S.94-40
• ?
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Office of
the Vice-President, Academic
?
MEMORANDUM
To:
?
Senate
From: ?
J.M. Munro, Chair, Senate Committee on Academic Planning
Subject: ?
PhD in Resource and Environmental Management
Date: ?
April 11, 1994
Action undertaken at the meeting of the Senate Graduate Studies Committee and the
Senate Committee on Academic Planning gives rise to the following motion:
.
Motion:
"That Senate approve and recommend approval to the Board of
Governors as set forth in S.94 - 40, the proposed PhD in Resource
and Environmental Management."
0
SCAP 94 - 20
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
MEMORANDUM
To: Alison Watt, Secretary
Senate Committee on Academic
Planning
Subject: PHD in Resource and
Environmental Management
From: B.P. Clayman
Dean of Graduate Studies
Date: March 2, 1994
S
The attached PHD Program in Resource and
Environmental Management was approved by the
Senate Graduate Studies Committee, at its Meeting
on February 28, 1994, and is now being forwarded
to the Senate Committee on Academic Planning for
approval.
B.P. Clayman
Dean of Graduate Studies
mm!
attach.
.
I
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES?
Memorandum
TO: ?
B. P. Clayman, Chair ? FROM: Phyllis Wrenn
Senate Graduate Studies Committee ?
Associate Dean
SUBJECT:
PhD in Resource and Environmental ?
DATE: February 11, 1994
Management
The Assessment Committee for New Graduate Programs (ACNGP) has approved and
recommends to the SGSC for approval a proposal for a
PhD in Resource and Environmental
Management.
The first draft of the proposal was received on 8 April 1993.
Please place this proposal on the agenda of the next meeting of the SGSC. By copy of this memo,
I am inviting R. Peterman to attend this meeting as a representative of the proposed program.
C:
?
R. Peterman ?
QD ?
.
P. Bawa
M. McGinn
LII
.
P111
MFE1 LCL2.DOC 11-Feb-94
Proposal for a Ph.D. Program in Resource and Environmental Management
School of Resource and Environmental Management
?
Faculty of Applied Sciences ?
Simon Fraser University ?
Burnaby, British Columbia
?
Canada V5A 1S6
Revised ?
14 February 1994
1]
5-
2
Table of Contents
?
0
I.
General Information ........................................................................3
II.
Description of the Ph.D. Program ......................................................4
Objectives..............................................................................4
The School of Resource and Environmental Management......................4
The Ph.D. Program and the Mission of the University .........................
5
Comparison with Other Programs..................................................6
Interdisciplinary Departments at Canadian Universities................7
Standard Disciplinary Departments at Canadian Universities .........7
Non-Canadian Ph.D. Programs............................................8
Detailed Structure of the Proposed Ph.D. Program .............................9
Requirements for Admission ...............................................9
Degree Requirements......................................................10
Curriculum..................................................................11
Newcourses ................................................................14
ifi. The Need for the Program .............................................................. 14
Consultation with Non-university Agencies.....................................15
Enrolment............................................................................15
TypeofJobs
.........................................................................16
Demand for Ph.D. Graduates.....................................................16
Supply of Ph.D.s in Resource and Environmental Management.............17
IV. Present and Projected Resources .....................................................17
Budget................................................................................18
Research Awards to Faculty in the School of Resource
and Environmental Management ..........................................18
Conclusion...........................................................................18
References....................................................................................19
*Appendix 1 Professional Status of REM Students ....................................20
Appendix 2 Ph.D. Programs Related to Resource Management....................26
*Appendix 3 Letters of Support...........................................................29
*Appendix 4 Copies of job advertisements..............................................30
Appendix 5 REM Faculty Curriculum Vitae...........................................31
Appendix 6 New Course Descriptions ..................................................32
Appendix 7 External Reviews............................................................33
Appendix 8 Library memo of support ..................................................34
Appendix 9
?
Calendar Entry ..............................................................35
* Available in the Office of the Registrar
** Not included
0
4.
3
0 ?
I. General Information
1.
Title of the program will be:
Ph.D. in Resource and Environmental Management
2.
Credential to be awarded to graduates will be:
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
3.
Faculty or school to offer the program is:
School of Resource and Environmental Management
Faculty of Applied Sciences
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, British Columbia
Canada V5A 1S6
4.
The statement of intent to offer this program was approved by the Simon Fraser
0
?
University Senate 8 April 1992.
5.
Schedule for implementation:
Admit first students in the fall of 1994
First graduates expected late in 1998
.
4
H. Description
Simon Fraser
of the
University's
Ph.D. Program
School
?
of Resource and Environmental Management is an
0
interdisciplinary graduate program established
in
1979 with faculty who have interests
covering the natural and social sciences. The School currently offers a Master's degree in
resource management. To meet the growing demand for more extensive training in this
important field, we propose to establish a new degree program, a
Ph.D. in Resource and
Environmental Management.
Objectives
There are three objectives for the proposed Ph.D. program: (1) to provide a program at
the doctoral level for carrying out high-level research and training in the area of managing
natural resources and the environment, (2) to provide an interdisciplinary setting for that work
by training students in both natural science and social science aspects of problems in this field,
and (3) to help meet the need for more highly qualified personnel to fill positions in
government, industry, and universities. The second objective, interdisciplinary training in the
natural resource management field, was identified in 1991 as such a priority by the Canadian
government that a special 3-year fellowship has been established by the Tr-Council Secretariat
for Ph.D. students in interdisciplinary fields related to environmental management. The third
need for more highly trained graduates has been expressed by several agencies, as will be
discussed in other sections of this document.
The School of Resource and Environmental Management
The School of Resource and Environmental Management (REM) was originally
established in 1979 under the name of the Natural Resources Management Program. Since its
inception, it has been an interdisciplinary graduate program, having faculty and students with
backgrounds in either the natural sciences or social sciences. Students in the Master's program
take an integrated sequence of courses in complementary fields, pursue additional courses to
deepen their expertise in some specialty, and complete a research project on a topic that
involves more than one traditional discipline. In order to not sacrifice depth for breadth, 63
credit hours (13 courses) plus a research project are required for the Master's degree; it is the
heaviest Master's program at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Faculty are actively involved
not only in basic and applied research but also in collaborative work with various
environmental management agencies. Through REM's formal Cooperative Education program
(the only graduate one at SFU), students can take up to two Co-op work terms in a resource
management agency to gain professional experience in applied problem solving. Because of
their unique training, graduates from REM's Master's program are in high demand by
employers (see Appendix 1).
As a result of these features, REM currently attracts some of the best Canadian
graduate students interested in resource and environmental management. Since 1988, the
number of applicants to the program has increased from 80 to
245
applicants per year, and
most of them are Canadians. However, the program has only been able to accept about
15%
of them because of limited resources. REM's reputation is now widespread, as indicated by
the origin of applications for graduate work. Over
50%
of applicants over the last
5
years
have come from Canada but outside of British Columbia. Many of the students admitted have
won nationally competitive scholarships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada (NSERC) to carry out work in the natural sciences, Canadian
Environmental Assessment Research Council (CEARC) for work in environmental assessment,
or Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for work in regional planning. For
5
• example, in each of the last two years, REM graduate students received 2 of the 10 CEARC
scholarships awarded annually in Canada. As well, of the 25 students admitted for the fall of
1992, 19 were in a discipline eligible for an NSERC scholarship--and over one-half of these
were awarded NSERC scholarships. Because the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada (SSHRC) does not award scholarships to Master's students, no comparable
assessment is available for students in a social science discipline.
The enrolment in the School of Resource and Environmental Management was 81 full-
time equivalent graduate students as of September 1993. About 13% of these were working
professionals who take the program part-time. The backgrounds of this diverse student body
included academic training in engineering, biology, geology, forestry, geography, planning,
law, economics, and business administration. The variety of viewpoints that these students
have, plus their strong academic abilities, create the dynamic student body and active learning
environment that are conducive to a dynamic Ph.D. program.
The School of Resource and Environmental Management is also unusual because it has
9 full-time faculty plus 2 cross-appointments, unlike most similar programs elsewhere in
Canada that have mostly cross-appointed faculty from other departments (e.g. Dalhousie
University, University of Manitoba). REM's emphasis on full-time faculty leads to an
integrated, complementary set of courses, continuity of graduate supervision, and a core of
interacting students and faculty.
The research of faculty and graduate students in the School of Resource and
Environmental Management has resulted in national and international recognition for them, a
strong graduate program, and an increasing level of funding for research, all of which are
• essential elements for a good Ph.D. program. The research fields covered include the
dynamics and management of forests, fisheries, wildlife, contaminants, water, energy,
recreation and tourism resources, land use, planning, policy analysis, and environmental
regulation. REM's research projects include, among others, benefit-cost analyses of
alternative resource uses, market and non-market valuation of natural resources, analysis of
energy-use policies, establishing appropriate regulations for pollutants, ecologically sensitive
forest management practices, environmental impact assessments, evaluations of management
strategies for fish populations, coastal zone management, methods of conflict resolution in
environmental problems, tourism behaviour research methodologies, and solving disputes
between recreational users and resource extractors.
These research programs in REM are well recognized by external funding agencies.
For instance, the 3 REM faculty who have applied to NSERC for research funds, have
received above-average grants in their disciplines. The total is
$508,467
for the 1990-95
period. As well, REM leads a team research project on Pacific salmon that is part of the
Ocean Production Enhancement Network (OPEN), one of the 15 Networks of Centres of
Excellence funded by NSERC and industry in 1990 for a 4-year period. Only 15 of the 154
Networks proposals were funded. This OPEN Centres of Excellence project brings an
additional $168,993 to
REM. REM
faculty have also been awarded $186,000 in grants from
SSHRC. In addition, REM faculty received $161,000 from the B.C. Ministry of Environment
through the B.C. Science Council to investigate the management of the aquatic ecosystem in
the Fraser River. Details of faculty awards and past supervision are set out in the faculty
curriculum vitaes attached to this proposal (Appendix
5).
The Ph.D. Program and the Mission of the University
Given the importance of natural resources and the environment in the economy of
British Columbia and Canada, it is logical that there be a designated Ph.D. program in this
I.
LS
field at one of B.C. 's publicly funded universities. Effective management of natural resources
and the environment requires interdisciplinary skills and an appreciation of the principles and
research findings in related fields (e.g. biology, economics, and planning), as well as expertise
in traditional disciplines. Yet no Ph.D. program exists in western Canada in resource and
environmental management. Simon Fraser University is the logical location for this program
as the university is already well-known for its innovative programs in several disciplines and
the proposed program would extend that tradition by building on the existing program of the
School of Resource and Environmental Management. As well, the university is moving to
establish an undergraduate program in the environmental area.
The School of Resource and Environmental Management has already established a
setting where Ph.D. students will be able to pursue in-depth research in the context of related
disciplines. The comprehensive exams for Ph.D. students described below will ensure
sufficient breadth and depth, and their theses will be a further demonstration of their ability to
do original in-depth research in a specialty with an interdisciplinary component.
An important philosophy of the School of Resource and Environmental Management
makes the proposed Ph.D. program distinctive from Ph.D.s offered in many standard
disciplines. Researchers in REM do not simply identify and describe environmental problems
or their causes, but actively seek management solutions that are acceptable and implementable.
This often requires that components of the research incorporate other disciplines. For
example, to implement some new fisheries management regulation, alternative management
actions are evaluated in terms of their economic or social effects, in addition to the biological
ones. Ph.D. students in REM will be encouraged to apply this philosophy, while at the same
time doing "cutting edge" basic research.
The interdisciplinary environment necessary for Ph.D. students to carry out high
quality, original research already exists in the School of Resource and Environmental
Management, as demonstrated by several REM Master's students who have received
recognition for their work. For example, Ian Guthrie, a 1988 REM graduate, received an
Honorable Mention Award for the journal paper resulting from his MRM research project.
This award was given in the American Fisheries Society's competition for best paper published
in 1988 in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management and Transactions of the
American Fisheries Society (out of 140 papers). Another REM student, Murdoch McAllister,
received the 1990 Dean's Medal at Convocation as the top graduate student (of all Ph.D. and
Master's students) in the Faculty of Applied Science, and Timo Makinen, another REM
student, was ranked second in the 1991 competition for that medal. McAllister's Master's
research led to three refereed journal publications, two in the top journal in his field; one of
those papers received an award for the "Most significant paper published in 1992" by the
American Fisheries Society. Thus, it is possible for students to do leading edge research in
their interdisciplinary projects. So far
10
of the School's 140 graduates have gone on to Ph.D.
programs.
Comparison with Other Programs
To make the interdisciplinary training element of the proposed Ph.D. in Resource and
Environmental Management function best, faculty from different disciplines in both the natural
and social sciences should be housed
in
the same administrative unit so that course materials
are integrated and graduate students can be frequently exposed to different methods of analysis
and viewpoints. Therefore, comparisons of this proposal are made below with Ph.D.
programs in, 1) other
interdisciplinary
Canadian university departments or faculties related to
the environment, 2) other Canadian departments in
standard
environmentally-related
disciplines, and 3) non-Canadian departments.
11
7
• ?
Interdisciplinary Departments at Canadian Universities
Only one other interdisciplinary unit in Canada offers a Ph.D. degree that is analogous
to the one proposed here, York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies (Appendix 2).
Unlike REM's proposed program, however, York's program is very heavily weighted toward
the social sciences and does not offer strong support for Ph.D. students who wish either to
specialize in natural science fields or integrate the two. The York University calendar
describes its two areas of specialization as follows.
Nature, culture, and society: This field is concerned with the philosophical and
ethical characteristics of the relationships between human society and the totality of
nature, of which humans themselves are part.
Environments, institutions, and interventions: This field focuses on the
relationships between human institutional frameworks and the social and cultural
construction of human environments.
