Pitt-Bradford to Launch Environmental Major, IT Minor

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford is launching a new major in environmental studies and a minor in management information systems (MIS).

Beginning this fall, students declaring the environmental studies major will take classes in a variety of academic disciplines to ready themselves for careers in business, industry, education, communications, politics, resource management, urban and regional planning, and public relations.

“The job possibilities are limitless,” said Assad Panah, program director, professor of geology and environmental science, and one of four Pitt-Bradford faculty members who helped develop the major. “And the potential employers are also limitless. Around the world there are literally thousands of public agencies and nonprofit organizations that employ environmental professionals.”

The major was developed by Panah; Mary Puterbaugh, assistant professor of biology; Stephen Robar, assistant professor of political science; and Tim Ziaukas, program director and associate professor of public relations.

To gain a broad-based knowledge, environmental studies majors will take an introductory course and 47 credits of required courses — from environmental geology, public policy, and physical geography to environmental politics, statistics, and environmental communication. In addition, students will take five additional electives from the social sciences, communication arts, humanities, or natural science departments. This will enable students to tailor their coursework to their specific careers.

Robar said the new program fits in beautifully with Pitt-Bradford, which sits near the Allegheny National Forest. The campus is also a neighbor to the Allegheny River and only a 90-minute drive from Lake Erie. The close proximity of these natural resources could open up some internship possibilities for the students.

Students with an MIS minor will be required to take 30 credits — the largest course requirement for any minor in the University of Pittsburgh system — in a variety of subjects: database management, systems analysis and design, introduction to Web design and application development, electronic commerce, and microcomputing for management.

“The motivation for this program was that we were not providing graduates with the range of IT skills that businesses wanted,” said Richard Nelson, business management professor and chairman of the department. According to Nelson, there were 1.2 million IT jobs available nationwide last year, but less than half were filled.

Nelson, along with the other professors in the business management and computer science departments, used a $110,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Link-to-Learn grant to develop and revise courses for the IT minor.

Because technology has permeated every discipline and career track, students in any major could benefit from a minor in MIS, not just those enrolled in technically oriented programs like computer science or engineering, Nelson said.

The minor also qualifies for the Pennsylvania New Economy Technology Scholarship Program, which provides grants to qualifying full-time students if they agree to work in Pennsylvania for a few years after they graduate.

“This is a wonderful incentive to keep our IT-trained students in Pennsylvania,” Nelson said, “which will help all of us in the long run.”

— Pat Frantz Cercone