I Summary of Proposed Changes
Department/program / Undergraduate Minor in Mountain Studies
Summary / Restructuring of the requirements for the minor and the addition of several mountain studies courses to the course listing.
II Endorsements and Approvals Please obtain the Program Chair/Director’s approval and Dean’s approval.
Please type / print name
/Signature
/Date
Requestor:Phone: / Jeffrey A. Gritzner
X5626
Program Chair/Director: / Sarah J. Halvorson
Department Dean / Christopher Comer
Other affected Programs:
(Use additional sheet if needed) / College of Forestry and Conservation
Geosciences
Division of Biological Sciences
III Type of Program Modification
(e.g. adding a writing course required of all majors.) Please X check the appropriate box.
Major / Minor / X / Option / Teaching major/minor
Other / Please describe / This is a request to restructure the course requirements and to include several other relevant courses offered at UM
IV Catalog Language
If you are proposing a change to an existing program or major, please cut and paste the requirements as they appear in the current catalog below. www.umt.edu/catalog ß / Please provide the proposed copy as you wish it to appear in the catalog. ß
Minor in Mountain Studies
Mountain studies is an interdisciplinary field of study focusing on the physical and human dimensions of mountain environments. Coursework in the minor emphasizes physical geography and mountain-society interactions, including a critical analysis of the processes of change and influence shaping local and regional mountain environments today. The minor in mountain studies takes advantage of existing faculty expertise and an array of courses to provide students with a science-based curriculum and global perspective. Students pursuing the minor in mountain studies will develop knowledge and skills appropriate for graduate study and for working with government and non-government agencies and groups.Requirements
In addition to completing the requirements for a major in any discipline, students electing the minor in mountain studies must complete a minimum of 18 additional credits as follows:1. Nine credits must be core courses:
· GEOG 138 Montana’s Mountains (3 cr.)
· GEOG 222 Global Mountain Environments (3 cr.)
· GEOG 338 Mountains & Society (3 cr.)
2. Six credits must be selected from the following list of upper-division advanced mountain studies courses:
· BIOL 350 Rocky Mountain Flora (3 cr.)
· BIOL 451 Landscape Ecology (3 cr.)
· BIOL 459 Alpine Ecology (3 cr.)
· FOR 495 Montana Wilderness Field Studies in Winter (3 cr.)
· GEOG 310 Crown of the Continent (3 cr.)
· GEOG 401 Regionalism and the Rocky Mountain West (3 cr.)
· GEOG 410 High Asia (3 cr.)
· GEOG 438 Mountains Field Study (3 cr.)
· GEOS 425 Geology of the Pacific Northwest (3 cr.)
· GEOS 488 Snow, Ice and Climate (3 cr.)
3. Three credits must be chosen from the following list of electives, or alternatively, from the advanced mountain studies course listing above.
· BIOL 201 Montana Wildlife (3 cr.)
· FOR 330 Forest Ecology (3 cr.)
· FOR 385 Watershed Hydrology (3 cr.)
· GEOG 295 Mountain Cultures & Economies (3 cr.)
· GEOG 324 Geomorphology (3 cr.)
· GEOG 426N Biogeography (3 cr.)
· GEOS 103 Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Other Natural Hazards (3 cr.)
· GEOS 230 Geosciences Field Methods (3 cr.)
· GEOS 395 Special Topics (3 cr.)
· GEOS 430 Global Tectonics (3 cr.)
· RECM 482 Wilderness and Protected Area Management (3 cr.)
/ Minor in Mountain Studies
Mountain studies is an interdisciplinary field of study focusing on the physical and human dimensions of mountain environments. Coursework in the minor emphasizes physical geography and mountain-society interactions, including a critical analysis of the processes of change and influence shaping local and regional mountain environments today. The minor in mountain studies takes advantage of existing faculty expertise and an array of courses to provide students with a science-based curriculum and global perspective. Students pursuing the minor in mountain studies will develop knowledge and skills appropriate for graduate study and for working with government and non-government agencies and groups. Field-based and international experiences are strongly encouraged.
Requirements
In addition to completing the requirements for a major in any discipline, students electing the minor in mountain studies must complete a minimum of 18 additional credits as follows:
1. Six credits must be core courses:
· GPHY 214 (GEOG 222) Global Mountain Environments (3 cr.)