While the York University program will draw those students who are mainly interested
in social science aspects of environmental studies, applicants to our program will be interested
in more exposure to natural science methods and knowledge. REM's program will
complement the existing one at York as there would be little overlap in the job markets for
their students and ours.
A degree program that is somewhat similar in spirit to the one we propose is the Ph.D.
in Interdisciplinary Studies (Resource Management Science) at the University of British
Columbia (UBC). UBC's program is, however, not housed in a particular department, does
•
not have any faculty, and is administered by an interdepartmental committee under the Faculty
of Interdisciplinary Studies (Table 2). Students enrolled in this degree program have their
course requirements tailored to their individual needs. It is essentially what is called at SFU a
Ph.D. "by Special Arrangements." In contrast to the School of Resource and Environmental
Management, there is no home base for the students and no core student body. Graduates
receive a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies.
Several other Canadian universities offer interdisciplinary programs related to natural
resources and the environment but they are only at the Master's degree level, not Ph.D. The
better known ones are:
• University of Calgary, Faculty of Environmental Design
• Dalhousie University, School of Resource and Environmental Studies
• University of Manitoba, Natural Resources Institute
• University of Toronto, Institute for Environmental Studies
• University of Waterloo, Department of Environmental and Resource Studies
Standard Disciplinary Departments at Canadian Universities
'Several departments in standard disciplines in Canada offer Ph.D. degrees that can be
related to natural resources and the environment. However, they all reflect an orientation
specific to the discipline offering the degree. For example, the Universities of Waterloo and
British Columbia have planning schools. However, the majority of subject areas in which they
offer supervision of Ph.D.s are not related to natural resources (see Appendix 2) and, where
they are, the emphasis is on planning. For instance, Waterloo lists water resource, parks and
land use planning, conservation, and environmental impact assessment. While these topics are
. also part of the School of Resource and Environmental Management's fields of study, REM's
courses and the expertise of its faculty go far beyond specific disciplines into dynamics of
environmental systems (forestry, fisheries, energy systems, toxicology), resource economics,
8
and environmental law. Furthermore, the common theme among researchers in REM is
natural resources. Thus, the planning schools offer only part of what we propose to cover in a
Ph.D. program in Resource and Environmental Management.
The same argument holds for other standard disciplines such as geography, biological
sciences, chemistry, zoology, forestry, or business administration. For instance, the UBC
School of Forestry necessarily focuses on forestry-related topics and therefore misses others
that REM would cover such as toxicology or energy. Biology and zoology departments
typically offer Ph.D.s in ecological aspects of natural resources but, to our knowledge, none
requires interdisciplinary training in relevant social science areas such as resource economics,
law, planning and policy analysis. The School of Resource and Environmental Management
already covers these areas and they will be part of its Ph.D. program. Geography departments
are usually more interdisciplinary than forestry or zoology departments, often covering social
science as well as scientific aspects of problems. This is true of the geography departments at
SFU, UBC, and University of Victoria. However, as shown by Appendix 2, the topics
covered in those departments are quite different from those in REM. In fact, the proposed
Ph.D. in Resource and Environmental Management would nicely complement the offerings in
the Geography department at SFU, both in terms of courses and faculty expertise.
Most importantly, no other Ph.D. program in environmental natural resources requires
interdisciplinary training. This will be accomplished in REM's program through a
combination of comprehensive exams, courses, and a thesis with some interdisciplinary
component, as described below. Other related disciplines at SFU are environmental
toxicology and environmental chemistry, but neither of these has a formal Ph.D. program;
furthermore they do not attempt to be interdisciplinary across the range of fields to be covered
by a Ph.D. in Resource and Environmental Management.
Finally, there is a Ph.D. program at the French-speaking Universite du Quebec a
Montreal (doctorat en sciences de l'environnement). However, this program is only
interdisciplinary within the natural sciences (biology, chemistry, mathematics, geology); there
are no social science aspects to the program. Furthermore, courses are only given in French
so REM will largely draw on a different student market.
To summarize, the proposed Ph.D. program in Resource and Environmental
Management will complement existing Ph.D. programs in related disciplines at SFU and
elsewhere in British Columbia and Canada because it will provide a unique interdisciplinary
forum for research and training that focuses on both natural and social sciences. The faculty
will be able to supervise in a wide range of natural resource areas. Numerous applicants are
already inquiring about a Ph.D. in the School of Resource and Environmental Management; if
created, it would provide a unique combination that will fill a major gap in Canadian
university offerings at the Ph.D. level.
Non-Canadian Ph.D. Programs
REM
does not anticipate competing directly with universities in the United States for
potential Ph.D. students. Only about
5%
of the applicants for our Master's degree program
currently come from the United States. Several U.S. universities already offer Ph.D.s. in this
field and REM views those successful programs as rough models on which to base REM's
proposed program. Three of the better known programs are at the University of Michigan,
Yale University, and Duke University (Appendix 2). All are interdisciplinary, with the Yale
program emphasizing forestry-related topics.
o.
S
.
Detailed Structure of the Proposed Ph.D. Program
REM will supervise Ph.D. research in a wide range of areas. Some areas include:
resource community planning, regional development, water management, environmental
impact assessment, tourism planning and development, environmental toxicology and
management, ecological risk assessment, energy economics and management, forest ecosystem
dynamics, population ecology, conservation biology and landscape ecology, environmental law
and regulation, the political economy of environment management, institutional design,
fisheries management, and parks and recreation planning. Graduate supervisory committees
will be composed of faculty with full-time appointments in REM, as well as faculty from other
departments at SFU and the University of B.C. This will continue the past, mutually
beneficial tradition, where REM faculty have served on graduate supervisory committees in
other departments and faculty in those departments have served on REM' s graduate student
committees. Departments involved include Engineering Sciences, Biological Sciences,
Education, Business Administration, Geography, Economics and, at UBC, Planning and
Forestry, and Geography at the University of Victoria.
Requirements for Admission
All applicants to the Ph.D. program in Resource and Environmental Management must
submit at the time of application a 500- to 1000-word "Statement of Interest" to describe how
this program fits into their career objectives and what they expect to get from the program.
To qualify for admission to the Ph.D. program in Resource and Environmental
Management, an applicant must meet Simon Fraser University's Graduate General Regulations
and must have,
(1)
the ability to carry out innovative, independent, and original Ph.D.-level research
in that field,
(2)
high academic standing in previous university work, and
(3)
a Master's degree in a related discipline.
An exception to the third requirement may be made for a student currently in one of REM's
master's degree programs (MRM or joint MRMIMBA) who shows exceptional abilities. In
such cases, the student may apply to transfer to the Ph.D. program but will qualify for
admission to it only if
(1)
the first two requirements above are met,
(2)
the student has been in the MRM program for at least two semesters and not more
than 4 semesters, and
(3)
the applicable university regulations for such transfers are met.
Applications
the REM Graduate
MRM students who
the Ph.D. degree.
for a transfer must be approved by
Studies Committee, and the SFU
successfully transfer into the Ph.D.
the student's supervisory committee,
Senate Graduate Studies Committee.
program will only be eligible to earn
Qualify
to transfer into the Ph.D. program. The majority of applicants will come from
elsewhere. Students must be accepted by an identified senior supervisor prior to acceptance
into the program. It is strongly advised that Ph.D. applicants visit SFU for an interview prior
to 15 February of the year of requested admission.
0
10
Degree
Courses.
Requirements
A
minimum
?
of 20 credit hours of graduate courses (excluding directed studies
0
courses and MRM 601) will be required for the Ph.D. This will be composed of at
least 4 courses, one in each of two disciplines in the student's research area and two
others (see description below). Normally, students will take a total of 6 to 8 courses in
order to prepare adequately for the comprehensive exams. The list of courses to be
taken must be approved by a student's supervisory committee. Courses outside of the
School of Resource and Environmental Management are subject to the approval of the
REM Graduate Studies Committee.
Comprehensive examinations.
Normally within
5
semesters of full-time registration
after admission to the Ph.D. (or to the MRM degree program if the student transferred
from the MRM degree), students will be required to take 3 written exams, one in each
of 1) environmental science, 2) resource and environmental economics, and 3) resource
and environmental policy. These comprehensive exams will be the primary way to
ensure that REM Ph.D. students have a sufficient grounding in the range of courses
now required at the Master's level, and thus have the depth of understanding in the
essential foundations of resource and environmental management. The REM Graduate
Studies Committee will be responsible for administering the comprehensive exams. All
three exams must be passed for the student to remain registered in the Ph.D. program.
The possible outcomes for each of the 3 qualifying exams are, 1) pass, 2) marginal
(student may be required to take more courses and is permitted a second and final
opportunity to take the deficient exam(s) within one year), or 3) fail. If, after the
second try, any one of the 3 exams is graded fail, the student will be required to
withdraw from the Ph.D. program.
Thesis proposal.
In conjunction with their supervisory committee, a Ph.D. student will
develop a detailed written research proposal that defines the area and methods of
intended research. Normally within 6 semesters of full-time registration after admission
to the Ph.D. program (or within 4 semesters if the student transferred from the MRM
degree), a student must orally present his or her written thesis proposal at a
departmental seminar in the School of Resource and Environmental Management. The
candidate's supervisory committee shall attend the presentation along with other
interested members of the faculty and student body. The oral examining committee
will be composed of the supervisory committee plus the chair of the REM Graduate
Studies Committee. This presentation of the thesis proposal is intended to determine
whether the student's research abilities are adequate for Ph.D.-level research and
whether the proposed research is feasible and has merit. This presentation must be
passed successfully for the student to remain registered in the Ph.D. program. Students
who do not make satisfactory progress on their research topic, or who fail to
demonstrate adequate knowledge and understanding of recent publications in their area
of research, or who fail to have their revised thesis proposal approved by the
supervisory committee within the time limit given at the start of this section, will be
required to withdraw from the Ph.D. program.
Thesis. A
written thesis based on a student's original research is the final requirement
for the Ph.D. The thesis must include aspects of at least two disciplines (usually a
primary and secondary discipline, such as ecology and economics, or toxicology and
law). The topic must be approved as noted above and the student's progress will be
evaluated annually. That evaluation will be undertaken according to the SFU General
Regulations. To graduate, the student must successfully complete a thesis defense,
following the usual SFU format. All other general requirements for a Ph.D. will be
followed as outlined in the SFU calendar.
11
Period of residence.
A Ph.D. candidate must be registered and in-residence at SFU for
the minimum number of semesters as described in the SFU Graduate Regulations.
Curriculum
All Ph.D. students in Resource and Environmental Management must complete at least
four graduate courses. They will be in:
1) MRM 801
(5
units) Principles of Research Methods and Design in Resource and
Environmental Management
2)
MRM 802 (5 units) Institutional Design and Decision Making for Environmental
Management
3)
At least one course in the student's primary field
4)
At least one course in the student's secondary field
Courses already offered in the School of Resource and Environmental Management will
be available for credit towards a Ph.D. degree. The only exceptions for credit toward a Ph.D.
degree will be MRM 601 and directed studies courses.
MRM 601-5
Natural Resources Management I: Theory and Practice.
An overview of
disciplinary and interdisciplinary theories and their practical application to
natural resource analysis and environmental planning.
MRM
602-5
Natural Resources Management II: Advanced Seminar. A professional
group workshop course focusing on specific resource and environmental
problems. (Prereq.: 8 MRM courses or permission of instructor).
MRM
610-5
Management of Contaminants in the Environment. A
study of
environmental behaviour and toxic effects of chemical substances in the
environment and the application of methodologies for their management.
MRM 611-5
Applied Population and Community Ecology.
A review of population,
community, and ecosystem ecology; implications of these areas for methods of
resource management and environmental assessment.
MRM
612-5
Simulation Modelling in Natural Resource Management.
Methods of
constructing simulation models and analyzing them through sensitivity analysis.
Application of simulation modelling to research and management of
environmental and resource systems. Topics include management of wildlife,
forests, insect pests, fisheries, pollution problems, energy resources, and
recreational land use. (Prereq.: MRM 611 or permission of instructor).
MRM 6
13-5
Current Topics in Fisheries Management.
Models of fish population
dynamics, methods of data analysis, and management in the context of
uncertainty. Case studies of management of various world fisheries. In depth
exploration of selected current fisheries problems including extensive data
analysis. Focus will be primarily on biological aspects of fisheries management
while illustrating how these interface with economic, social and institutional
concerns of managers. (Prereq.: MRM 611 and MRM 612 or permission of
instructor). Offered every second fall semester.
MRM
615-3
Management of Aquaculture Resources.
Environmental, political, and social
issues related to siting and operation of aquaculture facilities. Topics drawn
it.
12
from coastal zone management, regional planning, public policy analysis,
environmental and social impact assessment, resource law and ecology.
?
Is
MRM 621-5
Economics of Natural Resources.
Application of economic theory
to
natural
resources and environmental management problems with a view to assessing
existing and alternative policies. ?
Includes theoretical analysis of concepts such
as resource pricing, market failure, taxation, and management strategies for
specific resources such as forestry, fisheries, energy and environment.
MRM 631-5
Applied Geomorphology and Hydrology.
?
A review of geomorphic and
hydrologic principles; the morphology of drainage basins; selected case studies.
MRM 641-5
Law and Resources. ?
A study of legal interventions related to resource
planning and environmental control.
?
The course examines several aspects of
environmental and resource law including administrative and constitutional law,
international law, land use law, and native rights.
MRM
642-5
Regional Planning. ?
Theory and techniques of regional analysis; planning
models and their application to key resource sectors and the environment.
MRM
644-5
Public Policy Analysis and Administration.
An analysis of methods of policy
making and problem solving applied to natural and environmental resource
issues. ?
Topics include goal setting, problem definition, program scheduling,
policy evaluation, policy implementation and public administration.
?
A practical
analysis of the structure and process surrounding major contemporary issues.
MRM 646-5
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment.
