MEMORANDUM

 

Date:                3 January 2003

 

To:                   Dean Neil Sullivan and Associate Dean Louis Guillette

 

From:               CLAS Committee on Ecology and Environment, Mark Brenner (LUECI and Geological Sciences), Robert Holt (Zoology), Kaoru Kitajima (Botany), Jon Martin (Geological Sciences), Tony Oliver-Smith (Anthropology), Stephen Perz (Sociology), Walter R. Rosenbaum (Political Science), Marianne Schmink (Center for Latin American Studies and Anthropology), members, Michael Binford (Geography), Chair;

 

Subject:            Proposed Programs in Ecology and Environment in CLAS

                                                                                                                                                           

 

Please find attached the final report from the faculty committee for Ecology and Environment Program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This document describes the desires of the members of the faculty committee, each of whom consulted with their respective departments. Other departments in the College may have interests in Ecology and Environment, but were not formally included in our discussions.

 

Our rationale is described on the first page of the document, and then the plan outlines the following 6 steps with timelines:

 

1. Develop an inclusive division or school within the college concerned specifically with Ecology and Environment. Timeline: Begin early spring 2003.

2. Add an environmental literacy requirement to liberal arts education at UF. Fall 2003 - Spring 2004.

3. Convert the existing undergraduate interdisciplinary concentration in Environmental Studies into a curriculum in Ecology and Environment leading to a B.S. or B.A. degree. Fall 2003 - Spring 2004.

4. Work with the College of Agriculture and Life Science and College of Engineering to develop a UF-wide graduate degree program in Environmental Sciences. Spring 2003.

5. Lead the development of a university-wide Institute of Ecology and Environment (IEE). Begin late Spring 2003.

6. Target new CLAS faculty appointments to Ecology & Environment topics. A suggested list of hires over the next three years is given. Searches authorized and begin Fall 2003.

 


Strategic Plan for an Ecology and Environment program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Part I. Rationale

 

1.      The domains of Ecology and Environment, which have physical, biological, and human dimensions, are more diverse and comprehensive than the missions of any single administrative unit at the University of Florida.

2.      CLAS faculty education and research activities span a broad spectrum of Ecology and Environment activities, including but not limited to:

a.       education and research on natural and human systems with long-term and historical and cultural perspectives over local, regional, and global extents;

b.      education and research on both renewable and non-renewable natural resources;

c.       education and research on the enormous realms of nature and culture that have no apparent natural resources implications.

3.      Much of the education and research activities of CLAS faculty are materially and intellectually different from activities in the renewable natural resource or technological problem-solving colleges, and are complementary with them.

4.      At the faculty level, education and research in ecology and environment at the University of Florida already extend across administrative units. There are many research projects, graduate student thesis and dissertation committees, and graduate and undergraduate classes that are conducted by faculty members from several colleges.

5.      CLAS is in a unique position at UF to integrate social sciences and humanities with physical and biological sciences. Physical and biological studies of ecology and the environment are traditionally carried out without explicit reference to human behavior, but such studies clearly can have major implications for human behavior and society, and reciprocally, human activity can shape and constrain natural processes. Knowledge generated by the social sciences and humanities is fundamentally necessary for understanding how we as humans interact with our environment.

6.       Because the interdisciplinary and inherently international nature of Ecology and Environment requires an academic structure that accommodates the diversity of the topic, the CLAS faculty desires the creation of a school to coordinate education and research collaborations within CLAS, as well as with education and research units in agricultural, engineering, design, law, education, and other disciplines.


Strategic Plan for an Ecology and Environment program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Part II. Plan

 

CLAS proposes an Ecology and Environment (E&E) program of education and research, founded on the basic scientific principles that govern the coupled natural-human system, by taking the following steps.

 

1. Develop a division or school within the college that would include all participating departments within CLAS, to form a “home” for undergraduate majors, administer undergraduate curriculum, administer a graduate-level certificate program in E & E, coordinate research programs in E & E as part of the graduate education function of the college, and administer other programs such as secondary-school teacher training in E & E in collaboration with the College of Education.

 

Actions:

 

A. Appoint a board of directors consisting of faculty in CLAS with self-identified interests in Ecology and Environment.

TIMELINE: Early Spring Semester 2003.

 

B. Appoint a full-time director at the associate dean level, and hire three staff people to help administer the CLAS Ecology and Environment program. One of the staff people should have strong Internet skills and will manage the Web site for the program.

