THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE

FACULTY SENATE

Senate Document Number 2809S

Date of Senate Approval 01/22/09

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

APC Document 16: Delete Concentration in Pollution Control, merging it

with the Concentration in Earth Science

Effective Date: Fall 2009

1. Delete: On page 140, the entry for Pollution Control:

Concentration in Pollution Control

26–30 hours distributed as follows: CHEM 222, 231; three courses from ENVR 331,

338, 354, 362; two courses from CHEM 232, 237, 332, or ENVR 321; PHYS 131 and 231, or PHYS 221 and 222. Students must take MATH 191 and 192 for their math requirement.

2. Delete: On page 139 under Concentration in Earth Science:

25–28 hours distributed as follows: ENVR 105, 320, 385; two courses from ENVR 338, 381, 382; one course from ENVR 354, 383, 384; and either PHYS 131 or CHEM 231.

Add: On page 139, in place of deleted entry:

31–33 hours distributed as follows: ENVR 105, 320, 338, 385; 15-17 hours of Earth Science electives chosen from ENVR 106, 282, 310, 331, 362, 383, 384, and PHYS 131 or 221.

Impact:

Minimal. The revised concentration will be offered with no additional resources required. The total number of credits required for the Earth Science Concentration will increase, but the credits will not exceed other environmental studies concentrations.

Rationale:

In recent years, science study and problem-solving has become more interdisciplinary in general, and specifically, hydrology and geology increasingly have become more integrated, particularly for solving environmental problems. For that reason, many traditional geology departments have changed their titles from geology to geosciences or earth sciences.

The Pollution Control concentration previously had been taught from a water analysis and treatment perspective, supervised by the faculty member, an environmental chemist, who created the concentration. Department faculty recognized the opportunity to expand the impact of the concentration by broadening the emphases to include the compositional nature and movement of groundwater in the environment. Our new department faculty member (Jeff Wilcox), a hydrogeologist, has the expertise and experience for the broadened emphasis.

With the merger, the Pollution Control concentration will be dropped and the required core Earth Science courses will include Physical Geology (ENVR 105), Mineralogy & Petrology (320), Hydrology (ENVR 338), and Soils (ENVR 385). Then students will choose 15-17 hours from a mix of electives that will include geology, hydrology, geochemical, air pollution, physics, and planning courses, among others, thus allowing students more choices in degree emphasis.

The name of the combined concentration will remain Earth Science, which ordinarily includes geosciences courses and hydrology in most academic and professional senses and venues. This name also is necessary for parallel usage as Earth Science teacher certification.