Evaluation and application of
current methodologies for social, economic and biophysical impact assessment.
(Prereq.:
MRM 601, MRM
611,
MRM 621, MRM
642, or permission of
instructor).
MRM
647-5
Parks and Outdoor Recreation Planning.
?
Resource assessment, planning,
and management methods related to parks and outdoor recreation.
MRM
648-5
The Tourism System.
?
Examination of social, environmental, and economic
components of tourism. ?
Discussion of tourism planning and management will
focus on the development of tourism as a renewable resource.
MRM
649-5
Tourism ?
Planning and ?
Policy. ?
The course provides ?
frameworks and
methodologies for understanding the policy and planning initiatives of public
and private sector tourism organizations.
?
Foundations for resource assessment,
market analysis, ?
product-market matching,
?
and
?
regional ?
tourism ?
strategy
development.
MRM
650-5
Energy Management and Policy.
?
Integration of energy supply and energy
demand management to formulate cohesive and efficient energy policies.
Topics include thermodynamics, modelling, conservation, energy pricing, oil
markets, project assessment, the environment and energy planning in developing
countries.
MRM 65
1-5
Project Evaluation. ?
The course will examine the role, limitations, and
methods of benefit-cost analysis. ?
Different measurement techniques will be
applied to the estimation of a range
of
benefits and costs. ?
(Prereq.: Econ 200,
MRM
621, or permission of instructor).
'4.
13
MRM
652-5
Community Tourism Planning and Development.
The course critically
examines approaches employed by communities incorporating tourism into their
development strategies. Techniques for optimizing the resource potential of
communities from economic, social, cultural and environmental perspectives are
explored with a view toward developing policies for 'appropriate' community
tourism.
MRM
655-5
Water Planning and Management.
Evaluation of theoretical models and
management experiences; federal, provincial, and international institutional
arrangements and jurisdictional responsibilities; emerging problems and
opportunities. Includes field trips to review water management practices in
California, the Columbia River Basin, and British Columbia. (Prereq.: MRM
601, MRM 621, MRM 631, and MRM 646 or permission of instructor).
MRM
658-5
Energy Systems Modelling.
Training and practical experience in the use of the
range of techniques for modelling energy systems: linear-programming,
econometrics, input-output, energy service models and integrated systems.
(Prereq.:
MRM
621 and
MRM
650).
MRM
660-5
Special Topics in Natural Resources
through
Management. Selected topics in areas not
MRM 664-5 currently offered within REM.
MRM
670-5
Introduction to Forestry. ?
Examines the theory and practice of forest
management, based on an understanding of the linkages between forest
.
ecosytem dynamics, economics, policy and social concerns. ?
Principles are
illustrated with reference to contemporary forestry issues. (Prereq.:
MRM
611
or permission of instructor).
MRM
671-5
Forest Ecology. ?
Structure, function and development of forest ecosystems.
Population, community, ecosystem and landscape approaches are used to enable
students to understand the biology and management of forests in terms of the
processes driving spatial and temporal dynamics.
MRM 690-0
Practicum
I. First semester of work experience in the School of Resource and
Environmental
?
Management's ?
Co-operative Education ?
program. ?
(Prereq.:
Students must have completed at least one semester's courses and permission of
REM's
Co-op Coordinator).
MRM 691-0 Practicum H.
Second semester of work experience in the School of Resource
and Environmental Management's Co-operative Education program. (Prereq.:
Completion of Practicum I and permission of REM's Co-op Coordinator).
MRM 698-3 Field Resource Management Workshop.
An intensive field course
introducing students to the diversity of issues and viewpoints concerning
management of natural resources. Problem areas will include forestry, mining,
fisheries and wildlife management; energy, recreation and land use planning.
MRM 699-10 Research Project.
A research project dealing with a specific interdisciplinary
problem in resource management, administration or allocation. The study must
result in the preparation of a formal paper and the presentation of a seminar.
1,.
14
In addition to these listed courses, graduate courses are available in other departments at SFU
such as Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Economics, Geography, and Statistics. Some of
REM's Master's students and a REM Special Arrangements Ph.D. student have already
benefited from taking courses in SFU's Departments of Biological Science, Business
Administration, Economics, Mathematics and Statistics, and others. This across-department
registration is expected to increase slightly with the establishment of the Ph.D. program in
Resource and Environmental Management.
Through the Western Deans' Agreement, courses at the University
of B.C.
are open to
credit for SFU students (and vice versa). Several relevant ones offered at UBC are in
Forestry, Community and Regional Planning, Zoology, Economics, and Agricultural Sciences,
among other departments. Thus, there is a large set of courses on which REM Ph.D. students
can draw.
New courses
As noted above, two new courses are proposed in direct support of the Ph.D. program,
a research design and methods course, and a course in institutional design and decision making
(see the attached course proposals). Because of these new courses, and a constraint on
increasing the number of faculty, some existing courses may be offered less frequently.
M.
The Need for the Program
It is widely recognized that natural resource problems have numerous dimensions
involving issues of economics, ecology, sociology, chemistry, and many other disciplines.
Proper management of natural resources and the environment requires that their complexities
be understood and adequately accounted for by researchers, technical advisors, managers, and
decision makers. Too narrow a viewpoint has frequently created new problems. This is true
not only for government regulatory agencies but also for industry and consulting firms. It is
therefore no longer effective for people in such agencies to be trained in only one specialty; in
addition, they must understand the viewpoints, methods of analysis, and problems of the
various users of the resources. This is particularly so in this era of broad public consultation
because such personnel often serve on multidisciplinary task forces or research teams that are
set up to investigate or resolve complex environmental problems. Effective communication in
such settings is only possible when there is an adequate understanding of the relevant
disciplines.' This applies, for example, where a biologist knows the basic assumptions and
methods of benefit/cost analysis, or where a resource economist recognizes the limits to the
rate of replacement of some harvested population of plants or animals.
The need for interdisciplinary training in resource and environmental management must
not compromise the depth of that training. This principle was recognized when the forerunner
of the School of Resource and Environmental Management was set up at SFU in 1979. The
aim then, as now, is to give students familiarity and competence in understanding the
dynamics of natural resources, the strategies and methods of environmental planning and
management, and the biological, physical, social, economic, and institutional implications of
resource decisions. Students must also become familiar with various quantitative methods of
analysis and aids to decision making. That philosophy has worked well for the education and
subsequent success of REM's Master's students.
There is now an increasing demand for Ph.D. students who are trained more broadly
than is common in the traditional single-discipline university departments. In 1991, the
Canadian Department of Environment established the Eco-Research Program in conjunction
I&.
15
• with the three federal granting councils: NSERC, SSHRC, and Medical Research Council of
Canada (MRC). The administration of this program is through the Tr-Council Secretariat.
One of the principal reasons for creating the Eco-Research program was a recognition by the
Canadian government of the need for researchers to be trained more broadly than in just one of
the traditional disciplines. This idea is reiterated in a recent report produced by the Federal
inter-departmental committee (Eco-Research Program Evaluation Steering Committee 1992)
that is responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of the Eco-Research program. The report,
which traces the development of the program and provides the results of interviews with 22
key stakeholders, states:
"In particular, it was emphasized that in order to effectively tackle environmental
problems there is a need for people who can work across traditional discipline
boundaries. One dimensional technical people will not be sufficient..."
Particularly relevant to our proposed Ph.D. program is the creation of 3-year fellowships for
Ph.D. students in environmental topics by the Tri-Council Secretariat on behalf of NSERC,
SSHRC, and MRC. The terms of reference for those fellowships clearly state that "The peer
review committee favours cross-disciplinary programs of study" (Tr-Council Sec. 1991, p.
11). Further expression of this philosophy is given in the Tri-Council's introduction to the
Eco-Research Program:
"Moreover, innovative cross-disciplinary approaches are critical to take proper account
of the complex, interactive nature of the various processed involved. For example, a
composite of research skills is needed from the social sciences and humanities, the
health sciences and the natural sciences and engineering to shed light on the dynamics
•
?
?
of ecosystems, the impacts of environmental change on human health, and the
?
underlying human causes of environmental degradation." (Tr-Council Sec. 1991, p.
1).
Consultation with Non-university Agencies
Several letters from potential employers in both public and private agencies indicate
that they perceive a need for the type of Ph.D. program that REM proposes (Appendix 3).
Enrolment
There already is demand by potential students for a Ph.D. in the School of Resource and
Environmental Management. The School receives about 12 to 18 requests per year for
admission to a Ph.D. program, most of them from Canadians, a number that will undoubtedly
increase once a program is actually in place. Most applicants express interest in the School of
Resource and Environmental Management because of the interdisciplinary theme and the
research interests of REM faculty. Many have been so keen to obtain this type of training that
they are willing to take REM's Master's program in lieu of a Ph.D. even though they already
have a Master's degree, The School has had over a dozen students who already hold Master's
degrees, and it had
35
such Master's degree holders apply for admission in 1992. As with
most graduate students, these applicants already have a well-defined goal and are seeking a
program that will meet their needs for interdisciplinary training in natural resources. Thus, it
is unlikely they would apply to other departments at SFU; they would likely apply to other
universities, particularly in the United States, where such interdisciplinary Ph.D.s are offered.
Because of REM's unique theme, it is rare that an applicant applies to REM and also to
• another SFU graduate program. REM is attracting new, high quality students to SFU who
would otherwise not come here. As a result, this new program will reduce the number of
Canadians having to study abroad, some of whom never return to Canada.
11--
16
REM expects to admit about 2 or 3 Ph.D. students per year, which wouldmean a student
body of about 8 to 15 Ph.D. students at a given time when running at full capacity. As a
result, the School plans to accept 2 or 3 fewer students into its Master's degree stream each
year. As noted above, only a very small proportion of students in the master's program will
qualify or be interested in transferring to a Ph.D. program. Thus, most admissions to the
Ph.D. program will come from outside applicants.
Type of Jobs
Successful management of natural resources and the environment necessitates a broad
perspective by individuals at all levels in government agencies, industry, consulting
firms,
crown corporations, universities, and non-governmental organizations. Graduates with Ph.D.s
from REM will be able to fill positions in those organizations as research scientists, research
managers, members of planning or assessment teams, environmental biologists, and other
related jobs. Ph.D.-level people are increasingly required as expert witnesses by all parties in
technical or legal hearings on environmental conflicts. Some of the key program stakeholders
who were interviewed in the course of the Eco-Research evaluation framework study (Eco-
Research Program Evaluation Steering Committee 1992) indicate (in the words of the
consultants who conducted the study) that: "...many companies will be hiring experts in
environmental management" and "scientists and engineers with training appropriate for
environmental research will be sought by a variety of employers, as well as by those directly
concerned with research in environmental science." The latter point is true because, for
instance, industries are being required to do more monitoring to ensure compliance with
government environmental regulations. Finally, some Ph.D.s from REM will be hired as
faculty at universities. Copies of recent advertisements illustrate that there is a need for such
graduates (Appendix 4).
Demand for Ph.D. Graduates
Demand by employers for graduates of a Ph.D. program in resource management is
expected to be large. The Conference Board of Canada and the Canada Dept. of Employment
and Immigration have pointed out the expected shortage of highly trained personnel in this
field. It will arise partly from the large portion of highly qualified staff that will retire or
otherwise leave during the next 10 to 15 years. As noted above, NSERC, SSHIRC, and MRC
have also recently recognized through the Tri-Council Eco-Research Program, the unique role
needed for interdisciplinar
y
training in environmental management, which is exactly what our
Master's program has been doing since its inception in 1979. This current and projected
future need is what stimulated Canadian federal agencies to establish the fellowship program
for Ph.D. students in environmental research. Furthermore, issues in management of our
natural resources are high on the list of priorities of governments and the public, and they are
likely to remain there for a considerable period because of limited natural resources and
increasing conflicts over their use. Public demand is also high for increasing government
regulation and action to manage the environment. This will further stimulate the creation of
positions in public and private agencies to deal with these problems. Thus, the hiring of Ph.D.
graduates in the field of environmental management will be a growth industry in North
America over the next decade or two.
A rough indication of the demand for future Ph.D. graduates from SFU's School of
Resource and Environmental Management comes from the current strong interest in its
graduates from the Master's program. Appendix 1 shows the responsible positions held by
.
.
.
IT
17
REM graduates. In
fact,
demand is so great that in some areas students are often lured away
to high-paying positions before they have finished writing up their research project.
Supply of Ph.D.s in Resource and Environmental Management
No institution in Canada produces Ph.D. graduates with the type and depth of
interdisciplinary training in natural and social sciences that they would get in the School of
Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. As noted in the section
on Comparison with Other Programs, existing Ph.D. programs related to environmental
management are either strongly disciplinary or emphasize only the social sciences.
The Conference Board of Canada (1990, p. 7) reported that environmental specialists
are among the professions expected to be in shortest supply over the next
5
years. However,
the information is not broken down by Master's vs. Ph.D.s.
Based on current enrolments and annual admissions, the number of Ph.D.s graduating
annually from other Canadian universities in interdisciplinary resource and environmental
management will in the near future be approximately 8 per year from York (mostly social
science oriented) and 1 or 2 from UBC. REM expects to graduate between 2 and 3 per year.
Thus, the additional graduates from our program are not likely to saturate the market. On the
contrary, demand for graduates will continue to exceed the supply, especially for students with
strong scientific and interdisciplinary training.
IV. Present and Projected Resources
Very little, if any, additional resources are necessary to offer this Ph.D. program. The
School of Resource and Environmental Management currently has an interdisciplinary team of
9 full-time faculty and 2 faculty cross-appointed with other SFU departments, as well as
several associate faculty in other departments. These are sufficient to mount the proposed
Ph.D. program (especially as our total enrolment will remain unchanged), although over the
next few years REM hopes to add to the quality of the program by hiring other faculty
members. REM already offer a wide variety of courses and it expects that Ph.D. students will
also take graduate courses in other SFU departments. At this time, it anticipates offering only
two additional courses to meet the needs of Ph.D. students.
