Program Competencies

Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Manage information — Locate, interpret, organize, use, evaluate, and communicate quality needed for making decisions on environmental policy. Discern the quality of information on environmental issues.

• Analyze issues — Define and debate the technical, social, cultural, institutional, emotional and ideological aspects of local, national and global environmental issues. Name, comprehend and accurately describe — including origins, impacts and means of resolving — environmental issues of the present, and those that may occur in the near and long term future.

• Communicate — Demonstrate the communication skills needed to guide policy in ways which will foster sustainable practices. This includes interpersonal, written and oral communication as well as skills in conflict management.

• Investigate sustainability — Explore and synthesize the developing concept of sustainability as applied to environmental issues. Define, discuss, and communicate what "sustainable living" implies for developed, developing, and underdeveloped areas of the planet.

• Interpret relevant data — Recognize measures and associated technology appropriate for information gathering in this field. Select and evaluate tests and measures. Use mathematical and statistical analyses effectively.

• Describe and compare governmental and systematic impacts

  • For the U.S., cite, describe, and differentiate the processes of selecting those who represent us at the local, state and federal levels of government and the major institutions and agencies — governmental or otherwise — involved in environmental policy decision making. Evaluate the role of the various systems involved.

  • Globally, describe the international political and economic systems, cultural, economic and environmental aspects of "globalism" and "privatization."  Distinguish among various approaches and assess strengths and weaknesses.

  • Compare and contrast national and global systems.

• Develop policy in an interdisciplinary context — Define, describe, and demonstrate key sociological, psychological, economic, and cultural disciplinary considerations that separate us in the way we view environmental issues. Demonstrate this understanding of disciplinary contexts in their integration in policy development. Develop and defend environmental policy choices for business, industry, government and non-governmental institutions in the U.S. or elsewhere.

• Apply ethical codes of conduct in analysis, interpretation, and development of environmental policy.