APPENDIX A

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA

NOTIFICATION OF INTENT TO PLAN A NEW BACCALAUREATE OR MASTER'S PROGRAM

THE PURPOSE OF ACADEMIC PROGRAM PLANNING: Planning a new academic degree program provides an opportunity for an institution to make the case for need and demand and for its ability to offer a quality program. This notification and planning activity to follow do not guarantee that authorization to establish will be granted.

Date: June 1, 2010

Constituent Institution: North Carolina State University

CIP Discipline Specialty Title: Environmental Studies

CIP Discipline Specialty Number: ...>.3"".0""1,,,,0...,3___ Level: B ____ M _----"-"X~_ I ____

Exact Title of the Proposed Program: Masters of Climate Change and Society _

Exact Degree Abbreviation (e.g. B.S. , B.A., M.A., M.S.): M.R.

Does the proposed program constitute a substantive change as defined by SACS? Yes ~ No ___

a. Is it at a more advanced level than those previously authorized? Yes ___ No ~ b. Is the proposed program in a new discipline division? Yes X No

Approximate date for submitting the Request to establish proposal (must be within one year ofthe date of submission of notification of intent to plan): August 31 , 2010

Proposed date to establish degree: month August year 2011 (Date can be no sooner than six months after the date of notification of intent to plan and must allow at least three months for review of the request to establish, once submitted.)

1. Describe the proposed new degree program. The description should include: a. a brief description ofthe program arid a statement of educational objectives

The Climate Change and Society (CCS) degree program will be a professional master's program consisting of one academic year of courses plus a summer internship/research project. The objective of the program is to provide students with sufficient backgrounds in climate science and the implications of global climate change to equip them to make informed decisions in planning and policy. This will be accomplished by providing

instruction in climate science, economics, policy and communications capped by a research project or internship utilizing actual climate data and end-user information.

The one academic year (31 credit hours) professional master's degree consists of 9 courses. It is designed for both part time & full time students. The full time curriculum will be offered in the Fall & Spring semesters, with a research project or an internship

capstone with industry, government or a non-profit organization at the end of the degree during the summer semester. The part time curriculum will be spread over 2 years. The courses will address the following topics: Fundamentals of Climate Change, Decision Making and Statistics, Geographic Information Systems, Environmental Economics, Climate Risk Analysis, Environmental Policy, Environmental Communication and Research and Environmental Ethics. In addition there will be a 6 credit summer internship/research project.

Climate risk management is an issue that all organizations, both public and private, will have to address in their planning and operations. Graduates of the proposed Masters of Science in Climate Change and Society (CCS) program will have the climate expertise to work across many sectors and to contribute to the economic development in North Carolina. The CCS degree will bridge the gap between the generators of information on climate science, impacts, and control strategies and the users of that information at local, state, and national levels. Currently, no similar program is available in the southeast. The MS degree will train students to integrate climate predictions and projections and climate impacts/risk assessment information using decision modeling & state-of-the-art technology in the delivery of information (e.g., GIS & Google Earth).

b. the relationship of the proposed new program to the institutional mission and how the program fits into the institution's strategic plan and its response to UNC Tomorrow

The proposed program is well aligned with North Carolina State's mission as a research extensive land grant university; it builds on our historic strengths in agriculture, science and engineering. It is consistent with our commitment to excellence in a comprehensive range of academic disciplines and provision of leadership for intellectual, cultural, social, economic, and technological development within the state, the nation, and the world. The proposed program is aligned "'lith North Carolina State University's strategic plan which includes the following statements, "NC State will continue pursuing its most successful core strategies as an engaged research university.", and, "Integrate multiple disciplines". Energy and the Environment is one of the areas of emphasis for NC State; this program thus falls in one of NC States focus areas.

The proposed masters program aligns with UNC Tomorrow in the following categories:

Major Finding 4.6 "UNC should assume a leadership role in addressing the state's energy and environmental challenges." The proposed degree explicitly follows that recommendation.

