UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE FORMS
GRD0303
Academic Program Approval
This form is a routing document for the approval of new
and revised academic programs. Proposing department should
complete this form. For more
information, call the Faculty Senate Office at 831-2921.
Submitted by: Tracy DeLiberty phone
number: x4084
Department: Geography email address: tracyd@udel.edu
Date: 1 September 2013
Action: Add Ph.D. in
Climatology
(Example: add major/minor/concentration, delete
major/minor/concentration,
revise major/minor/concentration,
academic unit name change, request for permanent status, policy change,
etc.)
Effective term: 14S
(use format 04F, 05W)
Current
degree:
(Example: BA, BACH, BACJ, HBA, EDD, MA, MBA, etc.)
Proposed change
leads to the degree of:
(Example: BA,
BACH, BACJ, HBA, EDD, MA, MBA, etc.)
Proposed name: Ph.D. in Climatology
Proposed new name for revised
or new major / minor / concentration / academic unit
(if applicable)
Revising or Deleting:
Undergraduate
major / Concentration:______________________________________
(Example: Applied Music – Instrumental degree BMAS)
Undergraduate
minor:____________________________________________________
(Example: African
Studies, Business
Administration, English, Leadership,
etc.)
Graduate
Program Policy statement change:_________________________________
(Must attach your
Graduate Program Policy Statement)
Graduate Program of Study: Geography Ph.D.
with Concentration in Climatology
(Example: Animal
Science: MS Animal
Science: PHD Economics: MA Economics: PHD)
Graduate minor / concentration: remove concentrations
Note: all graduate
studies proposals must include an electronic copy of the Graduate Program
Policy Document, highlighting the changes made to the original policy document.
List new
courses required for the new or revised curriculum. How do they support the overall
program objectives of the major/minor/concentrations)?
(Be aware that
approval of the curriculum is dependent upon these courses successfully passing
through the Course Challenge list. If there are no new courses enter “None”)
None
Explain, when
appropriate, how this new/revised curriculum supports the 10 goals of
undergraduate education: http://www.ugs.udel.edu/gened/
Identify other units
affected by the proposed changes:
(Attach permission from the affected units. If no other unit is affected, enter “None”)
The School of Marine Science & Policy and the
Geological Sciences Department are affected by the proposed Climatology Ph.D.
with asking participation of interested faculty. A letter of support is attached from both
academic units and the Dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment.
Describe the rationale
for the proposed program change(s):
(Explain your reasons for creating, revising, or
deleting the curriculum or program.)
The Ph.D. program proposed is
new degree program built on the foundation of the former Climatology PhD. This proposal seeks to replace the current
concentration in Climatology of the Geography Ph.D. That concentration, in
turn, came into existence in 2008 as a revision of an earlier Ph.D. in
Climatology that was housed entirely in the Geography Department. A separate,
contingent proposal from the Geography Department covers the changes in
concentrations of the Geography Ph.D.
Since the mid 1980s, the
Geography Department of the University of Delaware has produced over 40 Ph.D.
graduates in Climatology or Geography with a Climatology concentration. That
program was built on a preceding decade of graduate education at the master’s
level, also focused on climatology. The original mission reflected the visions
of our department's four climate-oriented faculty members at the time (around
energy-budget, water-budget, synoptic and applied climatology), and focused on
atmospheric effects at the land surface. This program began at a time when
climatology was considered variously a subfield of geography or of meteorology,
and it was not a field widely known outside of academia and agricultural
extension services.
Public awareness of climate
has grown well beyond the imagination of those who entered the field just a few
decades ago. Questions about climate change and its causes and implications are
among the central environmental questions of our time. Climate change drives
the research agendas of a large fraction of all scientists who have a primary
interest in climate, earth, oceanic, and environmental sciences. Since its
cause is inextricably linked to energy policy and it has effects across the
gamut of human activity, it is a central issue for a wide range of geographers,
social scientists, policy specialists, and economists. We have reached a level
of awareness wherein questions about climate change and related policy arise in
debates among candidates for President of the United States. Reports of the
National Academy of Sciences and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
have regularly reaffirmed that this is a topic of great and ongoing concern.
The Climatology program within
the Geography Department has also changed since its inception, as must any
program that hopes to stay current with a research Ph.D. Technological changes
have given us greater access to a wider variety of data sources, numerical
models, and analysis techniques, such that less time is spent on the
“background” or “overhead” aspects of research. As we have expanded as a
department, revisions were made in 2008 to allow greater interaction between
the climatologists within the department and those who focused more on land
surface or hydrological processes, reflecting the importance of such boundary
conditions on climatic understanding. We remain an active program, with four Ph.D.s granted in the past two years, leading to three
assistant professorships and a postdoc at a DOE national lab.
Three years ago, as part of
the environmental initiatives associated with the University’s Path to
Prominence, the Department of Geography joined with the Department of
Geological Sciences and the School of Marine Science and Policy to form a new
College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. Now we would like to reconfigure the
Climatology Ph.D. program to make better use of the opportunities afforded by
this new college. We propose returning the Ph.D. in Climatology to its pre-2008
status as an independent Ph.D. program, while also opening it to a wider group
of faculty. The program would continue to be administered by the Geography
Department, but would now be considered a college-wide program, allowing full
faculty participation by any member of the College of Earth, Ocean, and
Environment. This change would keep the existing faculty resources within the
Geography Department and would make the program more suitable for use by
members of the School of Marine Science and Policy, within which many projects
already contain some element of atmospheric science.
Many of the questions
regarding initiation of a new program are obviated by the current existence of
the Geography Ph.D. concentration in Climatology. We have a program that
currently receives good applicants, graduates and places good students, and
contributes to the research missions of our College and University. Rather than
being a truly new program, we see this initiative as the latest evolution of a
successful program of Ph.D. education that granted its first degree in 1986 and
should continue for decades to come.