Ph.D. students will be funded through normal channels. Based on the past success of
our Master's students in national scholarship competitions, we anticipate that some of the
Ph.D. students will hold NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships and others will hold Tn-Council
Secretariat Doctoral Fellowships. They will also be competitive for SFU fellowships, teaching
assistantships, and research assistantships. There are also a growing number of private
environmental scholarships available. Finally, we expect faculty research grants and contracts
to provide stipends and research funds for Ph.D. students who are not otherwise funded.
The School of Resource and Environmental Management has had faculty and graduate
students since 1979, and the library holdings have been adequate for their needs. While
doctoral students will undoubtedly undertake more detailed and specific research in their
theses, we do not presently anticipate needing significant additional materials over those
presently available. The attached correspondence between R. Peterman (REM) and R. Stanton
(Library) establishes the modest budget requirements for adding to the library's collection:
. ?
$892 one-time cost plus $91/year. There will be no need to replace the lost donated
documents referred to in the library's memo of 3 Feb. 1993.
1q.
18
Budget
As
?
REM intends to keep its overall graduate enrolment stable by directly substituting
I*
doctoral for Masters admissions, no additional financial impact on the School is anticipated.
We expect any additional pressures on financial resources to be covered by the grants to
faculty and scholarships of the doctoral students, with the exception of the added cost for
library resources noted above. REM's operating budget will be increased to cover that cost.
Research Awards to Faculty in the School of Resource and Environmental Management
The attached faculty curriculum vitae (Appendix
5)
indicate both the existing level of
funding available to support the research projects of graduate students and the quality of
current research in the School of Resource and Environmental Management. This information
indicates that REM faculty are capable of supervising Ph.D. students.
Conclusion
This proposal for a
Ph.D. in Resource and Environmental Management
reflects the
spirit for which Simon Fraser University is known: establishing high-quality innovative
programs. REM hopes to implement this proposal rapidly.
S
0
0
19
I* ?
References
Conference Board of Canada. 1990. R
and
D Outlook 1991. 7th ed. Ottawa, Ontario, 18
pp.
Duke University 1990-91 Bulletin, Graduate School,
pp.
54-56,
118.
Duke University 1992-93 Bulletin, School of the Environment.
Eco-Research Program Evaluation Steering Committee (1992). Framework for an Evaluation
of the Eco-Research Program. Government of Canada. Ottawa, ON 73 pp.
Simon Fraser University 1990-91 Calendar,
pp.
244-246.
Tn-Council Secretariat. 1991. Eco-research: A Tr-Council Green Plan Program. Ottawa,
Ont. 13 pp.
University of British Columbia 1990-91 Calendar (Faculty of Graduate Studies),
pp.
23, 43.
University of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies Announcement 1990-
91, 1991-92, Vol II,
pp
256-263.
University of Victoria 1991-92 Calendar,
pp.
266-268.
University of Waterloo 1990-91 Graduate Studies Calendar,
pp.
68-78.
York University 1991-92 Graduate Studies Calendar,
pp.
68-78.
3^.
APPENDIX 2
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Faculty Gradua
Faculty:
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Departmental Gr
5. Approved:
Date:
(?2JAo
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-Date:
Date:
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1
2-0
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/?r9
Date:
/t1
Date:___________
APPENDIX 6
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES
?
NEW COURSE PROPOSAL FORM
9
1. Calendar Information:
School:
Resource and Environmental Management
?
Course Number:MRM 801
Title of Course: Princi
p
les of Research Methods and Design in Resource and
Environmental Management
Calendar Description of Course: Develo
p
skills and insight into the design and
methods of interdisci
p linary
research
in natural resource and environmental
management.
Credit Hours: 5 Vector:2-2-1
Nature of Course: Lecture, laborator
y
,
and tutorial
Prerequisites (if any):
NONE
2. Enrolment and Scheduling:
Estimated enrollment:
j
When will the course first be offered?
FALL 1994
How frequently will the course be offered? Once
p er year
3.
Justification:
This course will consolidate into one
p
lace research methods currentl
y
being
covered briefl
y
in several MRM courses. Students will
develo p
skills and insight into
the design and methods of interdisci
p linary
research in natural resource and
environmental management.
4. Resources:
Which faculty member will normally teach the course? Drs. Randall Peterman
Frank Gobas, Pam Wright
What additional resources will be required in the following areas?
Faculty: None
Staff: ?
None
Audio Visual: None
Space: None
Equipment: None
Library (append details):
?
Minor; see attached memo from the library
_
4.
MRM
801:
Principles of Research Methods and Design in Resource and
Environmental Management
Purpose:
Students will develop skills and insight into the design and methods of
interdisciplinary research in natural resource and environmental management. This will
help prepare students to carry out their own research projects.
Scope:
This course will meet the specific needs of graduate students in the School of
Resource and Environmental Management in their first year as they are selecting and
designing a research project. The objective of this course is to familiarize students with
both quantitative and qualitative research methods in the field of interdisciplinary
resource management. The core material will be expanded on each year to focus on
problems relevant to the research being undertaken by that year's students.
The curriculum is designed to address a variety of methodologies and techniques
that can be used in planning and conducting interdisciplinary and applied research in
complex real-world environments. The integrative and applied nature of research in
the area of resource and environmental management often requires the application of
advanced quantitative research methodologies (e.g. stochastic simulation modelling), as
well as applications of traditional research methods (e.g. experimental design of
management actions). It also requires identification of resource management objectives
to ensure that results are useable. Similarly, the interdisciplinary nature of research
projects in natural resource management requires qualitative research in some cases
(e.g. analysis of policies and institutional jurisdictions, or social and economic impacts
of resource developments).
Format:
MRM 801 will have a lecture, laboratory, and seminar format. To
complement lectures, some class sessions will be occupied by the discussion and
analysis of current, classic, or problem papers illustrating a particular issue.
Prerequisites:
We will assume prior knowledge of basic principles in inferential
statistics, data analysis, and data collection methods in some specific discipline and an
ability to read critically the primary technical literature of a variet
y of disciplines.
.
I-
L-1
Selected References:
Atkinson, P., S. Delamont and M. Hammersley. 1988. Qualitative research traditions:
A British response to Jacob. Rev. Educational
Res.
58(2):231-250.
Conner, E.F. and D. Simberloff. 1986. Competition, scientific method, and null
models in ecology. American Scientist 74:
155-1621.
Crabtree, Benjamin F. 1992. Doing Qualitative Research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage
Pub.
Eberhardt, L.L. and J.M. Thomas. 1991. Designing environmental field studies.
Ecological Monographs
61:53-74.
Green, R.H. 1979. Sampling Design and Statistical Methods for Environmental
Biologists. John Wiley, NY,
257
pp.
Green, R.H. 1989. Power analysis and practical strategies for environmental
monitoring. Environmental Research
50:195-205.
Gurevitch, J. and S.T. Chester, Jr. 1986. Analysis of repeated measures experiments.
Ecology 67:251-255.
Kirk, Jerome and Marc L. Miller. 1986. Reliability and Validity in Qualitative
Research. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills.
• McAllister, M.K., R.M. Peterman and D.M. Gillis. 1992. Statistical power analysis
of large-scale fishing experiments designed to test for a genetic effect of size-
selective fishing on British Columbia pink salmon. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.
49:1294-1304.
Miles, Matthew B. and A. Michael Huberman. 1984. Qualitative Data Analysis: A
Sourcebook of New Methods. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
Millard, S.P. 1987. Environmental monitoring, statistics, and the law: room for
improvement. Am. Stat. 41:249-253.
Millard, S.P. and D.P. Lettenmaier. 1986. Optimal design of biological sampling
programs using analysis of variance. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
22:637-656.
Murphy, D.D. and B.R. Noon. 1991. Coping with uncertainty in wildlife biology.
Journal of Wildlife Management
55:773-782.
Murphy, D.D. and B.R. Noon. 1992. Integrating scientific methods with habitat
conservation planning: reserve design for Northern Spotted Owls. Ecological
Applications 2:3-17.
Rastetter, E.B.,
A.W. King, B.J. Cosby, G.M. Hornberger, R.V. O'Neill, and J.E.
Hobbie. 1992. Aggregating fine scale ecological knowledge to model coarser-
scale attributes of ecosystems. Ecological Applications
2:55-70.
Romesburg, H.C. 1981. Wildlife science: gaining reliable knowledge. The Journal of
Wildlife Management 45:293-313.
Rossi, R. E., D.A. Mulla, A.G. Journel, and E.H. Franz. 1992. Geostatistical tools
for modeling and interpreting ecological spatial dependence. Ecological
Monographs 62:277-314.
Skaiski, J. R., and D.H. McKenzie. 1982. A design for aquatic monitoring programs.
•
?
J. Envir. Mgmt. 14:237-251.
Stewart-Oaten, A., W.R. Murdoch, and K.R. Parker. 1986. Environmental impact
assessment: "pseudoreplication" in time? Ecology 67:929-940.
801 mrm
0
as
, ?
.
MEMORANDUM
W.A.C. Bennett Library, Simon Fraser ufniversity
?
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
TAJ1S6
Date: 8 February, 1994
From: Ralph Stanton (Collections Librarian)
To: ?
Professor Randall M. Petermnan, Chair of the Graduate
Studies Committee, School of Resource and
Environmental Management
Re:
?
Added cost attached to collection assessment. SREM
Ph.D. proposal. (Original memo dated 1 February,
1993, updated 14 January, 1994).
To confirm your telephone call of this morning in which
you pointed out the desirability of adding the backrun of
Ecological Applications.
This publication was in its third
year in 1993. Therefore we will buy 1991 to 1993 as a
backrun; 3 years at $91 a year or $273.
ADDED COST TO THIS ASSESSMENT IS $273 AS A
ONE
TIME COST.
^t-
RS
S
^1 -
0
MEMORANDUM
• ?
W.A.C. Bennett Library, Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
Date: 14 January, 1994..
From: Ralph Stanton (Collections Librarian)
To: ?
professor Randall M. Peterman, Chair of the Graduate
Studies Committee, School of Resource and
Environmental Management
Re:
?
Your memo of 10 December 1993 regarding the Library
collection assessment and the SREM Ph.D. proposal.
THIS MEMO REVISES COSTS ORIGINALLY SET OUT IN MY
MEMO DATED FEBRUARY 3, 1993.
Thank-you for your memorandum of 10 December, 1993. We agree
with the basic direction of your memo and summarize our
agreement following your points:
1.
- Agree to remove the request for a subscription to
Negotiation Journal.
-
We suggest the purchase of a second copy of
Qualitative
Data Analysis: a Sourcebook of New Methods by Miles and
Huberman
(on your new reading list) at a cost of $59 since
our copy is both a 3 week loan item and is now out on loan.
2.
- Agree that
BiosiS
on CD-ROM is an option you may'wish
to pick up at some future time.
If this approach is acceptable the revised costs are as \
follows:
Required:
7 monographs $560 one time cost
1 added monograph $59 one time cost
1 serial (Ecological Applications) $91 recurring cost
Optional:
Biosis
CD-ROM if and when the School has the funds
and wants to add this item.
The costs in this memo were agreed to in a phone
conversation with you today.
Best Regards,
Ralph Stanton
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Miles, Matthew B. & Huberman, A. Michael. Qualitative Data
Analysis: A Sourcebook of New Methods. 240p. 1984. Hardcover
text edition. $44.00. (ISBN 0-8039-2274-4) . Sage
Publications, Incorporated.
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..
• LT^DAR DFORi.
De
part
m
ent:
Sc
hool of Resource and Environmental Mgmt.
?
Course
Number:MRM 802
Institutiona
l
Design and Decision Making for Environmenta
l
Management
DecriptioU
?
To familiarize students with three aspects of the organizationa
l
context for
resource and environmental
?
institutional
and
decision
analysis. -
5
?
Vector:
500
?
Prerequisite(s) if
Credit BourS
ENROLLMENT
AND
ScDULD
course first be offered:
?
1994
EstiIflt Enroilment..
?
4 ?
When viii the
Bow often
will
the course be offered:
?
Once per year
FITION:.
of
le
g
islati
ve
and
Students will develop an understandiflg0f the
institu
t
ional analysisand
methods
of
ecj
S
jon_mkiflg
in
natura
l
r
es
o
u
r
ce
.__.
and
environmental management.
BESOURC
Which Faculty
?
will normally teach the course
?
Dr. Chad Day, Dr. Michael MtGonigle
Dr. Randall Peterman
What
are the budgetary implications of
counting
the course:
Are
there sufficient Library resources (append details):
Appended: a) Outline of the
cours
e
b)
An indication of
the
cOmPet&1
of the Faculty member to
give
the
course.
c)
Library resources
Departmental
Graduate Studies
Faculty Gradua
te
Date:___________
tr,ii4tP.
St
senate
- ?
Date
Senate
MRM 802 Institutional Design and Decision Making for Environmental
Management ?
0
Purpose: Students will develop a sophisticated understanding of the institutional
structure and methods of decision-making in natural resource and environmental
management. This course complements material covered in a variety of master's level
courses.
Scope: This course will familiarize students with three aspects of the organizational
context for resource and environmental management--legislative, institutional and
decision analysis. (1) The nature and methods of the legislative and regulatory
framework will be analyzed at a provincial and national level, with appropriate
international comparisons. From this, students will gain an up-to-date understanding of
both the legal context and strategies for effective governmental action. (2) The
attributes of effective institutional design will be analyzed from a range of perpsectives
such as policy analysis and planning, monitoring and evaluation of programs,
negotiation and public participation techniques. (3) Finally, a range of techniques for
rational decision-making will be addressed, including simulation modelling, cost and
risk-benefit analyses and goals achievement matrices. This section will especially
address the nature of decision-making under conditions of uncertainty.
