping & GIS (4)

GEO 4220 Technical Issues in GIS (4)

Electives (12 credit hours)

Select from Geography courses (either upper or lower division) twelve additional credit hours.

GEOGRAPHY TRACK E

Environmental Studies Emphasis (24 credit hours)

Required Geography Courses (4 credit hours)

GEOG 3060 World Environmental Issues (3)

GEOG 1001 Natural Environment Field Studies (1)

Environmental Studies Electives (20 credit hours) to be selected from any of the courses listed below, with at least nine credit hours chosen from at least three different programs.* No Minor required.

BTNY 2303 Ethnobotany (3)

BTNY 2413 Natural Resource Management (3)

BTNY 2950 Elementary Field Botany (1-2)

BTNY 3214 Soils (4)**

BTNY 3403 Environmental Appreciation (3)**

BTNY 3454 Plant Ecology (4)**

BTNY 3473 Plant Geography (3)**

ECON 1100 Environmental Issues & Policy (3)

ENGL 3520 Literature of the Natural World (3)

GEOG 1002 Map Reading & Land Navigation (1)

GEOG 1400 Science of Global Warming (3)

GEOG 3050 Weather and Climate (3)**

GEOG 3070 Wetland Environments (3)

GEOG 3080 Arid Lands (3)**

GEOG 3090 Arctic & Alpine Environments (3)**

GEOG 3450 Intro to Cartography (3)

GEOG 3460 Advanced Cartography (3)**

GEOG 3500 Geography of Utah (3)

GEOG 4950 Advanced Regional Field Studies (1-3)

GEOG 4410 Land Use Planning (3)

GEOG 4420 Advanced Planning Techniques (3)**

GEOG 4950 Advanced Regional Field Studies (1-3)

GEO 3010 Oceanography & Earth Systems (3)**

GEO 3150 Geomorphology (4)**

GEO 3210 Quaternary Environmental Change (3)**

GEO 3400 Remote Sensing I (4)**

GEO 4210 Intro to Computer Mapping & GIS (4)**

GEO 4220 Technical Issues in GIS (4)**

HNRS 1500 Persp. in Nat Sciences - The Great Salt Lake (3)

HNRS 1540 Persp. in Humanities - Wilderness in American Lit (3)

HIST 3270 American Environmental History (3)

MICR 1153 Elementary Public Health (3)

MICR 3484 Environmental Microbiology (4)**

MICR 3502 Environmental Health (2)**

SOC 3300 Environment & Society (3)

ZOOL 3450 Ecology (4)**

ZOOL 3470 Zoogeography (3)**

ZOOL 3500 Conservation Biology (3)**

ZOOL 4470 Wildlife Ecology & Management (4)**

* Other environmental courses not listed here are acceptable with approval of advisor. This includes courses transferred in from other colleges or universities and any directed reading or individual research courses in any department where the topic deals primarily with the natural environment.

** Courses with prerequisites.

 

 

 

LETTERS FROM COLLEAGUES in OTHER DEPARTMENTS:

From: Sam ZEVELOFF

To: Hal ELLIOTT

CC: Dale OSTLIE

Date: 3/3/2010 10:50 PM

Subject: Environmental Emphasis

Hi Hal,

At our Department meeting last Friday, we reviewed the Geography Department's proposal for the Track E Environmental Emphasis. It's fine with us. It was suggested that I mention that each Zoology course listed has prerequisites (or instructor's approval).

Thanks for running this by us, and best wishes for the success of your program.

Sam

Dr. Sam Zeveloff

Chair, Department of Zoology

Presidential Distinguished Professor

Weber State University

Ogden, UT 84408-2505

From: Mikel VAUSE

To: Hal ELLIOTT

Date: 2/16/2010 7:33 AM

Subject: Re: new geography environmental emphasis

Hal--

Thanks for the e-mail, I appreciate being kept in the loop. As for your program changes, I can see nothing that would be a problem with the current ENVS Minor, in fact, your program seems very complimentary and compatible. Just a heads-up, Hal Crimmel is putting together a second Ge/Ed upper division Environmental Literature course that you folk may want to consider adding to you list once it's up and running--I'd suggest you maybe communicate with Hal for a bit more detail.