A full proposal is attached
that provides a description of the program, enrollments, program requirements,
and resources available.
Program
Requirements:
(Show the new or revised curriculum as it should appear
in the Course Catalog. If this is a
revision, be sure to indicate the changes being made to the current curriculum
and include a side-by-side comparison
of the credit distribution before and after the proposed change.)
|
Requirements for the PhD Degree in Climatology Applicants
to the PhD program concentrations in Climatology or Land-Surface Processes
are expected to have completed a master's degree in geography, geology,
climatology, meteorology, or another related discipline. Students in these
concentrations must also have completed mathematics through ordinary
differential equations and must demonstrate a knowledge
of at least one higher level computer programming language. PhD students are
expected to obtain an in-depth knowledge of two areas. One of these must be
topical, such as bioclimatology, physical climatology and land-surface
processes urban climatology, or climate dynamics for the Climatology
concentration, or land-surface measurement, surface process analysis,
biogeochemistry, or geomorphology for the Land-Surface Processes
concentration. The other area must be methodological such as statistical
methods, mathematical modeling, or geographic information science.
|
Requirements for the PhD Degree in Climatology Applicants to the Ph.D.
program in climatology are expected to have completed a master’s degree in
geography, geology, atmospheric science oceanography, environmental science,
or meteorology, but students from other sciences, engineering, and the social
sciences are encourage to apply. Admission will be judged on the basis of both the
quality and the range of their education. Requirements of specific
mathematical background (calculus through ordinary differential equations)
and of computer analysis and programming skills will be required prior to
admission, whereas deficiencies in the topical core may be taken care of by
course work during the degree program. Through the Ph.D. program,
students are expected to acquire
general knowledge of climatology, including physics of climatology
(thermodynamics, radiation, and cloud processes), atmospheric dynamics
(forces and flows), measurement (microclimatological methods and
instrumentation, remote sensing) and computational methods for data analysis
and synthesis. Students are also expected to obtain specialized
knowledge in two areas, one of which is
topical (covering the specific research area) and the other being in
technical methods. Typical technical methods include graduate course work in
statistics, mathematics, computer science, or related sciences that are
relevant to the area of research of the dissertation. Students must demonstrate a
high level of professional competence in climatology by passing a written
qualifying examination, an oral examination and an oral dissertation defense.
A description of the Ph.D. program in climatology can be obtained from the CEOE
homepage or by contacting the Geography Department. |
ROUTING AND AUTHORIZATION: (Please do not remove supporting
documentation.)
Department Chairperson 
_______
Date 1 September 2013_
Dean of College 
________Date 28 October 2013
Chairperson, College
Curriculum Committee___
_______________Date____October
28, 2013_
Chairperson, Senate Com. on UG
or GR Studies Date
Chairperson, Senate
Coordinating Com. Date
Secretary, Faculty Senate Date
Date of Senate Resolution Date
to be Effective
Registrar Program
Code Date
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
& International Programs Date
Provost Date
Board of Trustee Notification Date
Revised 02/09/2009 /khs
Dr. Mark A. Moline
Director
Hugh
R.
Sharp Campus
700
Pilottown Road
Lewes, DE
19958
Phone: 302-645-4263
Fax:
302-645-4213
Email: mmoline@udel.edu
October 1, 2013
University of
Delaware
Faculty
Senate Committee
011E Hullihen Hall
Newark, DE 19716
Dear Members of
the University Faculty Senate Committee:
On behalf of The
School of Marine Science and Policy,
I am pleased to support the application for a new Ph.D. program in Climatology.
Our School will
support this new interdisciplinary Ph.D.
program in a number of ways. Our
faculty will be encouraged to
participate in this program, including
serving on the Graduate Program Committee, participating as
Program Faculty, functioning as Primary or Secondary Faculty Advisor, and offering core and/or elective courses in the course curriculum.
Furthermore, interest from both
Marine Sciences and
Policy students within the School makes
this a timely degree for providing highly
qualified students to the program.
This is a great opportunity for the
University of
Delaware and we look forward to the collaboration this new program
offers.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Moline
Director, School of Marine Science and Policy
October 16, 2013
University of Delaware
Faculty Senate Committee
011E Hullihen Hall
Newark, DE 19716
Dear Members of the University
Faculty Senate Committee:
On behalf of The College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, I am pleased
to support the request
for an independent Ph.D. degree in Climatology, which will replace the existing
concentration in Climatology of the Geography Ph.D. Indeed, this is really a request for a reinstatement of a very successful degree that was
offered in Geography until 2008. At that time the department was required
to choose between
a more general degree that could accommodate the entire department and one that was considered
more specialized. It was a
false dichotomy, one that forced the department to give up a highly successful and visible
degree program. In the intervening time, faculty strength in this area has grown
to include individuals not only in Geography but also in the School
of Marine Science and Policy.
The new degree will be administered by the Department of Geography but the program itself will be considered college‐wide, and will allow for full faculty participation and advisement of students by any faculty member within
the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment.
The benefit of making this a college‐wide program
is that the existing faculty
resources within the
Geography Department can continue to be leveraged, while allowing the program
itself to also be supported and utilized by others in the College,
especially those in the School of Marine Science
and Policy. As you may know, the College
already has multiple
jointly appointed faculty
members between these
two units, particularly focused in the area of climate and atmospheric science.
As such, the number of research
projects and courses being co‐sponsored in these areas is growing.
This independent degree reinforces our strengths in this area.
Specifically, the Department of Geography and School of Marine Science and Policy will jointly support this college‐wide degree in the following ways:
· Faculty
will serve on program committees
· Faculty will serve as advisors
for students in the program
· Faculty
will teach both core and elective courses
for the program
