Initial Publication Date: June 10, 2015

Geology, University of Mary Washington

Information for this profile was provided by Jodie Hayob in 2009. Students in this program are pursuing a BS degree. University of Mary Washington is a public four-year institution, primarily undergraduate .

Program Design & Assessment

Overview

Our department offers two majors: Geology and Environmental Science. This is currently our only geology/earth science curriculum. We are considering adding a major in Environmental Geology. Our current geology program serves students who seek immediate employment (usually in the environmental field) or pursue advanced degrees in earth science and environmental fields.

Strengths of this program

Our students are fairly successful at securing internships and jobs, in part because of our close proximity to the national USGS, the state capital (Richmond, VA), and our national capital (Washington, DC). Our geology program requirements are currently fairly typical or standard compared to other institutions, except for the lack of cognate science courses or a field course. We would like to require all geology majors to take our computer applications course, but we do not have enough staff at present, as well as a field course - again, staffing is an issue along with resources.

Types of students served

Program Goals

The goals of this program are as follows:

Our current geology program was designed to fit the size of our department (i.e., a modest number of full-time geology faculty) and to be fairly standard with regard to programs nationwide (i.e., our core sequence is a fairly standard one).

The learning goals were informed by the following resources:

How program goals are assessed

We have a designated Outcomes Assessment Coordinator for the geology major. This person submits an annual report to the University, and periodically conducts surveys of graduated students to assess their opinions of the effectiveness of our program in preparing them for the workplace or graduate studies. We informally assess the graduate programs to which our students are admitted, as well as the jobs our students secure, in an attempt to monitor the quality of our program.

Design features that allow goals to be met


Alumni Careers

Graduation rate

Careers pursued by our alumni

Courses and Sequencing

Diagram of course sequencing and requirements

Entry into the program

  • Introductory Geology

Core courses

  • Evolution of the Earth (Prerequisite: Introductory Geology or Intro. to Environmental Science)
  • Mineralogy (Prerequisite: Introductory Geology or Intro. to Environmental Science)
  • Petrology (Prerequisite: Mineralogy)
  • Sedimentation & Stratigraphy (Prerequisite: Introductory Geology)
  • Structural Geology (Prerequisite: Mineralogy)

Electives

Students are required to take 12 credits of electives at the 200-level or above, selected from:

  • Paleontology (Prerequisite: Introductory Geology or Biological Concepts I)
  • Computer Applications in Env. Science & Geology
  • Oceanography (Prerequisite: Introductory Geology)
  • Environmental Geology (Prerequisite: Introductory Geology)
  • Environmental Chemistry with Laboratory (Prerequisite: General Chemistry II)
  • Environmental Soil Science (Prerequisite: Evolution of the Earth or Intro. to Environmental Science or Physical Geography II)
  • Fluvial Geomorphology (Prerequisite: Evolution of the Earth or Physical Geography II)
  • Hydrogeology (Prerequisite: Evolution of the Earth)
  • Environmental Geochemistry (Prerequisite: Evolution of the Earth and General Chemistry II)
  • Internship
  • Individual Study

Other key features of this program:

Eligible students may pursue Honors in Geology (minimum 3.00 overall GPA, minimum 3.25 major GPA, senior status, B+ or better for 4-credits of graded research in Fall semester, 8-credits total for a year-long research project with thesis and defense at end of spring).

Supporting Materials