New Ph.D. in Policy and Governance: An Overview of the Environmental Governance Spoke

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1 New Ph.D. in Policy and Governance: An Overview of the Environmental Governance Spoke Curt Ventriss, RSNR & Chris Koliba, CDAE, Members of the Ph.D. in Policy and Governance Design Team

2 Objectives for the Ph.D. in Policy & Governance: Build on UVM strengths in policy fields to achieve recognition as one of the top tier programs for training policy researchers in targeted areas by the year Strengthen and enhance the UVM research and educational community through interdisciplinary doctoral training in the social sciences. Build UVM s capacity to pursue large scale and complex research programs by employing high quality doctoral students to support their operations. Promote research that emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach as the central focus of doctoral training. Attract cohorts of talented doctoral students who upon graduation will enhance UVM s reputation. Prepare doctoral students to address a wide spectrum of policy related problems using theoretical frameworks, rigorous analytical techniques, and ethical perspectives. Support and encourage research activities that will promote professional growth and interdisciplinary cooperation for faculty and doctoral students.

3 Ph.D. in Policy and Governance Program Details: The proposal is currently being reviewed by the Faculty Senate A collaboration with Vermont Law School Will report to the Dean of Graduate School Options for students to take Complex Systems Certificate; Gund Certificate Total credit hours: 18 (core) + 25 (specialization and related area) + 12 (electives) + 20 (Dissertation) = 75 Cohorts of 6 to 8 students a year

4 Ph.D. in Policy & Governance Feedback from expert panel of reviewers: Beryl Radin, Marvin Mandell, and Daniel Mazmanian It seemed to me that your group has been attentive to the unique attributes of your institution and has built a program around existing strengths. Those include both the centers on the campus, the Vermont Law School and existing graduate programs. (BR) [T]he program is building on an already existing and recognized strength of the University of Vermont, namely environmental issues. In addition, the overall emphasis on governance is innovative and timely given the University of Vermont s strengths and reputation in the area of environmental studies and the decision to concentrate initially in environmental policy, it is quite likely that the program will quickly establish a national presence. (MM) Establishing an interdisciplinary PhD program in public policy potentially provides the opportunity for faculty in a number of departments, including anthropology, economics, geography, political science and sociology, to work with graduate students, thereby helping recruit and retain high quality faculty in these areas. (MM) The rationale for the Ph.D. is well presented in terms of the growing demands within the science and policy communities, major research funding bodies, and society for solutions to complex and often vexing problems of environmental governance. Yours would not be the first or only Ph.D. to address these issues through interdisciplinary integration. However, if delivered as envisioned, in particular, bringing together normative concerns and methodological rigor, in those areas of particular expertise of your faculty, I can see you developing a niche among research universities in this arena. One of your distinctive programmatic advantages is having as a potential core of the program a direly needed though seldom provided skill set in the impressive curriculum in complex systems that you have to offer (DM) Given the unique set of faculty resources in policy and natural resources at UVM, together with the strong reputation in environmental law at the Vermont Law School, starting out with a hub in environmental governance makes very good sense. I could imagine graduates finding academic jobs in environmental programs/schools, public policy schools, and possibly political science departments. If you were to develop this into a dual law degree/ph.d., there would likely be placements in law schools as well. (DM)

5 Faculty involved in the execution of core curriculum: Saleem Ali*, Ph.D. RSNR Robert Bartlett*, Ph.D. CAS Caroline Beer, Ph.D. CAS Jack Gierzynski*, Ph.D. CAS Clare Ginger, Ph.D. RSNR Sean Hurley, Ph.D. CESS Christopher Jones, Ph.D. COM Kieran Killeen, Ph.D. CESS Chris Koliba*, Ph.D. CALS Jane Kolodinsky, Ph.D. CALS *= design team member Felicia Kornbluh, Ph.D. CAS Daniel Krymkowski, Ph.D. CAS Marc Law, Ph.D. CAS Don Loeb, Ph.D. CAS Nathalie Mathieu Bolh, Ph.D. CAS Bud Meyers*, Ph.D. CESS Stephanie Seguino, Ph.D. CAS Richard Vanden Bergh, Ph.D. BSAD Curtis Ventriss*, Ph.D. RSNR Alex Zakaras, Ph.D. CAS Chun Zhang, Ph.D. CAS Asim Zia, Ph.D. CALS

6 Ph.D. in Policy & Governance Curriculum: Core courses (new 400 level): Advanced Research Methods Advanced Quantitative The Policy Processes Economics for Policy Analysis Values, Ethics and Public Policy Comparative Governance Systems

7 Hub and Spoke Design of the Ph.D. in Policy & Governance Environmental Governance Food? Policy & governance Core Social? Health?

8 Environmental governance themes (Durant, O Leary and Fiorino, 2004): Civic environmentalism (citizen involvement in environmental policy formulation and implementation); Environmental justice (exploration of trade offs between property rights, issues of intergenerational equity, distribution and consumption of resources, common assets, etc); Environmental partnerships and networks (the study of collaborative management, market and non market mechanisms, and public private partnerships and other forms of multi sector arrangements; Environmental conflict resolution (the analysis of various strategies and conceptual frameworks in mitigating conflicts arising out of environmental disputes); Ecosystems services (Valuation of the services that natural resources provide)

9 Requirements for a Specialization in Environmental Governance (proposed): Environment: Students will be required to take three (3) doctoral courses in environmental policy: Environmental Policy Research Seminar Environmental Economics Environmental Law And one of the following: Environmental conflict resolution and diplomacy Environmental law and regulation Civic environmentalism Environmental partnerships and networks Environmental Science for Pollution Policy Ecosystem Science for Natural Resources Policy Governance: Students will be required to take two (2) of the following doctoral courses in governance: US National and Subnational Politics and Governance Comparative Politics and Governance International Organizations, Law and Political Economy CURRICULUM WILL BE FINALIZED BY ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE SPOKE FACULTY

10 Emergent opportunities in the environment: Recruit and retain high quality doctoral students to teach and support environmental research A faculty governance structure for the environmental governance spoke that concentrates environmental social science at the doctoral level Joint research projects involving PG Ph.D.s student and doctoral students from other programs (CEMS, CALS, CESS, CAS, COM) Supports major policy and governance research pertaining to human natural coupled systems (NSF, NIH funding) A suite of 300 and 400 level environmental courses that may be taken by masters and doctoral students from other units