4.1.1, Prepare studentsfor successful professional and person lives in the 21 st century and adaptation to the ever-changing world. The program is designed to prepare people for jobs in planning and policy and is specifically designed to provide the background required to deal with our changing climate.

4.2.1, Increase access to higher education for traditional students, non-traditional students, and lifelong learners. The program is designed for both full time students and

part time students to allow non-traditional students and lifelong learners access to the program.

4-4.1, Enhance capacity and commitment to respond to and lead economic transformation and community development. The program is specifically designed to equip its graduates to lead planning and policy changes to deal with global climate change.

4.6.2, Leverage existing research expertise to address critical environmental issues. The program grew out of extensive research efforts in global climate change, statistics, communication, economics and policy.

4.6.3, Increase community awareness ofenvironmental and sustainability issues. Environmental effects of climate change and implications for sustainability are a major aspect of the program.

4.7.3, Create a mechanism for applying research and scholarship to addressing significant regional and statewide issues. All students in the program will be involved in research or internship projects that directly apply current research to implications of climate change for regional issues.

5.7. Encourage andfacilitate interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborations among its institutions. The program is inherently interdisciplinary; it includes faculty from atmospheric science, statistics, mathematics, economics, communications, philosophy and political science. Subject matter also includes engineering, epidemiology and management.

The program was jointly developed by UNC-Asheville and NC State and faculty from both institutions will be participating. The vision for the program is eventually to include faculty from other institutions in the UNC system. To get the program started, faculty from other institutions who are interested and qualified, will be appointed as adjunct faculty to the appropriate department at NC State.

c. the relationship of the proposed new program to other existing programs at the institution

Climate Change is the focus area for the department of marine, earth & atmospheric sciences (MEAS) at NCSU. The department has established research and teaching programs in climate. The existing degree programs are strongly science oriented except for the Natural Resources: Coastal and Marine Resources which leads to a bachelor of science degree. The natural resources degree, like the proposed degree, has economic and policy courses as well as the basic science course. CCS will provide a masters level degree with a broader focus as climate affects the entire planet, not just the coastal and marine portions. The existing master's degree program in the department is a thesis­based science-oriented degree.

The proposed CCS program will contribute to the instructional & training requirements of the new Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS-NC) which is located in Asheville, N.C. CICS-NC is supported by an agreement between NOAA, NC State and the University of Maryland. The Asheville site (CICS-NC) is affiliated \"lith the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) of NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) and is an Inter-Institutional Research Institute of the UNC System. It is administered by NC State and affiliated v.rith several of the UNC academic institutions as well as a number of other academic and community partners. The director of CICS-NC is a faculty member in MEAS.

d. special features or conditions that make the institution a desirable, unique, or appropriate place to initiate such a degree program.

Currently, no interdisciplinary program in Climate Information for Society exists in the Southeast. The purpose of the proposed MS degree is to train students to learn how to combine climate change information & knowledge in climate-sensitive socio-economic sectors to support the management of climate-related risks. The meteorology program in the department of Marine Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at NC State is one of the largest and most respected meteorology programs in the country. There is a long history of research on global climate change in the department including expertise in weather, air quality, physical, chemical and biological oceanography and hydrogeology. Critical ingredients for the proposed professional Master's program, including instructional expertise and most of the required courses already exist at North Carolina State University and this program will integrate them into a coherent Climate Information for Society program. Located in Raleigh, near Research Triangle Park, we have access to a broad range of internship opportunities in the local community.

NC State has a unique partnership with the North Carolina State Climate Office which located at the university and is closely associated with MEAS. The proposed new program will take advantage of NCSC's interface with the end-user climate information cliental who represent a significant cross section of the stakeholder community. The NC State program forms an ideal test-bed that we believe will become a template for the entire nation.

Our established relationships with the NCDC, mentioned previously, including the CICS-NC which is directed by Otis Brown, a professor in MEAS and located in the NCDC, provide unique opportunities for our students to work with real time and archived climate data.

