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SFWS to begin offering online graduate certificate programs for working professionals

By January 7, 2018January 10th, 2018No Comments

The Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences recognizes there is a need for more opportunity and convenience for professionals to pursue continued education and advanced degrees.

This year we have proposed several online graduate certificate programs that will support individuals who wish to further specialize or advance in their careers. With these programs, professionals have the option to pursue a graduate certificate or eventually apply the course credit to a graduate degree.

Earning a certificate often takes less time and is more affordable than traditional graduate programs.  And because classes are online, students can complete courses at a time that is convenient for them, allowing time in their busy schedules for work, family and other priorities that are important to non-traditional students and working professionals.

Courses are available now and, pending approval by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education in March 2018, individuals may begin applying credit towards a certificate program in Restoration Ecology, One-Health or Forest Finance and Investment.

Restoration Ecology Graduate Certificate

As many of our native ecosystems have been altered, damaged, degraded, and even totally destroyed;  making ecosystem restoration and management decisions has become a critical part of how we respond to past land management choices. This certificate program is designed for working professionals in the fields of natural resource management, forest and wildlife management, restoration ecology, environmental sciences and consulting, fire ecology, or environmental education.

Our certificate program is designed to help students better understand natural processes in terrestrial ecosystems and provide them with information on processes and practices that are relevant to the restoration of these ecosystems.

Forest Finance and Investment Graduate Certificate

Forestry is one of the largest resource-based industries in the state, region and country. As it has diversified, the forestry industry has grown more complex in the last century with the impacts of increasing environmental issues, economic opportunities, technological advancements, and changing landownerships. Today’s professionals must have the ability to understand and assimilate these factors within their financial and operational decision-making to best manage and leverage forest assets.

Whether you are a recent graduate, a seasoned forestry professional, another type of professional such as a real estate broker, banker, accountant, attorney or appraiser with interests in forest operations or forest investments, or if you just have a general or personal interest in learning more about forest operations and investments, the Forest Finance and Investment graduate certificate program is designed to provide you with the tools necessary to make sound forest finance and investment decisions.

One-Health Graduate Certificate

The One-Health concept is based on the premise that health related interactions among people, animals, and the environment have profound influences on disease risk, transmission, and prediction efforts. There are estimates that 60% and 75% of human infectious diseases and emerging human diseases respectively have their source in domestic or wild animals. These are called zoonotic diseases and include rabies, West Nile virus, Rift Valley fever, and brucellosis among others. In some cases, animal health can serve as a warning for human disease transmission as demonstrated by West Nile virus, or where mortality of West Nile virus-infected birds may trigger awareness of human risks.

While human-animal-environmental interactions have long been recognized as being important, some powerful drivers of change are increasingly causing volatility among people, animal, and environmental linkages. These drivers include climate change, population growth, land use/cover changes, and alterations in disease vector ecology.

Offered in partnership with the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture and the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; this certificate will prepare individuals to educate and inform people about the One-Health concept and those factors which continuously cause variation among the interacting processes among people, animals, and the environment.

Requirements and Enrollment

Online professional certification programs require 12 – 15 credit hours of online coursework, which can also be applied toward the pursuit of a graduate degree if desired. Students must apply through the Auburn University Graduate School, however there is no Graduate Record Examination (GRE) required and no minimum GPA prerequisite. For more information about enrollment, contact Audrey Grindle at apg0008@auburn.edu or call (334) 844-9250.

To learn more about each program, visit https://cfwe.auburn.edu/online-professional-graduate-certificate-programs/

 

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Quick Facts

  • Earn a certificate in less than 3 years
  • Only 12 – 15 credit hours required
  • Credit may be applied to Masters of Natural Resource Graduate Degree (MNR Non-thesis)
  • No GRE required for enrollment
  • No minimum GPA requirement

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