Program Overview

Water Resources Science & Management Graduate Certificate

Overview

The Water Resources Science & Management Graduate Certificate is a 9-credit graduate program open to students from all colleges and disciplines who are interested in freshwater resources. This program provides an interdisciplinary understanding of the physical, social, and cultural drivers that shape how water is managed within the larger environmental and human landscape.

Program Objectives

Students completing this certificate will emerge with the breadth of knowledge required to think critically about water issues. The program objectives include:

• Demonstrate a conceptual understanding of the interdisciplinary and often co-evolving science and policy advances for addressing freshwater issues.
• Utilize fundamentals of the physical sciences to broadly understand the hydrologic cycle and how human management of water influences this cycle.
• Display knowledge of the social, legal, and institutional environment surrounding water resources and management.
• Broaden their professional and social networks to enhance their disciplinary understanding of water and water management.

Certificate Requirements

Certificate requirements include:

• Completing 9 credits of coursework within a core curriculum of freshwater-related classes spanning four major themes:
  • Subsurface and Surface Hydrology
  • Water Chemistry / Ecology / Biology
  • Water Methods & Analysis
  • Water Policy & Management
• Completing a set of Experiential Requirements

Course Requirements

All graduate students participating in this certificate program will be required to complete a minimum of 9 credit hours by taking at least one course from the three water cluster areas not identified by the student as their primary focal area. Other course requirements include:

• Ensuring an interdisciplinary experience, the classes chosen by the student must represent at least two different academic units.
• Some courses may be listed under more than one cluster area. Classes cannot count towards two cluster areas simultaneously. Students must take a different course in each cluster area.
• A minimum grade of 2.0 will need to be achieved for the course to count as progress towards completing the certificate, and a minimum grade of 3.0 must be maintained for the program.
• Students can seek approval to take classes that are not included in the course list but have a freshwater focus and fall within one of the four cluster areas.

Experiential Requirements

In addition to the course component, students must complete water-related activities. Required activities include:

1. Attend a Water Meeting
2. Attend a Water Seminar: Attend a lecture either online or in-person and summarize what you learned.
   • Seminar requirements:
     • It must be a research talk and be freshwater focused;
     • The lecture must be outside of your regular classes – a class lecture does not count;
     • It can be from within or outside of the university.
3. Other Activities (select one):
   1. Capstone class: A 3-credit interdisciplinary course designed to explicitly provide students with an overview and broad understanding of the complex freshwater issues that exist and the policy and science required to manage them.
   2. Water-related internship: Students looking for a more practical, hands-on experience have the option of completing an internship that relates to freshwater science or policy.

Admission Requirements

• Graduate students from any department or college are eligible to participate in this certificate program and must apply with the Registrar.
• Other applicants must meet the existing admission standards for non-degree seeking students.
• Students can apply during any phase of their training, as long as they have sufficient time to meet all of the requirements.
• Interested individuals will need to submit a letter of support from their major advisor along with a copy of their most recent transcript and other relevant academic information to be admitted into the program.
• Upon admission, students will be required to identify which water cluster area their proposed research most closely aligns with.

Awarding the Certificate

• At least one semester before the semester of their expected graduation, a student must submit an exit application to the School of the Environment verifying that all requirements have been, or will be met before they graduate.
• At the beginning of the semester a student plans to graduate, they must apply for the certificate and notify the Registrar’s Office to confer the certificate.