Establish interdisciplinary minor in Environmental Sciences

Date: May 7, 2012
To: College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
From: Office of Academic Affairs
Approved On: February 3, 2012
Implementation Date: 2012

Note: Deletions are strikethroughs. Insertions are underlined.

Summary

The Department of Geography and Earth Sciences and Department of Biology propose to create an interdisciplinary Minor in Environmental Sciences that is most appropriate for Earth Sciences majors (earth sciences, geology, and meteorology) and Biology majors, but can be carried out by any undergraduate at UNCC if the required prerequisite classes are taken. Students must have and maintain a GPA of at least 2.75 to participate in the program. Students in the program will complete one required class (Environmental Dilemma, ESCI 2101, 3 credits) and select from a group of optional courses (15 credits) offered by the two participating departments. The proposed new program would rely on existing courses offered by the two departments.

Catalog Copy

MINOR IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

The Minor in Environmental Sciences is an interdisciplinary program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences that is designed for students pursuing any UNCC degree who are interested in careers related to studying or managing the environment. To obtain a Minor in Environmental Sciences, students will complete 18 credit hours (3 required credits and 15 elective credits) offered in the Departments of Geography and Earth Sciences and Biology. Participating students have some flexibility in choosing elective courses that reflect their specific area of interest within the environmental field. If students are Geography and Earth Sciences or Biology majors, they must take at least 9 of the 15 elective credits outside of their major. Prerequisites are required for most of the elective classes (notably GEOL 1200 and lab, ESCI 1101 and lab, BIOL 2120, and BIOL 2130 and lab). Classes that are required for a student’s major cannot be counted toward the minor as well, but electives taken for a major can also be counted for the minor. Students must have and maintain a GPA of at least 2.75 to participate in the program.

REQUIRED COURSE

ESCI 2101: Environmental Dilemma (3)

GEOGRAPHY AND EARTH SCIENCES ELECTIVES

ESCI 3105: Oceanography (3)

ESCI 3170: Environmental Quality Management (3)

ECSI 3180: Environmental Impact Analysis (3)

ESCI 4140: Hydrological Processes (4)

ESCI 4155: Fluvial Processes (4)

ESCI 4170: Fundamentals of Remote Sensing (4)

ESCI 4210: Soil Science (4)

ESCI 4222: Watershed Science (3)

ESCI 4233: Geoenvironmental Site Characterization (4)

GEOL 3120: Geochemistry (3)

GEOL 3190 Environmental Geology (4)

GEOL 4145: Fundamentals of Hydrogeology (4)

GEOL 4185: Mineralogy, Economics and the Environment (3)

METR 4240: Boundary Layer Meteorology (3)

METR 4150: Applied Climatology (3)

GEOG 2103: Intro to GIScience & Technologies (4)

GEOG 3215: Environmental Planning (3)

GEOG 3250: World Food Problems (3)

GEOG 4040: Transportation Planning (3)

GEOG 4120 (Fundamentals of GIS)

GEOG 4131: Environmental Modeling (4)

BIOLOGY ELECTIVES

BIOL 3144: Ecology (4)

BIOL 3202: Horticulture (3)

BIOL 3222: General Botany (4)

BIOL 3231: Invertebrate Zoology (4)

BIOL 3233: Vertebrate Zoology (4)

BIOL 3236: General Zoology (3)

BIOL 3235: Biology of Insects (3)

BIOL 3229: Field Botany (3)

BIOL 4162: Environmental Biotechnology I (3)

BIOL 4253: Marine Microbiology (4)

BIOL 4111: Evolution (3)

BIOL 4235: Mammalogy (3)

BIOL 4242: The Biology of Birds (3)

BIOL 4243: Animal Behavior (3)

New Course Descriptions

No new courses are required for the proposed degree.