Format: Run as a
small seminar, the research and discussion will be oriented to
providing a forum for in-depth application of these topics to current issues and debates
in the field. Each student will be expected to apply these topics to their special
research area.
Prerequisites: While there are no prerequisites for this course, students will benefit
from participating in existing 600 level courses, including MRM 641, MRM 642,
MRM 644, MRM 646 or MRM
655.
Implications for Library Resources: The
range of journals and books held currently
by the library is sufficient at present for the disciplines covered in this course.
References
Barnthouse, L. W., R.J. Klauda, D.S. Vaughan, and R.L. Kendall (eds.). 1988. Science,
Law, and Hudson River Power Plants. Amer. Fish. Soc. Monograph 4:1-347.
Boardman, Robert (ed.). 1992. Canadian Environmental Policy: Ecosystems, Politics,
and Process. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
Clark, C.W. 1985. Bioeconomic Modelling and Fisheries Management. John Wiley, New
York.
Cormick, G. 1989. "Strategic issues in structuring multi-party public policy
negotiations." Negotiation Jour. 5(2):125-32.
Covello, V.T. 1987. Decision analysis and risk management decision making: issues and
methods. Risk Analysis 7:131-138.
Dawes, R.M. 1988. Rational Choice in an Uncertain World. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Orlando, FL.
Glantz, M.H. and J.D. Thompson (ed.). 1981. Resource Management and Environmental
Uncertainty. John Wiley, New York.
Harmon, M. and R. Mayer. 1986. Organization Theory for Public Administration.
Toronto, ON: Little, Brown & Co.
Hilborn, R. and C.J. Walters. 1992. Quantitative Fisheries Stock Assessment: Choice,
Dynamics and Uncertainty. Chapman and Hall, New York.
^1.
• ?
Holling, C. S. (ed.). 1978. Adaptive Environmental Assessment and Management. John
Wiley, Chichester, UK.
Keeney, R. L. and H. Raiffa. 1976. Decisions with Multiple Objectives: Preferences and
Tradeoffs. John Wiley, New York.
Kennet, Steven A. 1990. "Federalism and Sustainable Development: The Institutional
Challenge in Canadian Resource Management.
"
Alternatives 17(3):67-85.
Mayer, M.W. 1985. Limits to Bureaucratic Growth. New York, NY: Walter de Gruyter.
Morgan, Gareth. 1989. Creative Organization Theory: A Resourcebook. London, UK:
Sage Publications.
Morgan, M. G. and M. Henrion. 1990. Uncertainty: a Guide to Dealing with Uncertainty
in Quantitative Risk and Policy Analysis. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge,
UK.
Parkhurst, D.F. 1984. Decision analysis for toxic waste releases. J. Environmental
Management 18:105-130.
Rainey, Hal G. 1991. Understanding and managing public organizations. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Rogers, D.S. and D.A. Whetten. 1982. Interorganizational Coordination. Des Moines,
IA: Iowa State University Press.
Susskind, L. and J. Cruikshank. 1987. Breaking the Impasse: Consensual approaches to
resolving public disputes. New York, NY: Plenum Press.
von Furstenberg, G.M. (ed.). 1990. Acting Under Uncertainty: Multidisciplinary
Conceptions. Kluwer Acad. Publ., Boston.
Walters, C.J. 1986. Adaptive Management of Renewable Resources. MacMillan, New
York.
Walters, C.J. and C.S. Holling. 1990. Large-scale management experiments and learning
S
by doing. Ecology 71:2060-2068.
Wondoll eck, J. 1985. "The importance of process in resolving environmental disputes."
EIA Review 5(4):341-356.
World Commission on Environment and Development. 1987. Our Common Future.
New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
plus numerous articles in journals such as: AT Applications in Natural Resource
Management, Canadian J. of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, J. Environmental
Management, Ecological Applications, Ecological Economics, Ecology,
J.
Environmental Economics and Management, Risk Anal
y
sis, and Science.
0
-1^2_
APPENDIX 7
. ?
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
?
SCHOOL OF RESOURCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
MEMORANDUM
TO: ?
Dr. Phyllis Wrenn ? DATE: 18 Jan. 1994
Dean of Graduate Studies
FROM: Randall M. Peterman
Professor and Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee
School of Resource and Environmental Management
SUBJECT: Responses to External Reviews of Proposal for Ph.D. in Resource
and Environmental Management
I apologize for the lengthy delay in responding to the external reviews
of our proposed Ph.D. program in Resource and Environmental
Management. Last fall was extremely busy.
The external reviews were very useful and constructive, especially Dr,
Bassett's. Revisions to our proposal have now been made taking into
account the suggestions of these reviewers. Our responses are summarized
below. The School of Resource and Environmental Management is
abbreviated REM.
External Reviewer # 1: Dr. John Bassett, University of Michigan
Dr. Bassett's page 1:
1.
We did not intend to imply that our doctoral students would each
obtain a 3-year Tr-Council Secretariat fellowship. We only mentioned the
existence of this interdisciplinary fellowship as further evidence of the
growing recognition that Ph.D. training in the environmental field should be
interdisciplinary. A new section on funding of Ph.D. students has been
added on page 17.
2.
A statement has been added under "Requirements for Admission"
on page 9 to clarify that MRM students who successfully transfer into the
REM Ph.D. program would only be eligible to earn the Ph.D. degree. They
would not get both a MRM and Ph.D.
3.
Also in this same section, wording has been changed to read that
"Students must be acce p ted b
y
an identified senior supervisor prior to
acceptance into the program." We have also now included in the calendar
entry a statement encouraging Ph.D. applicants to visit SFU for an interview
prior to 15 February.
Dr. Bassett's page 2:
4.
Dr. Bassett's question concerning the minimum GPA for a MRM
student who transfers into the Ph.D. is taken care of by the combination of
the SFU General Graduate Regulations 1.3.3 and our "Requirements for
Admission" on page 9 that require a "high academic standing in previous
.
?
university work." The SFU regulation for entry into a Ph.D. program is for a
minimum GPA of 3.5 at the Bachelor's level if the student does not already
have a Master's degree, or a GPA of at least 3.5 in 75% of the graduate
t ^ 5 -
2
course work after having completed at least 2 semesters of a Master's
program at SFU. We therefore see no problem; all contingencies for MRM
students who request a transfer into the REM Ph.D. program are clearly
covered.
5.
We currently require a "Statement of Interest" as part of the
application for our Master's program and this will be true of the Ph.D.
program as well, as Dr. Bassett suggests. Wording to this effect has been
added under "Requirements for Admission" on page 9.
6.
We hesitate to require more than the 4 courses already noted in
the proposal. While we expect that most students will need to take more in
order to prepare adequately for the comprehensive exams, this larger
number of courses should not be required of everyone because some
students may already have adequate background in one of the main topic
areas. Instead, each student will at a minimum be expected to be
knowledgeable in the areas covered by the comprehensive exams.
7.
One of the required courses for Ph.D. students (MRM 801) will be
oriented exclusively to the "tools of analysis, research design, ..." that Dr.
Bassett suggests. We expect that most students will gain further
background on those topics in courses in their area of primary interest. We
therefore do not see a need to require two methods courses explicitly.
Dr. Bassett's page 3:
8.
We have now added wording on page 10 to clarify the purpose
and potential outcomes of the comprehensive exams and the defense of the
thesis proposal. Successful completion of all three comprehensive exams
and successful defense of the proposal is required in order for the student to
proceed to the next phase, the thesis research. Students who fail to
complete either of these requirements within the required time will be asked
to withdraw from the Ph.D. program.
9.
Dr. Bassett's comment on the fees simply reflects his lack of
familiarity with the SFU graduate tuition system. There is no problem with
the proposed degree program; SFU's minimum required 8 full-time fee units
will apply.
10.
He was also not aware that all SFU graduate students must
register as "enrolled" if they are using university resources, including asking
faculty to read drafts of theses and giving research advice.
11.
After reflecting on Dr. Bassett's comments, we have changed the
time in which we expect students to complete their comprehensive exams
to 18 months since admission (instead of 15) and within 22 months of
admission to defend their thesis proposal (instead of our original 18).
Dr. Bassett's page 4:
12.
REM faculty fully realize that Ph.D. students are a much larger
commitment than Master's students both in terms of research advice and
financial assistance. In fact, in response to comments of another reviewer,
Dr. Nelson, we have scaled down slightly the number of Ph.D. students that
we expect to admit from 3 or 4 per year to 2 or 3.
13.
We expect that Ph.D. students will obtain teaching experience
through TAships or sessional lecturing. However, note that we do not
expect very many of our Ph.D. students to go into academic teaching
positions. This is documented in the outside letters of support in which
there are many positions in government and private agencies.
14.
Under "Present and Projected Resources" we did not mention the
library's recommendation for a BIOSIS (Biological Abstracts) CD-ROM
'k.
3
. ?
($4,100 per year) because that was noted as an "optional" item by the
librarian (and still is in his memo of Jan. 1994). That is exactly how we see
it as well; it is not absolutely required for the Ph.D. program to work. We
have been able to efficiently search library holdings in the past without such
a service and do not anticipate that we will have funds to directly support
an annual purchase of a BIOSIS CD-ROM. Other departments on campus
such as Biological Sciences and Geography use Biological Abstracts as well.
Thus, at best a joint funding arrangement might be worked out, if funds are
made available.
All other matters raised by Dr. Bassett's most useful comments are
either minor or are dealt with by normal SFU procedures. In general, his
comments were quite supportive of the proposal.
External Reviewer # 2: Dr. Gordon Nelson. Universit y of Waterloo
Dr. Nelson's page 1:
1.
We agree that a transfer of a Master's candidate to the Ph.D.
program would be a "truly exceptional" situation. That was our intent all
along and the wording on page 9 on this point has now been underlined to
emphasize that "onl y a very
small p
ro p ortion of its students will
q
ualif y to
transfer into the Ph.D. program."
Dr. Nelson's page 2:
2.
Dr. Nelson's comments on the expected supervisory committee
load for the anticipated Ph.D. enrolment has prompted us to reduce the
expected admissions to 2 or 3 per year, rather than the 3 or 4 noted
. ?
originally. As he suggested, we will review our experience with the Ph.D.
program annually and will revise this admission level as necessary to
maintain a high quality program.
Dr. Nelson's last page:
3. Dr. Nelson's point 3 on this page suggests that we involve outside
partners in government and industry through an advisory committee. We
already have this informally though our extensive group of adjunct
professors, who are working professionals in government or private
agencies related to resource management. These adjunct professors serve
on student supervisory committees to complement the expertise of the SFU
faculty, and they work with us jointly on applied research projects. Some
adjunct professors have arranged funding for REM graduate research
projects. We anticipate that this arrangement will continue to work
successfully for Ph.D. students as well.
Dr. Nelson's comments were also mostly quite favorable toward the
proposal.
External Reviewer # 3: Dr. Ted S p ence, York University
Dr. Spence
'S
page 3:
1. Dr. Spence raises the question of funding available to support
students. We do not anticipate that this will be a problem because if
anything, there will be increased opportunities to conduct research projects
with the addition of Ph.D. students to REM. They will be able to carry out
research that is longer term and in greater depth than is possible for our
current Master's students (because of the heavy course load for the
Master's degree). Furthermore, as noted by several of the external
. ?
reviewers of the Ph.D. proposal, our relatively young faculty are generally
successful at obtaining research grants and contracts.
4
Dr. Spence's experience with developing a Ph.D. program at York
University in a similar field to ours puts him in a unique position to comment
on our proposal. He strongly endorses our arguments both for the demand
by applicants to enter the program and demand for graduates.
External Reviewer # 4: Dr. Paul West, Universit
y
of Victoria
Dr. West's page 1:
1.
Dr. West is correct in describing our proposed range of
comprehensive exams as "rigorous" and "daunting." They were intended to
be this way to create uniquely trained students. The 15 years of experience
in REM with teaching and doing research in an interdisciplinary setting have
enabled us to hone our program to enable students to understand topics in
both natural and social sciences. This experience will provide a solid
foundation for moving into an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program.
Dr. West's page 2:
2.
Under "minor points" the question is raised again about how many
of our Ph.D. graduates are expecting to fill university faculty positions, but
this view of their future job opportunities is too narrow. As noted above,
we anticipate that only a few of the Ph.D. graduates will seek such
positions, both because of the limited university market and because of the
large number of other opportunities that are and that will be available in
private industry, consulting, and government agencies. The letters of
support (Appendix 3) attest to this pending outside demand for Ph.D.
graduates.
3.
We do not foresee an extensive demand for transfer into the Ph.D.
program from the existing Master's stream. As noted above, the calendar
entry, as well as any discussions with REM faculty, will make it clear that
this route into the REM Ph.D. program will be a very unusual circumstance.
We will thus deal with this in the normal way that other university
departments do. The level of expectations will be set in proportion to the
observed rate of successful transfers.
Dr. West also generally encourages proceeding with the proposal.
Conclusions
The four external reviewers tended to support our proposal and they
made numerous suggestions that have improved it. The reviewers noted
that the proposed program is unique in Canada and that REM faculty will be
able to offer the degree. As well, they confirmed our original research that
not only is there likely to be a demand by students to get into the program,
but there will also be good employment prospects for graduates. The REM
faculty are therefore eager to move to the next steps in getting university
approval of this program.
Randall M. Peterman
(phdrespo)
I
THE UNIVERSITY
OF MICHIGAN
SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCES
ENVIRONMENT
June 29, 1993
,
JULZOM
J'1 Of GRADtJAr
.
iki.
RM I NN Pffics
Dr. Bruce P. Clayman
Dean of Graduate Studies
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, British Columbia
CANADA V5A 1S6
Dear Dr. Clayman:
You have asked me to review the proposed doctoral program in Resource and
Environmental Management and comment on its academic merit and structural integrity, the
adequacy of the faculty and other resources, the demand by prospective students for the program,
and the demand for graduates of the program. My comments follow the outline of the proposal.
