Two new degree programs – one graduate and one undergraduate level – received the green light from the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents and are soon be offered to University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students.
At its Thursday, Aug. 23 meeting, the Board of Regents’ Education Committee approved the addition of a Master of Science in Sustainable Management degree and a Bachelor of Science in Radiologic Science degree.
Collaboration between UW Oshkosh and five other UW institutions will bring the online sustainable management master’s degree program to UW Oshkosh starting in the spring of 2013.
The partnering institutions – UW Oshkosh, UW-Green Bay, UW-Parkside, UW-Stout and UW-Superior – self-selected to work together on the degree based on interest in the bachelor’s degree in sustainable management and survey data.
The 34-credit online graduate program will be offered jointly via the collaborating institutions; the interdisciplinary focus will encourage student to examine sustainability from different perspectives while ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which changing human activities affect the inseparable nature, social and economic environments, according to the UW System resolution’s supporting documents.
At UW Oshkosh, the addition of the master’s degree program aligns well with the mission to both provide quality educational opportunities to people of northeastern Wisconsin and also supports the university-wide mission of learning outcomes in sustainability, leadership and social and personal responsibility.
Further supporting the addition of the degree program, jobs in environmental sustainability or “green technology” careers are becoming more popular, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Careers in this area are expected to increase at roughly 20 percent per year until at least 2018. That said, before the approval of this master’s degree program, only one other institution in Wisconsin offered a master’s degree relevant to sustainability.
Also supported by data is the need for a bachelor’s degree in radiologic science. Employment of radiologic technologists is expected to grow much faster than average through 2018; there is an even higher demand in Wisconsin, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The 120-degree bachelor’s degree will be offered by the department of biology and microbiology in the College of Letters and Science and through a partnering clinical institution. The program is designed as a two-plus-two college completion program, meaning the first two years are spent on campus in classrooms and the second two years are completed in an accredited clinical setting.
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