Climate Change and Society - master's degree program

The TGHC One Health Collaborative is pleased to bring to your attention that a new professional master’s degree program on Climate Change and Society is in the final stages of approval by  the UNC system and program organizers expect to enroll the first master’s degree cohort in the FALL 2011 semester. 

The degree program is intended for students interested in careers in planning or policy and professionals working in government agencies or private sector firms concerned with any aspect of planning or setting policies affected by global climate change. The one academic year (31 credit hours) professional science master’s degree consists of 9 courses. It is designed for both part time & full time students. The full time curriculum is offered in the Fall & Spring semesters starting in Fall/2011, with a research project or an internship capstone with industry, government or a non-profit organization at the end of the degree during the summer semester. The part time curriculum is spread over 2 years. The program consists of the following courses: Fundamentals of Climate Change, Climate Risk Analysis for Adaptation, Experimental Statistics for Biological Sciences, Introduction to Geographic Information System Science, Environmental and Resource Policy, Environmental Communication, Communication Campaigns, Introduction to Research Ethics,  Agricultural Health and Trade or Hydrology or Engineering Hydrology, for electives. In addition there is a 6 hour credit course involving a research projector or an internship capstone.

The proposed degree will:

• Prepare students for successful professional and person lives in the 21st century and adaptation to the ever-changing world
•  Increase access to higher education for traditional students, non-traditional students, and lifelong learners
• Enhance capacity and commitment to respond to and lead economic transformations and community development
• Leverage existing research expertise to address critical environmental issues
• Increase community awareness of environmental and sustainability issues
• Create a mechanism for applying research and scholarship to addressing significant regional and statewide issues, and
• Encourage and facilitate interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborations among its institutions

 The Planning Committee is composed of (in alphabetical order): Drs. Boyles, Comstock, Correa, Devine, Fountain, Kiwanuka-Tondo, Overton, Pantulla, and Semazzi (Director),  (representing the Colleges of Engineer, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Veterinary Mediicine).