Objectives
The objectives of the program (para. 2,
p.
4) are laudable. With your interdisciplinary
master's program firmly in place, these objectives certainly can be achieved. Moreover, the
program does not seem to duplicate other doctoral programs at Canadian universities (p. 6-8),
and I agree that it will fill a major gap (para.
5,
p.
8).
It is not clear that each admitted doctoral student will be awarded a 3-year Tri-Council
Secretariat fellowship (para. 2,
p.
4). Even if each new doctoral student does get one of these
•
?
fellowships, will that student need additional financial aid? Some doctoral students may be
enrolled for more than six semesters (three years) before completing the degree. Will you need
to support them beyond three years? If so, how much financial aid (e.g., scholarships, research
assistantships, etc.) will be reallocated from master's students to doctoral students?
The School of REM
The current 11 REM faculty (para. 3,
p.
5)
should be able to develop a doctoral program
and accommodate up to 20 currently-enrolled doctoral students. Judging from their curriculum
vitae, most of the faculty are very active in scholarship and research.
Requirements for Admission
Transfer studenis. The prcposal states (para. 2,
p.
9) that a student currently enrolled in
the REM master's degree program for at least two semesters may be allowed to transfer to the
doctoral program. The calendar entry (Appendix 9) and the proposal should make clear whether
a transfer student will earn the MPM degree in addition to the Ph.D.
Senior supervisor. The proposal states (para. 3,
p.
9) that doctoral students generally will
have an identified senior supervis.ir prior to being admitted. I recommend that you consider
assigning a senior supervisor at the time of admission without exception. Taking on a doctoral
student is a major commitment foi a faculty member. In my opinion, a faculty member should
know who has been assigned to he or him before the student has been admitted. Admittedly, not
all admitted students enroll, but pr --enrollment assignment of senior supervisors precludes one
type of unwelcome surprise to faculty members. And, to be fair to the student, he or she should
be sure that her or his senior supervisor is enthusiastic about the assignment before admission.
.
?
To get to know doctoral applicants, you can require or strongly recommend that they visit your
campus prior to the admission decision.
Dana Building 430 E. University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1115
FAX(313)936-2195
-2-
Grade point average. According to the 1992-93 Calendar
(p.
266), admission to the REM
doctoral program will follow the University's Graduate General Regulations (sect. 1.3.3.,
P.
241)
that apply to all doctoral programs at SFU. One of those general regulations is that an applicant
who does not have a master's degree must have earned a cumulative grade point average of at
least
3.5
in the baccalaureate program. If this regulation is not strictly followed, I see no
problem. If you are allowed no flexibility in this regulation, however, I believe that you will
have to deny admission to some applicants you would like to admit. I believe that you will
receive applications from people who earned baccalaureates with less than
3.5
grade point
averages, but who are highly motivated and have several years of excellent experience.
Admission to a master's program requires a cumulative grade point average of only 3.0 (sect.
1.3.2,
p.
241), and someone with a master's degree can be admitted to a doctoral program. So,
why require a cumulative grade point average above 3.0 for someone with only a baccalaureate
but several years of experience? I am curious how you will handle the following situation:
Assume that a student earns a baccalaureate with a 3.0 grade point average and is admitted to
your REM master's program. One year later that student, who has performed well, wants to
transfer to your doctoral program. Can you consider such a student who has no master's degree
and a grade point average of only
3.0
in the baccalaureate program?
I recommend that you include language in REM's Admission statement (for the doctoral
program) in the Calendar
(p.
266) that provides you with the opportunity to be flexible with
respect to cumulative grade point averages earned in baccalaureate and/or master's programs.
Statement of Intent. I recommend that you require prospective doctoral students to
include a 500- to 1000- word Statement of Intent as part of their application. Applicants should
be asked to submit this document to describe what they expect from your doctoral program and
how your program fits their career objectives. This statement will help faculty select applicants
who have a clear idea of what they want to research, which increases the likelihood that their
research interests correspond to the interests and strengths of the faculty. The statement also
reveals motivation, organization, and clarity of thought.
?
0
Degree Requirements
Courses. According to the proposal (para. 4,
p.
9), doctoral students will be required to
take at least 4 courses (20 semester hours), excluding directed studies and MRM 60
1-5.
This
requirement is close to the average requirement of other doctoral programs administered by the
Faculty of Applied Sciences, which range from 0 to 6 courses (0 to 33 semester hours).
I realize that the doctoral program is focused on research, but I feel that doctoral students
should be required to take more than 4 courses to prepare them for writing a thesis. The proposal
states that doctoral students normally take a total of 6 to 8 courses in order to prepare adequately
for the comprehensive examinations. That being the case, I suggest that you consider requiring a
minimum of 6 courses (presumably 30 semester hours), including two in each of two disciplines
in the student's research area.
The proposal says nothing about what minimum analytical skills a doctoral student must
have (e.g., applied statistics, experimental design, econometrics, policy analysis, etc.). Yet, new
course MRM 801 (Appendix 6) assumes that participants will have prior knowledge of basic
principles in inferential statistics and experimental design, data analysis, and collection methods
in some specific discipline. I recommend thatyou consider requiring, in addition to a minimum
number of courses, completion of at least two graduate-level courses (they may have been taken
in a master's program) that focus on tools of analysis, research design, research evaluation,
and/or method of data collection.
-3-
Comprehensive examinations. The proposal states (bottom of
p.
9) that doctoral students
. ?
normally will be required to take three comprehensive examinations within 15 months of full-
time registration after admission. Are these examinations used to judge whether a student is
ready for candidacy? Who administers these examinations? These questions should be
answered in this section of the proposal.
Period of residence (para. 4, p.
10.
According to your 1992-93 Calendar (page 248), the
minimum fee for the doctoral degree is 8 full-time fee units. It is not clear to me the minimum
number of full-time fee units that will have to be paid by a doctoral student who is admitted
having already earned a master's degree from a university other than SFU. If adding two courses
(from a minimum of 4 to a minimum of 6) would have the effect of adding one more full-time
fee unit to the cost of your doctoral degree, disregard the suggestion I made two paragraphs
earlier.
Enrollment
The proposal states (para.
3,
p.
15) that only a few students are expected to transfer from
the master's program to the doctoral program. I think that a strong doctoral program will result
in more applications from transfer students than you anticipate. In our School of Natural
Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, we normally do not admit students to
our doctoral program until they have earned a master's degree; several of our master's students
continue on for the Ph.D. Such students normally perform very well as doctoral students, and
they are successful ingetting financial aid in their doctoral programs because as master's students
they established good records and learned how to compete strongly for teaching and/or research
assistantships.
The proposal states (para. 3,
p.
15)
that you expect to admit 3 or 4 doctoral students per
year, which would result in a mean student body of about 12 to 20 doctoral students at a given
time once the program is running at full capacity. As I stated earlier, I believe that servicing 3 to
4 new doctoral students per year is feasible for your current faculty of 11 members. This
assumes that (a) the research interests of applicants are similar to those of your faculty, and (b)
that each faculty member will be willing to supervise her or his share of doctoral students.
It is not clear what the maximum number of doctoral students enrolled in a given term
will be. Your proposal says that 12 to 20 doctoral students will comprise the student body when
the program is running at full capacity. Will all 12 to 20 be enrolled, or will some of these be
candidates who are working on their research but are not enrolled? Normally there are
nonenrolled candidates on and off campus who do not count in current student enrollments, but
who do expect faculty to consult on research questions and to read draft chapters of the thesis. It
is important for the faculty to agree on how nonenrolled (but active) candidates and enrolled
doctoral students (noncandidates and candidates) together make up a full load of doctoral
students.
If, eventually, you expect 12-20 doctoral students to be enrolled in any given term, you
must be expecting them to take at least 3 to 5 years to earn the Ph.D. degree. If this is true, it
seems to me that you are too optimistic in expecting them to be ready to take comprehensive
examinations within 15 months after admission to the doctoral program (last para.,
p.
9).
Requiring a defense of a thesis proposal within three months of completion of the comprehensive
examinations is reasonable (but not if the defense is required only 18 months after admission to
the program). If you expect doctoral students to have completed all formal coursework, passed
three comprehensive examinations, and successfully defended the thesis proposal by the end of
18 months after admission, why do you expect them to be still enrolled 3 to
5
years after
. ?
admission? Obviously, I am confused about this point. It would clear matters (unless no one
else is confused) if you would include in the proposal a flow chart that shows the progress of a
^R_
-4-
typical student each term from admission to receipt of the Ph.D. degree (course load, research
commitment, teaching experience, time of comprehensive examinations, time of thesis defense,
work on or off campus while a candidate, and time of graduation).
The proposal states (para. 3,
p.
15) that the addition of 3 to 4 new doctoral students will
be offset by admitting 3 to 4 fewer master's students each year. I believe that you will find that
this is not an equal trade-off. One doctoral student requires more faculty time than one master's
student working on a research project. Compared with the master's student, the doctoral student
normally is enrolled longer, needs more advice, and needs more financial aid. In the case of
doctoral students doing biological/ecological research, they often need more sophisticated
equipment in the field or laboratory and more laboratory space than master's students doing
biological/ecological research. In short, if you eventually have 20 doctoral students enrolled in
any given semester and reduce your enrollment of master's students by only 20, I believe that the
faculty will experience an increase in workload.
I agree that there is likely to be a good pool of applicants from which to enroll 3 to 4 new
doctoral students per year. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that you will attract some of your
best master's students -- more than you anticipate.
Demand for Ph.D.
Graduates (p. 16)
I agree that there will be a market to absorb an average of 3 to 4 doctoral graduates
annually. The materials in Appendices 3 and 4 are very encouraging.
Some of these graduates presumably will want to teach and do research in academia.
Nowhere in the proposal is there any mention of how doctoral students will get teaching
experience. Does your University use doctoral students as teaching assistants? If no, how will
they get teaching experience? If yes, how long will gaining teaching experience extend the time
to completion of all degree requirements? And if yes, will you need to reallocate financial aid
from master's students to create teaching assistantships? This matter may be clear to everyone at
SFU, but my School must allocate part of its funds for teaching assistantships, hence my
questions.
Present and Projected Resources
The proposal states (para. 1,
p.
17) that few, if any, additional resources will be required
to offer the new doctoral program. I believe that a successful doctoral program will require
some, if only modest, additional resources: financial aid, space, research equipment/facilities.
For example, in the section entitled "New Courses"
(p.
13) the proposal states that offering two
new courses (MRM 801 and 802) may result in other courses being offered less frequently. (This
will affect some master's students, too.)
Not mentioned in this section of the proposal is the Library's recommendation (Appendix
8,
p.
2) to add "BIOSIS" to its collection at a cost of $4,100 per year, which the library does not
have in its budget. As the doctoral program unfolds, I would expect increasing demands from
students for more computer hardware and software. In the next section of the proposal
("Budget", p. 17), it is stated that additional pressures on laboratory and office facilities should
be covered by grants and scholarships brought by the doctoral students themselves. If these
materials cannot be acquired through research grants and scholarships, who will provide them?
Is there not a research office for the entire University that can help meet these needs? I can
assure you that faculty and/or students will expect help (= dollars).
AD.,
-5-
The proposal recommends (para.
5,
p.
6) that faculty from different disciplines be housed
• in the same administrative unit. If you intend to attract more faculty to your School, will you
have adequate space for them and their graduate students? Will they need special equipment
and/or facilities (e.g., wet labs, GIS equipment, computers, etc.)?
Summary
I view this new doctoral program as promising because the REM faculty has had 15 years
of experience running a successful interdisciplinary master's program and, at the same time, most
of its members are energetic researchers and scholars. Moreover, course offerings and faculty
collaboration within and outside REM bode well for prospective doctoral students. A persuasive
case has been made that excellent students will apply to the program and that they will be in
demand once they complete their programs.
I wish you every success in this ambitious endeavor.
John R. Bassett
Professor of Forestry
JRB/ss
.
0
University of Waterloo
- - -. --
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£.IIS
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Waterloo. Ontario. Canada
L301
DepownOm of Geography
Faoy of &ivfronmeiai 5aidg
Isaiah
e,mnan
Building
5191685-1211
ThIaxf,r*r
Fax Number
060-55259
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6191748-C$s
June
21, 1993
Bruce
Clayman
Dean of Graduate Studies
Simon
Fraser
University
Burnaby, B.C.
V5A 186
Dear
Bruce:
flE Propoe
Ph.D.
in Resource and Environmental?
Management
My review of the proposal
and supporting documentation is complete
and
my
response to the four evaluation
criteria is set forth below:
The academic merit and structural integrity of the proposed
programs.
?
0
From an academic standpoint the
proposal
is strong, particularly
in
least
major
regard
two
seminars
to
disciplines
requiring
on interdisciplinary
both
in the
breadth
research
and
science
and
depth
dissertation.
and
methods
in
requiring
and
The
on
proposal
command
socio-
for
of
2
at
program.
these
research
economic
sound
some
key
concern
academic
itself.
aspects
and
as
institutional
The
move
to
of
how
requirement
resource
in
these
terms
management
will
and
of
of
the
environmeilt2i
be
different
tied
interdisciplinary
is
together
a good
comprehensive
management
other
one
goals
although
than
of
exams
in
the
is
the
I
also
have
in
a
From a structural standpoint the proposed program seems well
courses
organized
well
and
aligned
p
lanned.
with
The
these
goals
as also
are dear
are the
and
comprehen&ives
the existing and
and
new
other
Master's
graduate
other
represents
requirements.
departments.
candidate
degree.
a good
The
Such
basis
current
could
I am
might
for
a
proceed
list
little
the
of
seem
Ph.D.
concerned
courses
to the
desirable
program
Ph.D.
developed
about
and
without
as
the
do
possible
for
existing
proposal
completing
the
under
M.A.
courses
that
the
a
in
first
exceptional circumstances but they would in my view be truly exceptional.
