Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy & Planning

  • Offers a unique university-wide, interdisciplinary degree.
  • Managing human interaction with the natural environment, while protecting important natural systems, continues to be one of the critical challenges facing society.
  • While rooted in scientific and technological fields, environmental problems and their solutions increasingly deal with public values, economics, law, policy, and planning.
  • The EPP degree provides students the opportunity to study environmental problems and their solutions from an interdisciplinary perspective involving humanities, natural and social sciences, planning, and public policy.
  • In addition to having significant breadth in the liberal arts tradition, the curriculum provides pre-professional skills in oral and written communications, computer applications, planning and policy analysis and problem solving to prepare students for meaningful employment.
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  • Curriculum
  • Minor
  • Minor Checklist

Curriculum

The curriculum draws from courses in 21 departments in six colleges on campus, and is held together by 10 Urban Affairs and Planning classes including two capstone courses. To enhance student choice the required hours include 14 course "bundles" in which students select from a group of courses.

The 120-hour degree is comprised of:

  • 97 hours of required courses including all university core requirements (excluding language requirement)
  • 23 hours of free electives

The course requirements are as follows:

I. Communication Skills (12 hrs)
  • ENGL 1105-6 Freshman English (or other options for university core area 1) (6 hrs)
  • UAP 4184 Community Involvement and Public Participation (3 hrs)
  • Speaking/Writing: choose one (3 hrs)
    COMM 2004 Public Speaking or ENGL 3764 Technical Writing
II. Analytic Skills (12 hrs)
  • Mathematics: choose one sequence (6 hrs)
    MATH 1015-6 Elementary Calculus with Trigonometry
    MATH 1205-6 Calculus I & II
    MATH 1525-6 Elementary Calculus with Matrices
  • STAT 3604 Statistics for the Social Sciences (3 hrs)
  • Computer Applications: choose one (3 hrs)
    UAP 3024 Computer Applications in Environmental and Urban Analysis
    GEOG 4084 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
    SPIA 2004 Computer Applications in Social Science Research
III. Humanities (6 hrs)
  • Choose two Area II, including at least one of the following:
    LAR 4034 Evolution of the American Landscape
    FOR 2554 Forests, Parks, Wildlife, and American Values
    UAP 4264 Environmental Ethics and Policy
IV. Creative and Aesthetic Experience (1 hr)
  • LAR 1144 Introduction to Landscape Architecture or other approved Area VI
V. Natural and Physical Sciences (21-22 hrs)
  • Biology: choose one lecture/lab sequence (8 hrs)
    BIOL 1005-6 General Biology and BIOL 1015-6 General Biology Lab
    BIOL 1105-6 Principles of Biology and BIOL 1115-6 Biology Lab
  • Chemistry: choose one lecture/lab sequence (8 hrs)
    CHEM 1015 Introduction to Chemistry and CHEM 1025 Chemistry Lab
    CHEM 1035 General Chemistry and CHEM 1045 Chemistry Lab (req. for some tech. electives)
  • Environmental Science: choose one (3 hrs)
    ENSC 3604 Fundamentals of Environmental Science
    CSES 3604 Fundamentals of Environmental Science
  • Engineering: choose one (3 hrs)
    ENGR 3054 Engineering Our Environment
    ENGR 3124 Introduction to Green Engineering
    UAP 4394 Community Renewable Energy Systems
  • Technical Elective: Choose One (3-4 hrs)
    BIOL 2804 Principles of Ecology
    CSES 3114 Soils
    GEOG 1104 Introduction to Physical Geography
    GEOL 1004 Physical Geology
    FIW 2114 Principles of Fisheries and Wildlife Management
    BSE 2384 Soil and Water Resources Management
    FOR 2314-24 Forest Biology and Dendrology, plus Lab
VI. Policy and Planning (45 hrs)
  • Economics: choose one sequence (6 hrs)
    ECON 2005-6 Principles of Economics
    AAEc 1005-6 Economics of Food and Fiber
    AAEc 3314 Environmental Law (3 hrs)
    AAEc 4304 Environmental and Sustainable Development Economics
    or ECON 4014 Environmental Economics (3 hrs)
    PSCI 1014 Introduction to U.S. Government and Politics (3 hrs)
    UAP 3344 Global Environmental Issues: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (3 hrs)
    UAP 3354 Introduction to Environmental Policy and Planning (3 hrs)
    UAP 3714 The U.S. Policy Process (3 hrs)
    UAP 3744 Public Policy Analysis (3 hrs)
    UAP 4354 Interdisciplinary Environmental Problem Solving Studio (4 hrs)
    UAP 4364 Seminar in Environmental Policy and Planning (2 hrs)
    UAP 4374 Land Use and Environment: Planning and Policy (3 hrs)
    UAP 4384 Pollution Control Planning and Policy (3 hrs)
  • Choose two of the following (6 hrs)
    UAP 4214 Women, Environment and Development
    UAP 4344 Law of Critical Environmental Areas
    AAEc 4314 Environmental Economic Analysis and Management
    AAEc 4344 Sustainable Development Economics
    HIST 3144 American Environmental History
    LAR 4444 Environmental Impact Assessment
VII. Free Electives (23 hrs)
  • Students wishing to enhance their coursework may select electives in various sub areas, including:
    • Internship
    • Land Analysis, Development, Conservation, and Planning
    • Natural Resources: Public Lands, Water Energy
    • Environmental Health
    • International Dimensions of Environmental Problems
    • Humanities and the Environment
    • Pollution Control Management
    • Policy, Planning and Public Administration
    • Environmental Communications
    • Legal Studies
    • Business and Industry

Minor in Environmental Policy and Planning

Courses are to be selected from the following groups (20-22 hrs):

Environmental Values, History and/or Ethics: choose one (3 hours)

HIST 3114 American Environmental History
LAR 4034 Evolution of the American Landscape
FOR 2554 Wilderness, Parks, and American Life
UAP 4264 Environmental Ethics and Policy
Core Environmental Science, Policy and Planning: (6 hours)

UAP 3354 Introduction to Environmental Policy and Planning
ENSC 3604 Fundamentals of Environmental Science
or CSES 3604 Fundamentals of Environmental Science
General Environmental Policy and Planning: choose three (9 hours)

UAP 3344 Global Environmental Issues
UAP 4184 Community Involvement and Public Participation
UAP 4344 Law of Critical Environmental Areas
UAP 4374 Land Use and Environment: Planning and Policy
UAP 4384 Pollution Control: Planning and Policy
Environmental Policy and Planning Applications: choose one (2 or 4 hours)

UAP 4354 Interdisciplinary Environmental Problem Solving Studio
UAP 4364 Seminar in Environmental Policy and Planning