TIMELINE: Spring Semester/Summer 2003. Director should be in office by beginning of Fall Semester 2003.

 

C. Establish a CLAS E&E affiliation for any faculty in CLAS who designates her- or himself to be interested.

TIMELINE: Early Spring Semester 2003. The board of directors will be appointed from this group of interested faculty.

 

2. Add an environmental literacy requirement to liberal arts education at UF.

 

Actions:

The E&E Division Director, in consultation with CLAS departments and the E&E Board of Directors, will define environmental literacy for BS/BA graduates, most appropriately as a requirement of two courses, one at the advanced level (3000 and above), concerned with Ecology and Environment. The E&E Division Director will be responsible for determining coursework that comprises environmental literacy, compiling a list of existing classes that will fulfill this requirement, advising and consulting with departments about potential new courses, developing and advocating proposals for submission to the CLAS and University Curriculum Committees, and supervising compliance.

TIMELINE: Proposal development Fall 2003, approval sought Spring 2004.

 


3. Convert the existing undergraduate interdisciplinary concentration in Environmental Studies into a curriculum in Ecology and Environment leading to a B.S. or B.A. degree.

 

Actions:

 

The E&E Division Director will write proposals and seek approval to convert the established Interdisciplinary Studies concentration in Environmental Studies to a full BS/BA degree in Ecology and Environment with departmental minors.

TIMELINE: Proposal development Fall 2003, approval sought Spring 2004.

 

4. Work with the College of Agriculture and Life Science and College of Engineering to develop a UF-wide graduate degree program in Environmental Sciences.

 

Actions:

 

This item is already underway, with three members of the CLAS faculty joining with three each from CALS and CoE. Our first meeting was 2 January 2003, and we are charged with producing a report and proposal by 1 May 2003. Three of the current committee’s members (Holt, Martin, Binford) are serving on that committee.

 

5. Lead the development of a university-wide Institute of Ecology and Environment (IEE).

 

Actions:

 

A. The E&E Division Director will lead a collaboration with other colleges, especially the College of Agriculture and Life Science, the College of Engineering, the College of Design, Construction, and Planning, and the College of Law, all of whom have faculty working in E&E, to establish an Institute of Ecology and Environment (IEE). This Institute will be campus-wide, and will also encompass ecological and environmental research and education within other units of the University with missions that are distinctly different from CLAS.

TIMELINE: Work by CLAS E&E board of directors collaborating with other colleges begins Spring 2003.

 

B. As an example activity, the IEE would seek funds to establish a university-wide E&E post-doctoral program housed in a central location on campus. Post-docs would be co-sponsored by faculty in different units. The Center would provide an intellectual focus for faculty and students across campus by providing an explicit setting and reward for cross-unit collaboration and interaction. It would also facilitate the development of new, interdepartmental funding, and would attract considerable national and international attention (each year a call for ~6 post-docs in E&E would go forward).

 


6. Target new CLAS faculty appointments to E&E topics. A suggested list of hires over the next three years, in annual priority order, follows:

 

The topics listed here are gaps in all programs at UF, and are complementary with all programs on campus. Appointments at senior levels are desirable for rapid achievement of excellence.  Position descriptions within each year are listed in alphabetical order.

 

Year 1: Aquatic Ecology (Zoology)

Coastal Environments (Geological Sciences)

Environmental Politics - Domestic Regulation/Policy (Political Science)

Environmental Sociology - Land-Use/Land-Cover Change (Sociology)

General Climatology (Geography)

            Historical Ecologist - Archaeobotany (Anthropology)

            Plant Population Ecology (Botany)

           

Year 2: Community Ecology (Zoology)

Cultural Ecologist - Applied Ecological Problem Solving (Anthropology)

Ecological Economic Geography (Geography)

            Environmental Politics - Regional/Global Policy (Political Science)

Environmental Sociology - Epidemiology/Environmental Health (Sociology)

            Surficial Processes (Geological Sciences)

Theoretical Plant Ecology (Botany)

           

Year 3: Chemical Ecologist (Botany)

Cultural/Political Ecologist - Africa (Anthropology)

            Environmental History (Geological Sciences)

Environmental Justice (Political Science/Religion)

Environmental Sociology - Urban Ecology (Sociology)

            Land-Use/Land-Cover Change (Geography)

            Life-History Evolution (Zoology)