•
?
.
IU3 ,
?
ULUfttLILL' ?
WU*J ?
1JUOU.4
01
•
?
In about thirty years of involvement in interdisciplinary or croas-
and
disciplinary
the social
work
sciencesthurnaniUeg,
where this requires
I have
a combination
known of only
of
natural
a few cases
sciences
where
say
this
5-6
was
years.
done with the degrees being completed in a reasonable time period,
The o4equacrf of the faculty and other resources available to the
proposed Programs for achieving its intended goals.
First, let me say that I know of
the work of a number of faculty in the
MRM program and have been impressed
with their research and
accomplishments in policy and practice. My study of the resumes in the
proposal has impressed me further. All faculty are clearly strong
academically in a variety of fields ranging across the natural and social
the
sciences
senior
and
faculty
the fields
have
of
had
policy,
international
planning
reputations
and management.
for many
A
years.
number
A
of
number
direction.
of
The
the
faculty
outstanding
publications
younger
are
faculty
numerous,
are certainly
frequently
headed
in good
in that
scholarly, professional and applied journals and presses. The grant and
fund raising records are also generally of high caliber with numerous
NSERC and SSHRC awards.
One difficulty I had in reviewing the files was in securing a good
grasp of the graduate student advising experience of the faculty. In general
this data for the Masters level is not provided in the proposal. I do have
some knowledge of the quality of the grads
which is often quite high
based
upon hearing presentation of papers at meetings, personal discussions or
the reading of publications.
S
support
It
of
also
the
appears
program
that
are
the
adequate
library
to
and
good,
other
although
resources
the proposal
available
does
in
not
resources
make the
I do
lab
is
have
concerned
oratory/computer
one significant
and that
and
concern
is whether
other
as
equipment
far
the
as
number
the adequacy
clear
of
to
faculty
the
of
reader.
the
and
faculty
their
advisory experience is sufficient to sustain the admission of four students
annually or
15 -
20 in five years, assuming small numbers have graduated.
It seems likely that each faculty member will serve as advisor/member on
6-7 student advisory committees assuming a student committee consists of
an advisor
and 3-4 faculty members. The use of faculty from other
departments and faculties can help reduce this load but probably not
significantly. In other words taking on a Ph.D. program even with a small
number of highly qualified students is a large task and will significantly
increase the overall and individual work load. I understand that the MRM
group has no undergraduate degree program and no substantial
undergraduate
circumstances.
teaching
Please note
requirement
that to do all
which
these
is
jobs,
just
as
York
well
has
under
54
faculty.
the
I do not want to be misunderstood. 1 am impressed by the proposal
and by the faculty and other support. I also am impressed by the nature of
and the plan for this new P1tD. I feel it is very appropriate academically
and in the applied sense. However, people,
in
my experience, constantly
underestimate the amount of work required to conduct a strong Ph.D.
At-
_LI4 ?
UJT. ?
.UUUU? ?
I J
program. In this case I would not see it as wise to admit more than 3
candidates per year for the first four years whereupon an evaluation of the
experience and future needs could be conducted. I also feel that the
addition of some experienced faculty resources would be very helpful.
Possibilities include a new faculty member, part-time work from
experienced people in government, industry or more part time
contributions from other units at SFU if that is feasible.
• ?
The demand for the proposed program among prospective students
Based on my knowledge of faculty and students at many Canadian and
other universities and on work with government and private groups
involved in the resource and environmental management field, I would
anticipate that there would be a large number of applicants from an array
of disciplines for the 2 places to be filled each year. Given the nature of the
program I would expect more applicants from t
h e Physical and natural
sciences for the program than apply at existing programs.. This proposed
program is relatively rare in the seriousness of purpose with which the
methods
MRM faculty
and skills
are attempting
needed to work
to
provide
effectively
scientists
in the
with
complex
the information)
field of
resource and environmental management today.
The demand for graduates of the proposed program.
This is a harder question for me. Employment conditions are
certainly not good in Ontario and some very good students are slow in
getting joba. However, the economic situation is brighter in the near and
long term in B.C. The MRM faculty have also done considerable work on
estimating employment prospects and have some convincing
documentation in the proposal. I feel that there will be a good demand for
well qualified Ph.D. grads yearly in the near future with prospects for
part
many
of
more
the
e
if
COnOmic,
environmental
corporate
and
and
resource
government
management
fabric in
becomes
the longer
a strong
term
Further Thoughts
The criteria do not provide readily for discussion of some other points
related to the proposal
-
1. ?
One of the great strengths of the faculty and the proposal is their deep
involvement in practice through consultancies, memberships in
NGOs, secondments to important positions and the like. The faculty
are involved and this experience will lead to: useful research topics;
funding and support of various kinds; avoidance of delays; and,
inappropriate or inefficient activities and so forth.
L
q4.
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ULVUfl.ULU'
?
LQU* £31)UOU, or D
2.
professional
needed
To my knowledge
in my
character
view.
the program
in
Canada
is unique
and soundly
in its academic
so. Such
a
and
program is
3.
include
It
some
Nowhere
might
kind.
potential
be
in
useful
the proposal
partners
to have
do
an
in
I
advisory
see
g
overnment,
attempts
Or
consultative
to
industry
reach
out
and
committee
explicitly
the citizenry.
and
of
Conclusion
I strongly support the approval
and
establishment of
the proposed
proposal,
qualifying
Phi). in Resource
will
comments
be helpful
and
which
E
in
nvironrne,
its
I have
implementation.
, dt
made
al
Management
in regard to
tn1Ld
aspects
hope
of
that
this
the
Si ?
ely.
Gordon Nelson
Professor
of Geography
and
Urban
and
Regional
Planning
n
0
4^-
UNIYERS1T
r2Iøn. (416)
,'16-S252
Far (426)
736•5679
?
?
1i
41'.
NUN1VERS!TY
YORK
FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
355
WMBERS
BUILDING
•
4700 KEELE STREET
•
NORTH YORK
ONTARIO
•
CANADA
•
M3J 1P3
September 7,
1993
Professor Bruce P. Clayman
NdK
W%F
Dean of Graduate Studies
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, British Columbia
VSA 1S6
Dear Dean Clayman:
I am writing with respect to your request that I review the
documentation on the proposed new Ph.D Program in Resource and
Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. I apologize
for the delay in my response to your request however as I explained
to your assistant my summer schedule turned out to be much more
hectic than I had previously anticipated.
I have now had an opportunity to review all of the documentation
which you forwarded to me and I am pleased to be able to offer my
strong endorsement for the proposed new Ph.D Program in Resource
and Environmental Management.
It may be useful for you
to know something of
my background with
respect to the development of a similar proposal here at York
University. From 1982 until 1992 I served as Dean of York's
Faculty of Environmental Studies and as the director of the
Graduate Programs in Environmental Studies. Our Faculty of
Environmental Studies was established in 1968 and from that time
until 1991 offered only a Masters level program leading to the
degree of Masters in Environmental Studies. In 1991 we introduced
a new Ph.D Program in Environmental Studies. In my capacity as
Dean and Graduate Program Director I played a significant role in
the planning and proposal development phases of our Ph.D Program
initiative. Specifically I worked with a small group of faculty in
the development of our submission to the York University Senate in
1989, our submission to the Ontario Council of Graduate Studies
(OC.G.S.) in 1989, and finally on our submission to the Ontario
Council on University Affairs (O.C.U.A.) in 1990. In the Ontario
system O.C.G.S. is responsible for the academic approval of new
graduate programs while O.C.IJA. is responsible for funding
approval for new graduate programs. We admitted our first eight
students to the Program in 1991 followed by seven additional
students in 1992 and eight more students for 1993. We anticipate
A ^.
-2-
. ?
our first graduates from the Program in the Spring of 1994 and we
are aiming at a steady enrolment in the Program of about thirty.
Finally I should note that our new Ph.D program which is described
in some detail in your proposal is interdisci
p
linary
in nature and
is based on the individual Plan of Study model which we have
utilized in our MES Program over the last twenty-five years. As
the authors of your proposal have correctly pointed out our program
tends to place more emphasis on the social science and
philosophical aspects of environmental studies with less emphasis
on the natural science aspects.
I will organi2e my comments under the four subheadings which you
have provided.
• The Academic Merit and structural
ingrt
ty
of the
Propped
Proqrm.
I strongly endorse the case which is made in the SFU proposal with
respect to the academic merits of an interdisciplinar
y
program in
resource and environmental management at the Ph.D level. There can
be no doubt that studies confined by traditional disciplinary
boundaries are no longer able to fully address the issues involved
in the broad field of resource and environmental management.
The structural integrity and rigour of the proposed program is
particularly impressive. The required course sequence along with
the three comprehensive examinations will ensure both the breadth
and depth of candidates' knowledge base. The two new courses being
developed specifically for the Ph.D Program will provide doctoral
students the important opportunity for advanced work in a class
setting separate from the other graduate students. The
identification of primary and secondary fields along with the three
part comprehensive exam will ensure appropriate breadth. I believe
that these are exceptionally ambitious course requirements that
will ensure the academic merit of candidates in the new program.
The required comprehensive exams in Environmental Science, Resource
and Environmental Economics, and Resource and Environmental Policy,
will be most demanding and again will ensure that all candidates
for the degree will have developed expertise well beyond that which
would be possible in any existing disciplinary program.
Finally the requirement that the Doctoral Thesis must
include
aspects of at least two disciplines again ensures that candidates
will
undertake
research programs which are well suited to
interdisciplinary programs and which could not be easily undertaken
under the umbrella of existing disciplinary programs.
Overall I believe that the proposed degree
requirements and
. ?
curriculum indicate a great deal of careful planning
which will
ensure
a very
high
level of academic
merit and structural integrity
within the program.
M,
-3-
The Adequacy of the Faculty _and Other Resources Available to the
Proposed Program for Achievin
g
Its_
Intended Goals.
?
0
Based on a review of the eleven faculty C.V.'s which are included
in the proposal, and recognizing that a reduction in the Masters
level enrolment to balance the new enrolments at the Ph.D level is
planned, I have no hesitation in indicating that I believe that the
faculty and other resources available are more than adequate to
support the proposed program.
As a group, the faculty C.V.'s for the program members are most
impressive particularly with respect to sustained research and
publication and the demonstrated ability of faculty members to
obtain research funding in the form of both grants and contracts.
Of the eleven faculty members at least four have very strong
records over an extended period of time with respect to research,
publications, and funding. These individuals would be the
foundation of a Ph.D Program in any university. The fact that they
have relatively little previous supervisory experience at the
doctoral level simply indicates the nature of the programs to which
they have been attached at SPU. I am confident that the members of
this core group of faculty could each undertake more than one
doctoral supervision as the program grows towards its steady state.
I have identified a further group of five faculty members who
although somewhat more junior in rank have compiled impressive
records in recent years. These individuals could easily be
expected to take on the supervision of a single doctoral student
and to play important supporting roles with other students in the
program. Of the eleven faculty members whose C.V.'s are presented
only two appear to be at such an early stage of their career
development so as to likely have their role in the Doctoral Program
limited to committee membership in the early years.
I believe that the faculty resources in support of the proposed new
program represent an enviable array of talent both in terms of the
breadth of coverage of the field of resource and environmental
management, and in terms of the demonstrated strengths of the
individuals in terms of research and publication and their ability
to obtain significant levels of research funding.
An important area of concern with any new program is with respect
to the base funding available in support of
the
program and the
research grants and contract funding that might be available to
support students. The base funding question for the proposed
program seems to have been addressed through the mechanism of
reducing enrolments at the Masters level in order to accommodate
additional students at the Doctoral level. In addition the proven
ability of faculty members in the program to attract research and
contract funding would seem to leave little doubt that it will be
possible to obtain external funding in support of the research work
9
#1
Oof doctoral candidate
s.
In addition students in the School already
have a good record with respect to attracting external scholarship
funding and one would expect an even higher level of
success
among
doctoral candidate.
Here I can provide you with some firsthand recent experience. As
I indicated above our interdisciplinary Doctoral Program has just
completed its third cycle of admissions. Our experience has been
that we are receiving between fifty and seventy five completed
applications each year for the seven or eight positions
that we
have availabl
e
in the
Program. Most of the applicants meet our
minimum admission standards and we have had a difficult time in
turning away several well qualified students each year. The
environmental science componen
t
of your proposed program will no
doubt make it particularly attractive to a subset of students whom
we have not been able to serve very well with our program which
tends to be more focused on the social science and humanities side
of the field. I am confident that yo
u
will find that there is a
significant sustainable demand for places in your proposed new
program. In fact I
expect
that a number of graduates of our MES
Program will
welcome
the opportunity to apply to SFU for doctoral
• level work. Our past experience has been that MES graduates have
had difficulty finding appropriate interdisciPlinarY Ph.D programs
in Canada in which to pursue their environmenta
l
studies interests.
The Demafl&
The case that is made in the program proposal with respect to
the
potential demand for graduates is i believe a convincing one. In
preparing our own program proposal in 1989 we canvassed senior
executives in a large number of organizatio
ns
in
both
the public
and private sector. We received very similar responses to those
represented in the letters contained in your proposal. There seems
to be a very significant built up demand for true environmental
specialists trained at the advanced graduate level. Experience in
both the public and private sector has been that disciplinary
specialists while having important roles to play in
advanced
environmental research often lack the breadth of perspective which
is necessary to address the important interface between economics,
policy, and environmental science. i strongly endorse the case
that is made in the proposal with respect to the potential demand
for graduates and I can assure
YOU
that the results of the SFU
survey are very similar to those which we obtained in our recent
survey addressing the same question.
0
?
4q.
-5-
Concluding Comments.
