By Jessie Hethcoat
With the new River Campus that will be used for environmental studies and the Campus Climate Commitment and the Presidential Advisory Committee on Sustainability, there is a great deal of environmental awareness happening on the University of Portland campus.
The environmental science program already teaches more than half of the core science classes that are offered at UP. According to Steve Kolmes, director of the environmental science program, very few students that go to UP graduate without taking environmental science courses, unless they are not required for the core of their major.
After granting over 40 types of degrees for 12 years, the environmental studies program at University of Portland is becoming its own department in spring of 2009.
The environmental degree programs are not going to change. The same majors and minors will still be offered. The Environmental Ethics and Policy B.A., the Environmental Science B.S., and the Environmental Engineering B.S. are the main degrees that are available.
"UP's decision to create an environmental studies department is a commitment of the University to this type of education," Kolmes said.
While the environmental studies professors used to hold their tenures in other departments, including biology and physics, this new department will create its own tenure lines.
By creating tenures for the environmental studies department, this ensures that the University will be able to find replacements for the current professors when they decide to retire.
"No environmental studies professor is going to respond to a job ad that has the title 'biology' or 'physics' professor," Kolmes said. Because there is no major without the professors who will teach the required classes, "these new tenures ensure that there is a future for the environmental studies major."
In the short term, the creation of the environmental studies program will not make much of a difference to students. The department is a response to growth and a commitment to the subject's future.
It is not only the the issue of hiring professors for the future that has made this change important, but also the fact that environmental studies is a subject that has grown increasingly more relevant as years have passed.
Freshman Ruth Passernig is an environmental science major who is excited about the change.
"This program becoming a department makes me more confident about the degree I'm working towards," Passernig said. "Our school's seriousness about environmental studies is becoming more and more apparent."
Kolmes is also excited for the change. There has not been a creation of a department from a program since the splitting of the history and political science departments.
"I think it's a good expression of what the University sees in its mission because we all realize now that environmental justice and social justice are all intertwined," Kolmes said.