Yrs,

Mike

Dr. L. Mikel Vause

Professor, English Department, Coordinator: Environmental Studies

From: Rob REYNOLDS

To: ELLIOTT, Hal

Date: 2/16/2010 1:07 PM

Subject: Re: Fwd: new geography environmental emphasis

Hal,

Thanks for the update. I think your emphasis is what I would recommend to our students who are interested in environmental issues.

Rob

 

>>> Sara Dant 2/18/2010 9:20 AM >>>

From: Dant, Sara

To: Hal ELLIOTT

Date: 2/18/2010 12:15 PM

Subject: Re: Fwd: new geography environmental emphasis

Hi Hal,

Thanks for letting me look at this - I think there is going to be a real demand for this kind of thing on campus. I appreciate your including my environmental history course in the listing, too. My only comment is that the way it is set up right now, a student could potentially get this emphasis having only taken 6 hours of credit outside the geography department. Perhaps that's your goal, but I thought it was worth pointing out.

all the best,

Sara

>>> Hal ELLIOTT 2/14/2010 2:58 PM >>>

From: Hal ELLIOTT

To: Dant, Sara

Date: 2/18/2010 12:15 PM

Subject: Re: Fwd: new geography environmental emphasis

Hi Sara,

We’'ve left the requirements as open as possible to give students the greatest amount of flexibility. If a student wants to take nothing but physical geography plus two other environmental classes in other departments, that's fine with us. Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

Hal

 

>>> Hal CRIMMEL 3/10/2010 2:15 PM >>>

From: Hal Crimmel

To: Hal Elliott

Hi Hal,

My feeling is that for an environmental studies emphasis track there could be /should be more courses from other departments added to the list, as it is certainly geography-heavy. But maybe the emphasis is actually "environmental geography" as opposed to environmental studies?

 

Regards, Hal Crimmel

P.S. Below I have included the only comment I received on this:

my only comments are:

(1) i think there is a typo when they list all the electives. It says something like 3 credit hours from 3 different subjects. Should it be 9 credit hours?

(2) more generally, what would be the implications on a future Environmental Studies major offered to all WSU students not just geography majors? Does the program provide a hurdle for the "entry" of the Env Studies major?

(3) this might come across as territorial, but I strongly believe any environmental studies program needs to be fully multidisciplinary. While they might address this by requiring 9 credit hours from 3 different subjects, I don't think it would fully satisfy what I think of in terms of environmental studies. Specifically, I believe that Environmental Policy (i.e., environmental economics) is critical. At the end of the day, I believe an environmental studies program is about about changing behavior, resource use and allocation through policy. As such, students need to understand behavior and market failures that have negative implications on natural resource allocation and efficiency. Addressing behavior (or correcting market failures) requires 3rd party intervention, or policy. As such, I think ECON 1100 should be required. That said, I guarantee just about every field that is part of a multidisciplinary topic such as Env Studies would say the same. (I guess I'm just saying I recognize my bias, but I'm making a pitch for it.)

Hal Crimmel
Associate Professor
English Department

Geography’s response to Dr. Crimmel’s comments in the above e-mail.

1. Our proposal is for a Geography Environmental Studies Emphasis and we wish to retain the name Environmental Studies, which is the name this program has had for nearly 15 years.

(1) The typo has been fixed (thank you).

(2) There are several environmental studies discussions going on, one in the social sciences/humanities, and another in the natural sciences. Our proposal is for a change in the geography program, not one for a new interdisciplinary campus-wide program under the name environmental studies, put together by an interdisciplinary committee. We would be interested in participating in a new degree program under that title, but that is not what we are proposing here.

(3) We do not wish to make too many requirements in this program. Instead we wish to make it as flexible as possible so that students can follow their own interests. We also do not agree that the primary purpose of this program should be to change our students’ political or economic behavior to match our own. Instead we wish to provided a route whereby a student can follow his/her own muse to wherever that may lead. Other than the proposed six required geography courses (down from twelve in the present Track A program), we are not interested in requiring too many specific courses in nearby fields, whether it is economics or any others. We do encourage these, but we do not wish to add more requirements than there already are.