I hope that the above comments will be of assistance to you in your
consideration of the proposed new Ph.D Program in Resource and
Environmental Management. I believe that the proposal as presented
is a very strong one
which is
supported by a significant group of
well qualified and experienced faculty members. The Program as set
out will be a rigorous challenge for candidates who
are
likely to
enter from a wide range of backgrounds both in traditional
disciplines and from the established interdisciplinary masters
level programs in environmental studies. Finally I am confident
that
there
will be a sustainable demand from highly qualified
students for places in the program, and that the employment
prospects for graduates will be very significant given the highly
interdisciplinary nature of the environmental and resource
management problems which are now being faced in all jurisdictions,
from the local to the global scale.
Yo ?
sincerely,
E ard S. Spence
A sociate Professor
.
S
LD.
TflT(M P
rinc.
/
___ UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA
?
ENVIRONMENTAL
P.O. BOX 1700, VICTORIA, B.C., CANADA V8W 2Y2
TELEPHONE (604) 721
.
7353, FAX (604) 721.7212
August 4, 1993
Dr. Bruce P. Clayman
Dean of Graduate Studies
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6
Dear Dean Clayman:
Please allow me to express my regret for the delay in the
submission of a review on the PhD in Resource and Environmental
Management, occasioned by some unforeseen commitments to out of
province travel, and B.C. Round Table commitments.
My conclusion in summary, is that the proposed program serves to
accommodate both a student interest and a societal demand that is
well identified and likely to endure into the future. As well,
the program, as conceived, does not come into conflict or overlap
with other current offerings in the province. Individual thesis
topics are likely to bear some resemblance to those in other
.
?
programs, particularly the School for Community and Regional
Planning at UBC. However, the interdisciplinary breadth,
particularly into the natural sciences, clearly distinguishes the
propose degree program in content.
In making comment on the academic merit and structural integrity
of a PhD program, one is obliged to consider the faculty and
other resources. In fact, the two areas are largely inseparable.
For example, the core courses MRN 801 and MIN 802 are appropriate
and well conceived as is the requirement for additional courses
in the student's primary and secondary field. However, it is the
range of background expertise of the faculty that is brought to
bear in the design and execution of these new courses that is
critical (and indeed in the remaining established courses).
Examination of the current research and scholarly background of
the faculty suggests a capability perhaps unique in Canada, at
this time, to provide such a program at a high level of
excellence.
Conceptually, the proposal of three written exams in the areas
of, 1) environmental science, 2) resource and environmental
economics, and 3) resource and environmental policy within
fifteen months of registration is rigorous. The program suggests
six to eight courses may be necessary to
p repare
for these
comprehensive examinations (presumably also within the first
S
fifteen months). Frankly, such a regime may prove daunting to
many students who have already completed the Master's degree
L5.
Page 2.
PhD, Resource and Environmental Management
often with extensive course work. Such will be the case
particularly for students who have emphasized socio-economic
aspects in their studies to date, and are attempting to revisit
chemistry and biology (or even challenge these areas for the
first time). Great care will be needed in building these bridges
between the social and natural sciences in order to be able to
truly certify interdisciplinarians over such a broad range. In
this regard, several of the letters of comment on the program
(Environment Canada, .page 2) (EVS Consultants) still tend to
think of Environmental Managers as technically trained
"Environmental Scientists" with additional preparation rather
than the opposite. While personally I might view this
perspective as having a certain narrowness, it must needs be
considered when determining the content of the "environmental
science" comprehensive examination.
Some minor points:
1)
In regard to the student program, especially if careers as
university faculty are being considered, it will be important to
identify undergraduate or other teaching assistantship
opportunities either in Environmental Studies or related
disciplines. Though not critical for a Masters Program, such
experience is vital for the PhD candidate contemplating faculty
positions.
2)
The proposal
?
could well have included a survey of existing
0
Master's students to gauge eventual career goals if they were to
pursue a doctorate. How many would choose University careers?
Similarly, the proposal suggests few of the current eighty-three
students would choose transfer to a PhD program. The extent of
this demand could have been clarified by a student consultation.
Extensive demand for transfer could swamp the intake (three to
four students a year), or if not satisfied, create a degree of
disaffection.
3)
It is not clear whether the proposed undergraduate program
would involve the existing faculty. If so, the combination of
both a PhD and a large Masters program and the additional demands
of an undergraduate program could severely tax the current
faculty. As one suggestion, an additional practising physical/
natural scientist (Chemist, Geochemist, Toxicologist), could be
required.
I have not dwelt to any great extent on the demand for graduates
of the program, perhaps because my own activities in the province
and nationally have so clearly confirmed the observations in the
proposal and its supporting correspondence from industry,
government and academic sources. Multi-faceted problems will
require persons well versed in a number of different areas of
study in order to fashion new approaches to solutions.
J'^" ^ -
Page 3.
• ?
PhD, Resource and Environmental Management
Critical constraints, environmental and social, will demand such
resourcefulness of decision makers. I am persuaded that the
proposed program has the potential to provide graduates that can
meet that challenge.
Yours incerely,
Paul R. West, Director
Environmental Studies Program
PRW: scn
.
F_
APPENDIX 8
MEMORANDUM
W.A.C. Bennett Library, Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
?
V
.
5k 1S6
Date:
8 February,
?
1994
From:
Ralph Stanton (Collections Librarian)
To:
Professor Randall M. Peterman, Chair of the Graduate
Studies Committee, School of Resource and
Environmental Management
Re:
Added cost attached to collection assessment. SREM
Ph.D. proposal. ?
(Original memo dated 1 February,
1993,
?
updated 14 January, ?
1994)
To
confirm your telephone call of this morning in which
you pointed
out the desirability of adding the backrun of
Ecological
Applications.
This publication was in its third
year
in 1993. Therefore we will buy 1991 to 1993 as a
backrun;
3 years at $91 a year or $273.
ADDED
COST TO THIS ASSESSMENT IS $273 AS A ONE TIME COST.
RS
^A-
MEMORANDUM ?
.
W.A.C. Bennett Library, Simon Fraser University
?
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
Date: 14 January, 1994
From: Ralph Stanton (Collections Librarian)
To:
?
Professor Randall M. Peterman, Chair of the Graduate
Studies Committee, School of Resource and
Environmental Management
Re: ?
Your memo of 10 December 1993 regarding the Library
collection assessment and the SREM Ph.D. proposal.
THIS MEMO REVISES COSTS ORIGINALLY SET OUT IN MY
MEMO DATED FEBRUARY 3, 1993.
Thank-you for your memorandum of 10 December, 1993. We agree
with the basic direction of your memo and summarize our
agreement following your points:
1.
- Agree to remove the request for a subscription to
Negotiation Journal.
-
We suggest the purchase of a second copy of
Qualitative
Data Analysis: a Sourcebook of New Methods by Miles and
Huberman
(on your new reading list) at a cost of $59 since
our copy is both a 3 week loan item and is now out on loan.
2.
- Agree that
Biosis
on CD-ROM is an option you maywish
to pick up at some future time.
If this approach is acceptable the revised costs are as \
follows:
Required:
7 monographs $560 one time cost
1 added monograph $59 one time cost
1 serial (Ecological Applications) $91 recurring cost
Optional:
Biosis
CD-ROM if and when the School has the funds
and wants to add this item.
The costs in this memo were agreed to in a phone
conversation with you today.
Best Regards,
Ralph Stanton
1•
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Miles, Matthew B. & Huberman, A. Michael. Qualitative Data
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sic.
APPENDIX 9
36
. ?
Proposed Calendar Entry for
REM
Ph.D.
Program
Replace the first paragraph in the calendar with:
The School of Resource
and
Environmental Management offers graduate programs in
the Faculty of Applied Sciences that lead to either a professional Masters level degree in
resource management (MRM degree) or a Ph.D. degree. Post-doctoral positions are also
available. The school is designed for individuals with experience in private organizations or
public agencies dealing with natural resources and the environment, or for recent graduates in
various disciplines related to natural resources. From time to time, courses are scheduled in
the evening or week-long blocks to permit students to complete courses on a part-time basis.
Master's Program
should be inserted after introduction.
The following should be inserted before reference to Co-operative Education
Ph .D.Program
Admission
All applicants to the Ph.D. program in Resource and Environmental Management must
submit at the time of application a 500- to 1000-word "Statement of Interest" to describe how
this program fits into their career objectives and what they expect to get from the program.
To qualify for admission to the Ph.D. program in Resource and Environmental
Management, an applicant must meet Simon Fraser University's Graduate General Regulations
•
?
and must have,
(1)
the ability to carry out innovative, independent, and original Ph.D.-level research
in that field,
(2)
high academic standing in previous university work, and
(3) a Master's degree in a related discipline.
Students must be accepted by an identified senior supervisor prior to acceptance into
the program. It is strongly advised that Ph.D. applicants visit SFU for an interview prior to
15 February of the
year
of requested admission.
See the
Graduate Regulations
for admission requirements for entry to the Ph.D.
Program.
Transfer
from the Master's Program to the Ph.D.
Program
A student currently in the master's in resource management degree program (MRM)
who shows exceptional abilities may apply to transfer to the Ph.D. program only if the first
two requirements above are met, if the student has been in the MRM program for at least two
semesters, and not more than 4 semesters, and if the applicable university regulations for such
transfers are met. Applications for a transfer must have the approval of the student's
supervisory committee, the REM Graduate Studies Committee, and the SFU Senate Graduate
Studies Committee. MRM students who successfully transfer into the Ph.D. program will
only be eligible to earn the Ph.D. degree.
S
6^_
37
Degree Requirements
Courses
A minimum of 20 credit hours of graduate courses (excluding directed studies courses
and MRM 601) will be required for the Ph.D. This will be composed of at least 4 courses, one
in each of two disciplines in the student's research area and two others (see curriculum below).
Normally, students will take a total of 6 to 8 courses in order to prepare adequately for the
comprehensive exams. The list of courses to be taken must be approved by a student's
supervisory committee. Courses outside of the School of Resource and Environmental
Management are subject to the approval of the REM Graduate Studies Committee.
Comprehensive examinations
Normally within
5
semesters of full time registration after admission to the Ph.D. (or to
the MRM degree program if the student transferred from the MRM degree), students will be
required to take 3 written exams, one in each of 1) environmental science, 2) resource and
environmental economics, and 3) resource and environmental policy. These comprehensive
exams will be the primary way to ensure that REM Ph.D. students have a sufficient grounding
in the range of courses now required at the Master's level, and thus have the depth of
understanding in the essential foundations of resource and environmental management. The
REM Graduate Studies Committee will be responsible for administering the comprehensive
exams. All three exams must be passed for the student to remain registered in the Ph.D.
program. The possible outcomes for each of the 3 qualifying exams are, 1) pass, 2) marginal
(student may be required to take more courses and is permitted a second and final opportunity
to take the deficient exam(s) within one year), or 3) fail. If, after the second try, any one of
the 3 exams is graded fail, the student will be required to withdraw from the Ph.D. program.
Thesis Proposal
In conjunction with their supervisory committee, a Ph.D. student will develop a detailed
written research proposal that defines the area and methods of intended research. Normally
within 6 semesters of full-time registration after admission to the Ph.D. program (or within 4
semesters if the student transferred from the MRM degree), a student must orally present his
or her written thesis proposal at a departmental seminar in the School of Resource and
Environmental Management. The candidate's supervisory committee shall attend the
presentation along with other interested members of the faculty and student body. The oral
examining committee will be composed of the supervisory committee plus the chair of the
REM Graduate Studies Committee. This presentation of the thesis proposal is intended to
determine whether the student's research abilities are adequate for Ph.D.-level research and
whether the proposed research is feasible and has merit. This presentation must be passed
successfully for the student to remain registered in the Ph.D. program. Students who do not
make satisfactory progress on their research topic, or who fail to demonstrate adequate
knowledge and understanding of recent publications in their area of research, or who fail to
have their revised thesis proposal approved by the supervisory committee within the time limit
given at the start of this section, will be required to withdraw from the Ph.D. program.
A written thesis based on a student's original research is the final requirement for the
Ph.D. The thesis must include aspects of at least two disciplinary areas (such as ecology and
economics, or toxicology and law). The topic must be approved as noted above, and the
student's progress will be evaluated annually. That evaluation will be undertaken according to
the SFU General Regulations. To graduate, the student must successfully complete a thesis
defense, following the usual SFU format. All other general requirements for a Ph.D. will be
followed as outlined in the SFU calendar.
1]
V_
38
• ?
Residence Requirement
A Ph.D. candidate must be registered and in-residence at SFU for the minimum number
of semesters as described in the SFU Graduate Regulations.
Curriculum
All Ph.D. students in Resource and Environmental Management must complete at least
four graduate courses. They will be in:
1)
MRM 801
(5
units) Principles of Research Methods and Design in Resource and
Environmental Management
2)
MRM 802
(5
units) Institutional Design and Decision Making for Environmental
Management
3)
At least one course in the student's primary field
4)
At least one course in the student's secondary field
Courses already offered in the School of Resource and Environmental Management will
be available for credit towards a Ph.D. degree. The only exceptions for credit toward a Ph.D.
degree will be MRM 601 and directed studies courses.
The following courses should be added to the end of the Graduate Course Listing:
MRM 80
1-5
Principles of Research Methods and Design in Resource and Environmental
Management.
Students will develop skills and insight into the, design,
implementation and analysis of interdisciplinary research in natural resource and
environmental management. This will help prepare students to carry out their
own research projects. (No prerequisites).
MRM 802-5
Institutional Design and Decision Making for Environmental Management.
Students will develop a sophisticated understanding of the institutional, structure
and methods of decision-making in natural resource and environmental
management. This course complements material covered in a variety of
master's level courses. (No prerequisites)
MRM 899
Ph.D. Thesis
For the listing of MRM 601 under the Graduate Course listings, add to the end of the course
description: "(Not for credit towards a Ph.D. in Resource and Environmental Management.)"
