Resolution to Create a New Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in Environmental Studies

WHEREAS, the University of Delaware currently offers a collaborative BS degree program in Environmental Science that is rigorous and well established; and

WHEREAS, part of the University of Delaware's Path to Prominence^TM is focused on becoming a greener, more environmentally aware campus and on highlighting and enhancing opportunities for undergraduates to engage in environmental degree programs; and  

WHEREAS, the proposed degree program extends UD's environmental options and reflects the fact that the Earth and its resources connect to all facets of human existence.  Additionally, the proposed degree program enhances the opportunities for those students interested in studying the environment through the perspectives of policy, economics, and social science; and  

WHEREAS, using a collaborative and distributed model, the degree programs utilizes the current strengths at the University of Delaware and gives students a broad-based, interdisciplinary introduction to environmental policies and issues; the common analytical tools needed to explore them in depth through their specific concentration areas; and the ability to integrate and synthesize information from a multidisciplinary perspective;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate recommends approval provisionally, for five years, the establishment of a new major leading to the distributed BA degree in Environmental Studies.