· GPHY 338 (GEOG 338) Mountains & Society (3 cr.)
2. Six credits must be selected from the following list of region-specific mountain studies courses:
· BIOL 201N Montana Wildlife (3 cr.)
· BIOL 350 Rocky Mountain Flora (3 cr.)
· BIOL 342 Field Ecology (3 cr.) (summer field course at the Flathead Lake Biological Station)
· BIOL 459 Alpine Ecology (3 cr.) (summer field course at the Flathead Lake Biological Station)
· FOR 195 Nature in Montana (3 cr.)
· FOR/RECM 495 Himalayan Environment and Development (3 cr.)
· FOR/RECM 495 Tourism, Livelihoods and Sustainability in the Himalaya (3 cr.)
· FOR 495 Montana Wilderness Field Studies in Winter (3 cr.)
· GEO 231 (GEOS 230) Field Methods and Maps (3 cr.)
· GEO 425 (GEOS 425) Geology of the Pacific Northwest (3 cr.)
· GPHY 144 (GEOG 138) Montana’s Mountains (3 cr.)
· GPHY 344 (GEOG 310) Crown of the Continent (3 cr.)
· GPHY 391/EVST 392 Biogeography of Northwest Montana (3 cr.)
· GPHY 442 (GEOG 401) Regionalism and the Rocky Mountain West (3 cr.)
· GPHY 438 (GEOG 438) Mountains Field Study (3 cr.)
· GPHY 444 (GEOG 410) High Asia (3 cr.)
2. Six credits must be selected from the following list of upper-division advanced mountain studies courses:
· BIOL 451 Landscape Ecology of Mountain Ecosystems (3 cr.)
· FOR 330 Forest Ecology (3 cr.)
· FOR 385 Watershed Hydrology (3 cr.)
· GEO 391 (GEOS 395) Appropriate Topics (3 cr.)
· GEO 433 (GEOS 430) Global Tectonics (3 cr.)
· GEO 488 (GEOS 488) Snow, Ice and Climate (3 cr.)
· GPHY 317 (GEOG 324) Geomorphology (3 cr.)
· GPHY 411 (GEOG 426N) Biogeography (3 cr.)
· GPHY 538 (GEOG 538) Mountain Studies Seminar (3 cr.) – a 3.0 GPA is required
· RECM 482 Wilderness and Protected Area Management (3 cr.)
Please explain/justify the new proposal or change. ß
In the first year of this Minor (officially approved by the BOR September 2008), there has been enthusiastic support from UM students, with nearly two dozen students currently enrolled in the program. The course “Montana’s Mountains” (GPHY 144) has posed a bottleneck for students because this field-based course (Polebridge, MT) can only accommodate 15-18 students at one time, and this course is only offered during wintersession. Given the constraints, we propose to delete this course from the set of core courses and include it with a set of mountain studies courses that focus on specific geographic regions. Another change is that we propose to restructure the curriculum with a new category of “region-specific mountain studies courses” in order to emphasize and deepen coursework and in-depth learning about particular mountain environments and mountain-society contexts. Here, we are also adding five courses to the “region-specific mountain studies” listing that are taught at UM. Next we are proposing to add the graduate level Mountain Studies Seminar (GPHY 538) to the listing of upper division mountain studies courses in order to make this course available to undergraduates with a GPA of 3.0 and above. And finally, given the international dimensions of the curriculum and faculty expertise, we see the need to include the statement “Field-based and international experiences are strongly encouraged” in the introductory statement to the minor. The Faculty Advisory Committee for the Minor approved the restructuring of the curriculum proposed herein and the inclusion of these additional courses that emphasize scientific concepts and theory as they apply to the study of mountainous regions and the socio-economic development trajectories of mountainous areas.
What other programs are affected by your proposal? Obtain signatures as requested above. / College of Forestry and Conservation, Geosciences, DBS
V Copies and Electronic Submission
Once approved, the original, a paper copy and an electronic file are submitted to the Faculty Senate Office, UH 221 ().
VI Department Summary Required if several proposals are submitted. In a separate document list program title and proposed change of all proposals.