2 . List all other public and private institutions of higher education in North Carolina currently operating programs similar to the proposed new degree program.

There is no similar masters program in public and private institutions of higher education in North Carolina currently offering a similar degree that focuses on the integration of climate risk management and climate science.

3. Estimate the number of students that would be enrolled in the program during the first year of operation:

Fu/l-Time 10 Part-Time 5

4. If there are plans to offer the program away from campus during the first year ofoperation: a. briefly describe these plans, including potential sites and possible methodes) of delivering

instruction.

The degree will be offered by NC State however this program is being developed jointly with UNC-A. Some of the courses such as the GIS course are currently available through Delta, the plan is eventually to make all courses in the degree available through distance learning. Some of the courses may be taught by UNC-A faculty . Interested and qualified faculty members at UNC-A may be appointed adjunct faculty in the appropriate departments at NCSU so they may teach courses, as NC State courses, at UNC-A.

Eventually students will be able to complete the entire degree at one location or the other, or a combination of both. All courses will be taught by NC State faculty, including adjuncts . This will allow a cohort of students to be taught in Asheville, using a combination of on-site courses and Distance Education (DE) courses. The students would graduate with NC State degrees, regardless of where they were resident. It will take several years to have all courses offered as DE courses.

b. indicate any similar programs being offered off-campus in North Carolina by other institutions (public or private)

None.

c. estimate the number of students that would be enrolled in the program during the first year of operation:

No off campus offering the first year.

5. List the names, titles, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers ofthe person(s) responsible for planning the proposed program.

NAME TITLE E-MAIL & PHONE

Ryan Boyles North Carolina State Climatologist ryan bovles@ncsu.edu

Gary Comstock Professor, Philosophy gcomstock@ncsu.edu

Maria Correa Associate Professor, Epidemiology maria correa@ncsll .edll

(919) 513-62 53

Hugh Devine Professor, GIS h ugh devine@ncs Ll .edl1

John Fountain Department Head, Professor, Countain @ncsu.edu

Marine Earth & Atmospheric Sciences (919) 515-3717

James Kiwanuka-Tondo AssoicateProfessor, jktondo @social. chass. nCSll.edu

Communication (919) 513-1477

Margery Overton Professor, overton (iveos.ncsu.edu

Civil and Environmental Engineering (919) 515-7682

Sastry Pantula Department Head, Professor Statistics pantula(0stat.ncsu.edu

Director of Institute of Statistics (919) 515-1949 I

Fredrick Semazzi Professor,

Marine Earth & Atmospheric Sciences

UNCA Contacts

Gerard Voos Director, UNC Asheville

Chris Hennon Assistant Professor

Ed Katz Associate Provost

Keith Krumpe Dean of the Natural Sciences

Interns providing support in the planning ofthe degree

Robert Mera Program Development Intern

Kara Smith Program Development Intern

Acronyms & Abbreviations

fred semazzi@n " u.ec1n

(919) 423-2545

~'Ui ) 'ii~ llll l:a,cdu

(828) 232-5040

ehennon@ul1ca,edu

(828) 232-5159

e1<atz(i}l ll nca .edu

(828) 250.3872

kh'llOlPl (;,'Ulllii,l'rlJI

(828) 251-6122

rj mera(iuncsu .cd l1

kas ith5(uJncsu. edn

CE CHASS CCS CVM DE IRI MEAS NC State PAMS UNCA TBI

: College of Engineering : College of Humanities & Social Sciences : Masters in Climate Change & Society : College of Veterinary Medicine : Distance Education : International Research Institute for Climate Variability : Department of Marine, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences : North Carolina State University : Physical & Mathematical Sciences : University of North Carolina at Asheville : To Be Identified

This intent to plan a new program has been reviewed and approved by the appropriate campus committees and authorities ,

Chancellor _____________________