PIVOTING TOWARD APPLIED GEOLOGY: MEETING THE DEMANDS OF STUDENTS AND EMPLOYERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Enrollment in the BS Geology degree program in the Department of Earth Sciences at UA Little Rock has been decreasing over the past 5 years. The enrollment peak, the highest the program has ever experienced, occurred in 2012-2013 and was related to robust employment during the natural gas boom that began in the mid-2000s. Despite this decrease in enrollment, we view the current status and future directions of our BS program with cautious optimism. Current enrollment and graduation rates are approximately double the average that existed prior to 2012-2013. We attribute this to several deliberate actions that we have taken to better prepare our student population for graduate studies and employment in STEM related careers. First, we converted our Field Geology requirement from an externally-offered, 6-credit, 4-6-week Field Camp to a series of two 3-credit, internally-offered courses. Second, we changed our curriculum from a ‘Minimum’ core geology type to an ‘Applied Professional’ type, requiring applied courses such as Hydrogeology and Introduction to GIS. Third, we changed our Senior Seminar course from a readings/discussion format to a professional development format that includes activities such as mock interviews, CV and resume writing, and practice giving professional presentations. Fourth, we strongly encourage our students to begin the process of becoming a registered professional geologist by paying their fee to take the National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG) Fundamentals of Geology exam. Fifth, we established an advisory board to provide guidance for our curriculum decisions and information on the current state of the professional geology field. Finally, we have become an ABET-accredited program in the Applied and Natural Science Accreditation Commission (ANSAC). This accreditation has helped us define program objectives and outcomes, assess our educational goals, and use this information for continuous improvement of our geology program.