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The UA has received Regents approval to begin the application process to develop new undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

By University Communications
July 25, 2008

A graduate program in a new field that advances knowledge in the areas of global climate change and water climate is among several new programs being developed at The University of Arizona.

The Arizona Board of Regents last month gave UA South and nine UA colleges the green light to move forward with the application process to create the new undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

The programs will aid in achieving the UA’s goals to:

• Prepare and ensure access and opportunity for Arizona’s youth.

• Engage and graduate students who can contribute to the state, nation and world.

• Provide world-class research that improves the human condition in Arizona and beyond, and that partners with and serves the people of Arizona.

The proposed 13 graduate-level programs illustrate the University’s commitment to foster premier scholars, researchers and practitioners whose endeavors will improve the human condition and to partner and serve the people of Arizona.

An example of a University graduate program that strives to improve the human condition is a partnership between the UA colleges of engineering and science. The colleges are working on creating a master’s and doctorate in science with a major in hydrometeorology, an emerging new field that will advance knowledge in the areas of global climate change and water climate.

“Now that we have been given the approval from ABOR to move ahead, we will use the next year to develop a curriculum by identifying courses or developing new ones that can be applied toward obtaining the proposed new degrees,” said Xubin Zeng, professor in the UA department of atmospheric sciences.

The new degrees will be managed jointly between the College of Science’s department of atmospheric sciences and the College of Engineering’s department of hydrology and water resources. “The coordination of the two departments brings together what has become a new science. We are essentially proposing the creation of the first and premier hydrometeorological program in the world. We will partner with weather and climate forecasting agencies of the UA and other countries and will take leadership in research and education and focus in on regions with semi-arid climates. In essence creating a new job category within and outside of the federal government,” Zeng added.

The proposed new program builds upon already established leadership the UA has in hydrology and atmospheric sciences and, Zeng said, “will train new leaders to set up programs in other universities, solidify partnerships with industry, government and academia, and create new jobs.”

Another graduate degree program being proposed is a master of art and a doctorate with a major in Mexican American and Raza studies in the UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The Mexican American Studies and Research Center had previously offered graduate degrees in the form of a master's in science but Antonio Estrada, the center’s director, said the proposal to offer a master's in art would better serve the post-graduation needs of its students who are interested in pursuing teaching positions in secondary schools or community colleges.

Estrada also said the additional degree programs will contribute to the intellectual capacity of the department, which has doubled in size over the last several years and has added a broader range of studies by partnering with experts in other UA colleges.

“Currently there are only two doctoral programs in Mexican or Chicano Studies in the United States – one at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the other at Michigan State University. The University of Texas at Austin offers a portfolio in Mexican American Studies. The need is obvious: Latinos comprise the largest and fastest growing ethic minority group in the U.S. and reside primarily in the southwestern U.S.,” Estrada added.

“The application process for the proposed degree programs takes about a year,” said Zeng. The programs must be approved by the department, college and the provost. The applications then must be approved by the state’s other universities and then must be reviewed by the Arizona Board of Regents for final approval.