GeoEnvironmental Studies, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Program Design & Assessment
Overview
GeoEnvironmental Studies at Shippensburg is the largest program within the Geography and Earth Science Department. All 15 faculty are engaged in the program that typically has ~150 majors enrolled at any one time. The University undergraduate degree requires 120 hours; the Geoenvironmental Studies (B.S.) totals a minimum of 37 credit hours. This is the primary curricula available to undergraduates interested in physical geography/geology/geo-technical. Other tracks include Land Use, Geographic Techniques (i.e. GIS/Cartography), and Earth-Space Education.
Strengths of this program
This program provides a broad cross-section of the Geoscience field. There is a wide degree of flexibility of course selection, and students are assigned an advisor upon declaring the major. Students are exposed to fundamentals of geology, hydrology, meteorology, land use, field techniques, and cartography/GIS.
Types of students served
Program Goals
The goals of this program are as follows:
The curriculum was designed to provide breadth across the discipline in an effort to provide students the skills to be successful in graduate studies or the professional field. A wide range of electives coached within areas of specializations offers students the flexibilty to concentrate on various topics within the discipline.
The learning goals were informed by the following resources:
How program goals are assessed
For assessment,
- All prospective graduating senoirs are given an exit survey in the Capstone course.
- Internship sponsors provide summaries of student work.
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
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Entry into the program
- Physical Geology
- Meteorology
- Soils
- Hydrology
Core courses
- Geoenvironemntal Internship (3-6 credit hours)
Electives
Students are required to take
- 6 credits (2 courses) of GEOGRAPHY electives,
- 9 credits (3 courses) of GEOENVIRONMENTAL COMPLEX SYSTEMS electives,
- 3 credits (1 course) of GEOENVIRONMENTAL electives, and
- 6 credits (2 courses) of TECHNIQUE COURSE electives
GEOGRAPHY ELECTIVES
- Economic Geography
- Land Use
- Geography of Europe
- Geography of Latin America
- Transportation Geography
- Geography of South and SE Asia
- Industrial Geography
- Geography of East Asia
- Historical Geography
- Urban Geography
- Regional Geographic Studies
- Geography-Geology Field Study
GEOENVIRONMENTAL COMPLEX SYSTEMS
- Applied Meteorology and Climatology
- Mineral and Rock Resources
- Environmental Geology
- Intro to Biogeography
- Geomorphology
- Environmental Health
- Groundwater and Hydrogeology
- Environmental Land Use Planning
- Water Resources Management
- Geography-Geology Field Study
- Selected Topics
GEOENVIRONMENTAL ELECTIVES
- Historical Geology
- Geology of National Parks
- Oceanography
- Climatology Geomorphology Introduction to Research
TECHNIQUE COURSE ELECTIVES
- GIS I: Introduction to GIS
- Remote Sensing
- Cartography GIS II: Intermediate GIS
- GIS III: Advanced GIS
- Image Processing
- Field Techniques
- Quantitative Methods
- Geography-Geology Field Study
Other required courses
- THREE COURSES SELECTED FROM:
- Principles of Biology
- Ecology
- Field Zoology
- Plant Taxonomy
- Field Natural History
- TWO COURSES SELECTED FROM:
- Introductory Physics
- Chemical Bonding
- Introductory Chemistry
- ONE MATH COURSE SELECTED FROM:
- Finite Math
- Statistics
- Pre-Calculus
- Calc I or II
- ONE COURSE SELECTED FROM:
- Overview of Computer Science
- Computer Science I
- Computer Science II
Capstone
- Geography Seminar
Other key features of this program:
Additional comments
GIS Certificate Option: GIS I and GIS II required; 2 (two) additional "technique" courses.