THE CHANGING TOPOGRAPHY OF THE UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM: ARE ONGOING PROGRAM CHANGES ERODING OR UPLIFTING THE EDUCATION FOUNDATION OF TODAY’S GEOLOGY GRADUATES

The landscape of traditional geology programs has been changing over the past decade. Due to declining enrollment and other financial pressures, geology programs have begun to change their course offerings and descriptions to attract more students to the program. Many programs are combining traditional geology courses into less traditional course names that appeal to new generations of students, thereby increasing enrollment and allowing the program to survive. These new courses are based on geologic core competencies that have been discussed by Geosciences Canada and AGI’s Vision and Changes in the Geosciences. For example, Earth Materials is a common “new” course in many geology programs that combines Mineralogy, Petrology, and Economic Geology. Traditionally, these courses would require 12 hours of lecture/lab which is combined to a single 4-hour course. To cover the required content of the three courses in a single course, degreed undergraduate majors are graduating with less comprehension than a traditional geology program.

Course compression is designed to allow geology majors more flexibility and provides a mechanism for additional elective hours. However, the lack of traditional geology courses is causing a disconnect between State licensing boards and degreed students applying for licensure. Most state licensing boards require a degree in geology, engineering geology or geological engineering. This is in direct conflict with the newly named degree programs with compressed course content that are not aligned with state statutes. For example, degree programs include Environmental Science, Geosciences, Hydrogeology etc. These new programs names have triggered geology state licensing boards to evaluate students’ transcripts for traditional geology courses.

An evaluation of undergraduate programs in geology reveals seven common geology core courses. These include physical and historical geology, mineralogy, structural geology, igneous and metamorphic petrology, stratigraphy/sedimentation, and field geology. These seven core courses are very closely aligned with Geosciences Canada’s knowledge requirements for geosciences education. Students in degree programs should be sure that they take core geology courses so that they are eligible for professional licensure in the US and Canada.