The results of our surveys and interviews of graduating students and of students enrolled in
individual courses we teach, along with the instructors of those courses, were discussed at our
annual departmental retreats.  The following describes the areas where we have chosen to focus
our attention to date in trying to improve the educational experience of our students.
 
Undergraduate Students
 
In response to the feedback from our Geography majors that they have felt marginalized in the
department and college, we required them to enroll in our professional orientation (ENVS 1990)
and capstone (ENVS 5000) courses over the past two years.  These courses have been required
of our Environmental Studies and Recreation Resource Management majors since the
department’s inception.  We received fewer comments about alienation from the Geography
majors this spring than we did the previous spring, and although we cannot prove this is due to
the actions taken above, there is certainly a good chance that they were contributing factors.
 
Regarding internships and related sorts of hands-on, practical experience, we do not require these
of our Environmental Studies and Geography majors, but they are strongly encouraged.  Indeed,
since its inception in 2002, the department has included the following statement in the USU
General Catalogue: “Seasonal employment, internships, and other activities promoting hands-on
experience in natural resources and geographic professions are strongly encouraged.”  In
addition to co-op/internship credit available to all majors (ENVS 2250, 4250), recreation majors
are required to enroll in 3 credits of  “Special Projects in Recreation Management,” designed to
“assist public recreation agencies or non-profit organizations, while gaining hands-on experience
in recreation management, planning, and monitoring.”  Geography teaching majors are required
to have 30 hours of in-school clinical experience and 13 weeks of classroom teaching in
secondary schools.  This past academic year, we added a service learning component to two of
our courses.  This brings to six the number of courses we offer with a service learning
component, four of which are required of all or most of our majors   Finally, it is noteworthy that
our department houses the nationally recognized Tehabi Internship Program
(http://www.cnr.usu.edu/tehabi/program.html).  The program, available to students from any
institution of higher learning in the country, is unique in its cohort approach to serving a number
of federal resource agencies.  Several of our students have taken advantage of this opportunity
over the past thee years.  At our upcoming departmental retreat, we will be revisiting the
question of whether or not to require an intern-like experience of our Environmental Studies and
Geography majors as well.
 
Related to the above is the feedback from students concerning their lack of facility in analyzing
complex, real-world problems, and the suggestion that this facility needs to be developed
throughout the curriculum, and not only in our capstone course.  This matter will be addressed at
our upcoming departmental retreat.
 
Concern on the part of our Environmental Studies students regarding an over-emphasis on the
social sciences at the expense of the bio-physical sciences will likewise be addressed at our
upcoming departmental retreat.  This imbalance was not the case until the College of Natural
Resources was re-organized in 2002 and the ENVS Department was created with an emphasis on
the social dimensions of natural resource and environmental science and management.  At our
upcoming retreat, we will consider returning to the former curriculum with its greater balance, or
work with the other CNR departments to offer a joint degree in Natural Resources and the
Environment that exhibits this balance.  The concern by Geography majors that their curriculum
is very weak in the biological sciences will also be addressed at our upcoming retreat.
 
To address the concern of Environmental Studies and Geography majors that they need more
guidance in developing meaningful specializations within their degree programs, this past
academic year we developed seven and four specialization options for these two majors,
respectively.  Each set of options includes one that permits the student to design their own
specialization with the consultation and approval of their faculty adviser.  This option can
include a relevant minor in another degree program.   All specializations are included in the new
USU General Catalogue, and this coming Fall term will be submitted to the EPC for approval as
Emphases so that they will appear on a student’s transcript.
 
We took several measures over the past two years to increase students’ desire for life-long
learning in response to feedback received from them.  We created the Student Organization for
Society and Natural Resources (SOSNR) and received approval for it to become the founding
student chapter of the International Association for Society and Natural Resources (IASNR). 
Moreover, the department shared the travel costs of several SOSNR members to the annual
International Symposium on Society and Resource Management in 2004 and 2005, where they
gave presentations and assisted with management of the symposium.  We also provided
scholarships for students to attend the annual Utah Bioneers Conference and the Sustainable
Landscapes Conference over the past two years and arranged for them to obtain academic credit
for their participation in these conferences, held on the USU campus.
 
In response to student comments about the pessimism expressed by several fellow students and
faculty regarding their opportunity to make a difference regarding the future of natural resources
and the environment, in the past two years we required a textbook by David Suzuki and Holly
Dressel (2002) on “Good News: How Everyday People are Helping the Planet,” in our
professional orientation course (ENVS 1990) required of all majors.  This book provides success
stories from around the world regarding the sustainability of natural and human systems.  It also
helps us respond to the suggestion by students that we get them involved early-on in holistic,
integrative thinking about why they should care about people and the environment, and their
concern about a lack of exposure to international issues and policies.
 
In further response to the concern about a lack of exposure to international issues and policy, we
are currently considering requiring our World Regional Geography course (GEOG 1030) of all
majors rather than only Geography and Geography Teaching majors as is now the case.  This
matter will be discussed at our upcoming departmental retreat.
 
Having identified public involvement skills, especially in the area of conflict management, as
one of the greatest gaps in their learning experience, several students recommended that we
require our Conflict Management in Natural Resources course (ENVS 5640) of all our majors.

As it now stands, it is not required of any of them.  We will discuss the matter at our upcoming
departmental retreat.
 
In response to student concern regarding a lack of relevance in ENVS 3500 (Quantitative
Assessment of Environmental and Natural Resources Problems), the department head has talked
to the instructor about ways of improving the course.
 
Finally, it is worth noting that as a result of our discussions at the last departmental retreat,
several faculty have included in their course syllabi a list of those departmental learning
outcomes on which they planned to focus, thereby providing the students with a better sense of
which of our outcomes would be emphasized in individual courses.  This approach should also
allow us to be more strategic in providing students with some exposure to all our outcomes.