ShareThisBy TIMOTHY C. BARMANN
The Providence Journal
Monday, September 17, 2007
The University of Rhode Island is developing a graduate degree program that would offer studies in both business administration and ocean and climate science.
The two-year dual degree, which the university plans to offer next fall, would be the first of its kind in the world, the university said.
Graduates of the program would receive a master's of business administration/master's of oceanography degree.
URI said the program is designed to help prepare people for careers that involve finding ways to reduce the world's greenhouse-gas emissions. Few people now have the necessary training in both business and climate science to help companies address the problem of global warming, the university said.
"Climate change is happening, and businesses need to adapt to this change," S. Bradley Moran, a professor of oceanography at URI who is leading the new degree initiative, said in a statement.
"By combining the world-class reputation of URI's Graduate School of Oceanography with the strength of its College of Business Administration, this unique business-science dual degree will educate students in the application of strategic management, leadership and ocean and climate sciences to important real-world problems," he said in the statement.
In an interview, Moran said it's clear to him that businesses will seek people with this type of degree. "The ocean is 70 percent of the earth, and therefore a major driver of our earth climate," he said. "The bottom line is, it causes change and change is something business always needs to adapt to."
The new degree is designed for students with undergraduate training in the sciences or engineering who want to develop management skills. It would be beneficial to those seeking management careers in industries such as energy, ocean technology and engineering, hazard-risk management, water resources, fisheries, marine navigation and tourism, as well as ocean and human health, the university said.
The proposed new program must first be approved by the URI Faculty Senate and the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, the university said.
(tbarmann(at)projo.com.)
