Course Requirements

Requirements for The Graduate Certificate in Environmental Management include:

• 3 core courses (9 or more total credits). At least one core course must be completed before enrolling in the Keystone project course series;
• completion of a 2 quarter long team-based Keystone project conducted through the course sequence ENVIR 511 and 512 (8 credits)

Note:  Award of the Certificate is contingent on completion of the student's graduate degree.

Core Courses

Students must complete three core courses, one in each of three core elements of the Environmental Management curriculum: Environmental Policy, Business and the Environment, and Role of Scientific Application. A menu of environmental courses is selected to provide students a fundamental background in the environmental decision-making process from these three perspectives. The courses satisfying the requirements in the three core areas are listed below.

Students must complete three core courses, one in each of three core elements of the Environmental Management curriculum: Environmental Policy, Business and the Environment, and Science Application.  A menu of courses is selected to provide students a fundamental background in the environmental decision-making process from these three perspectives.  The courses satisfying the requirements in the three core areas follow.

• Environmental Policy Processes (ENVIR 501 / PB AF 590) *
  Professor: Craig Thomas
  Environmental policies are crafted and implemented through a wide variety of governance processes. This great diversity of processes is a relatively new phenomenon. Prior to the 1990s, two types of processes predominated in the U.S., both of which were top-down: centralized planning within public agencies and command-and-control regulation. In the 1990s, new types of governance processes emerged, sometimes replacing top-down processes, other times layering over them. Some emerged from the bottom up, such as collaborative partnerships and corporate social responsibility. Others emerged in conjunction with top-down processes (such as ecosystem management and permit trading). In this course, we will survey a wide variety of environmental policy processes. The goal is for students to develop the critical capacity to identify appropriate processes for solving environmental problems.
  
  
• Resource Policy and Administration (CFR 571 / PB AF 592)
  Professor: Clare Ryan
  The course presents several conceptual frameworks for analysis of the policy process, and uses numerous case studies of federal, state, and local action to practice using the frameworks.  The cases deal substantively with a variety of natural resource issues.  The overriding concern is to build an ability to disaggregate complex political and management situations, assess the feasibility of resource policy choices, and build strategies to get such choices adopted and implemented. 
  
  
• Public Policy Processes (POLS 575)
  Professor: Peter May
  This course is broadly concerned with political science research about policy processes. We will conduct this course as a research seminar in American politics focusing on key perspectives about the policy process. Students with theoretical interests will find the course useful in providing frameworks for studying policy processes and American politics. Students with applied interests in particular policy areas will find the course useful in thinking about the forces that shape public policies.
  
  

• Business Strategy and the Natural Environment (ENVIR 502 / MGMT 579) *
  Professor: Timothy Hargrave
  Applies economic and business principles (marketing, accounting, operations) to understand interactions between business and the natural environment and how environmental issues influence business strategy. Theory and case studies explore strategies that both respond to and seek competitive advantage from firms' interactions with the environment.
  
  
• Cases in Sustainability (IBUS 545)
  Professor: Elizabeth Stearns
  This course examines the three chief components of corporate sustainability - financial, social, and environmental/natural- in a case based format.  The orientation of our case work is Business (not Policy or Politics, although given the global perspective these clearly are incorporated).  We tackle rigorous cases with a systems approach to the triple bottom line.   Each of the three sustainability components includes coverage by outside expert speakers & practitioners.  We explore both strategic and executional aspects of major Fortune 500 organizations and the work they are doing in this important 21st century context.  The objective of this course is not only to inform, but to help incorporate into the executive’s decision making process the issues, opportunities and approaches needed to address the issues of Sustainability within any firm.
  
  

• Role of Scientific Information in Environmental Decisions (PB AF 597) *
  Professor: Alison Cullen
  This course examines how science contributes to decisions that involve the natural environment: how science and scientists help frame debates and decisions; how scientific findings are incorporated into decision-making processes; how scientists and nonscientists deal with uncertainty about scientific questions. Illustrates the need for accurate representation and critical evaluation of scientific information.
  
  
• Sustainability and Design for the Environment (ME 415 / ENVIR 415 / CEE 495)
  Professor: Joyce Cooper
  Analysis and design of technology systems within the context of the environment, economy, and society. Applies the concepts of resource conservation, pollution prevention, life cycle assessment, and extended product responsibility. Examines the practice, opportunities, and role of engineering, management, and public policy.
  
  
• Risk Assessment for Environmental Health Hazards (PB AF 589 / ENVH 577)
  Professor: Elaine Faustman
  Environmental Risk Assessment introduces students to the fundamentals of environmental risk assessment. Students learn to identify, characterize and predict environmental health risk. Prediction methods are taught and students will have an opportunity to use these approaches. Methods for evaluating uncertainty in such predictions are presented. Approaches for preventing and controlling such potential risks are also included in the course content and this will involve discussion of legislative and regulatory options as well as risk communication techniques. Students will prepare a risk assessment within a group project.
  
  

• Keystone Project I (ENVIR 511) (4 credits)
  Environmental Management Certificate Capstone Course.  First course in a two quarter sequence.  Interdisciplinary project teams work with a faculty mentor and community partner to address regional environmental issues. 
  
  
• Keystone Project II (ENVIR 512) (4 credits)
  Environmental Management Certificate Capstone Course.  Second course in a two quarter sequence.  Interdisciplinary project teams work with a faculty mentor and community partner to address regional environmental issues. 
  
  

*These courses are highly recommended for fulfilling the core requirement of each area.

To keep curriculum timely, and depending on availability of faculty, specific courses that fulfill each of the core requirements may change from year to year. Although students may complete the three core courses over one or more academic years, the specific courses to fulfill the requirement may change in subsequent years.

Students must complete a two-quarter long interdisciplinary team-based Keystone Project, which is conducted through the Keystone Project course sequence ENVIR 511, 512 offered Fall and Winter Quarters.

2011-2012 Curriculum

The Environmental Management curriculum for the 2011-2012 academic year consists of the following courses:

Quarter/Course	Credits	Title	Time	Professor	Requirement
Autumn 2011
PB AF 597	4	Role of Scientific Information in Environmental Decisions	T Th 12:30-1:50	Allison Cullen	Science
PB AF 589/CEE 560/ENV H 577	3-4	Risk Assessment for Env. Health Hazards	T Th 8:00-10:20	Elaine Faustman	Science
ENVIR 511	4	Graduate Seminar in Environmental Management	Th 3:30-5:30	N/A	Keystone Project
Winter 2012
ME 515	3	Life Cycle Assessment		Joyce Cooper	Science
IBUS 545	4	Cases in Sustainability		Elizabeth Stearns	Business
ENVIR 512	4	Graduate Seminar in Environmental Management		N/A	Keystone Project
Spring 2012
ENVIR 502 / MGMT 579		Business Strategy and the Natural Environment		Timothy Hargrave	Business

Grading/Assessment/Minimum Standards

The program complies with Graduate School standards for performance and completion. Student performance will be assessed in accord with standards in primary academic units. To successfully complete the certificate, the student must earn a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in all courses taken to fulfill the requirements, and no grade in any of these courses can be lower than 2.7.

Graduate Certificate Information Sources

Additional information and Graduate School requirements for Graduate Certificate programs are available online at: Guidelines for Graduate Certificate Programs.