University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

Our program gives students a broad interdisciplinary liberal arts education in environmental issues that students combine with specialized study that fits their interests and goals. We stress engagement, with students and faculty active in a variety of efforts and applying academic learning to real world problems and possibilities.

Critical Thinking, Writing and Communication Skills
Students will be able to analyze representations of key concepts from environmental science, policy and values as they appear in mass media, society, literature, theory and/or empirical scholarship.
Students will be able to elucidate the key points of a complex article or research work in environmental studies, and to critique the theoretical framework, methodology and findings of that study.
Students will be able to appreciate the societal (social, political, economic, cultural and/or ethical) variables that contribute to environmental degradation and to consider critical thought and responsive activism toward resolving environmental problems.
Students will be able to demonstrate ability to effectively present research to professional and lay audiences in written and oral form.

Understanding the Content and Context of ES
Students will be able to appreciate the history and key concepts of environmental studies as a field linking disciplines together and tying scholarship to activism and the resolution of environmental problems.
Students will be able to understand the relationship between environmental studies research and field/application settings, and to document and reflect on one's individual fieldwork and/or civic engagement as related to environmental studies concepts and goals.

Research Skills
Students will be able to access and assess a complex literature base on a specific environmental studies topic, and to evaluate the usefulness and limitations of individual sources for that specific topic.
Students will be able to design and complete a research project that illuminates an environmental studies topic in a fresh way and includes original interpretation of data collected.

Graduates are prepared to work in a number of industries both in and outside of manufacturing, such as in industrial waste treatment, water and wastewater management, agribusiness, environmental consulting, ecological evaluations and biotechnology sectors. Engineering technology program students can gain research experience at UWO through the Environmental Research and Innovation Center (ERIC), the physics department, and the UW Oshkosh biodigester.

The environmental health major will position you for jobs related to community health, environmental testing and quality control. The overall goal of the Environmental Health major is to provide you a premium quality education and training of environmental health science and protection practitioners. The program’s learning objectives are aligned to the Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs (AEHAP) guidelines. Our students completing the program will:

Demonstrate critical thinking.
Complete an extended field training practicum.
Appreciate professional obligations and become life-long learners.
Demonstrate skills, technical knowledge and attributes necessary to function as members of a health team in the public or private sector based upon a sound foundation of instruction in core, related and technical areas.
Demonstrate skills in basic science (biology, chemistry and physics).
Demonstrate skills in communication (written composition, public speaking and computers).
Demonstrate skills in pre-calculus.
Demonstrate knowledge in general education (humanities and social sciences).

This major is recommended for students who are interested in human health and the interaction of the human population with biological, chemical, and physical hazards. Environmental Health is a professional degree involved with protection of public health from hazards found in the built and external environments.

The Social Justice Minor gives students an opportunity to develop a secondary field of knowledge and expertise that will enable them to critically examine the values that constitute social justice in theory and practice, understand the principles of effective social activism, and formulate and evaluate policies that seek to address issues such as racism, violence, literacy, human rights, gender equity, gender expression, poverty, hunger, and conservation of the environment.

Our program gives students a broad interdisciplinary liberal arts education in environmental issues that students combine with specialized study that fits their interests and goals. We stress engagement, with students and faculty active in a variety of efforts and applying academic learning to real world problems and possibilities.
We are also a community that seeks to foster a deep appreciation of nature and active engagement in conserving the earth and solving environmental problems. Students not only gain knowledge and skills but also develop their own ethic of sustainability that motivates them to care for the natural world and work for its well-being.

Environmental engineering technology responds to northeastern Wisconsin manufacturers’ and municipalities’ workforce needs as well as addresses 2010–2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics projections estimating a 14 percent increase in environmental engineering technology positions. Graduates are prepared to work in a number of industries both in and outside of manufacturing, such as in industrial waste treatment, water and wastewater management, agribusiness, environmental consulting, ecological evaluations and biotechnology sectors.

These Program Educational Outcomes describe the qualities and circumstances that we expect graduates of our program to embody 3-5 years after earning their degrees. The Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Environmental Engineering Technology is founded on a well-rounded, liberal education program that will prepare graduates with the skills to succeed and adapt to change in today’s rapidly evolving workplace.



Graduates will be employed in a degree-related field and begin to assume greater responsibility and leadership within their company;
Graduates will communicate effectively in oral, written, and visual modes and exhibit ethical behavior, professionalism and a respect for diversity as they pursue a career in industry;
Graduates will apply their critical thinking skills and knowledge of engineering and technology to identify, analyze, and solve problems during the design, development, implementation and improvement phases of projects;
Graduates will pursue lifelong learning and continuous improvement through additional training, active membership in professional societies, and other high quality developmental endeavors.