Core Courses

CDAE/PA 5600 Smart Resilient Communities (Spring)

In this graduate/upper undergraduate level course, we will explore complex adaptive systems and adaptive management approaches to design smart resilient communities. Increasing demands of a globalizing economy, aging critical infrastructure, changing demographics, and a changing climate has led to increasing concern about the resiliency of social-ecological and socio-technological systems at multiple scales of governance. Multi-scale challenges require multi-scale solutions. In particular, secure provision of food, energy and water and early warnings to vulnerable communities in the face of natural and man-made hazards requires urgent attention of policy makers, planners and citizens. This course will focus on social ecological systems and socio-technological systems integration framework to unravel the complex pathways that determine community resilience and enable smart design processes at the nexus of food, energy and water systems. The emphasis will be placed on imparting cutting edge skills, such as system dynamic models, early warning systems, resilience design approaches and interactive scenario planning techniques, to enable students to work with community stakeholders for analyzing, planning and designing smart resilient communities.

PA 6170 System Dynamics and Strategic Management for Community Resilience (Spring)

This course combines systems and network analysis with community resilience and organizational learning theory and practices to provide students with a heightened capacity to analyze and effectively plan for complex policy dilemmas at the community scale. The architecture for the course is grounded in many of the fundamental conceptual frameworks found in network, systems and complexity analysis, as well as some of the fundamental frameworks employed within the public administration, planning and policy studies fields. Two overarching learning competencies drive this class. They are: As a result of completing this course, students will gain the capacity to describe, analyze and design complex networks organized to achieve specific policy functions; and As a result of completing this course, students will gain the capacity to diagnose when and how specific policy, planning and management strategies can contribute to the resilience of communities facing threat due to environmental, social or economic drivers. This class is anchored by a service-learning project focusing on a wicked problem facing communities in Vermont and beyond.

CDAE/PA 6260 Community Economic Development (Spring)

As people, places, and technology change, communities face inevitable changes as well, including the need to revitalize their economic and social functions. This course examines perspectives, methods, and strategies used to develop healthy communities that are economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable at a local scale. Students will analyze the complex issues facing local communities, from job creation and retention, workforce training, transportation, health and energy, housing, to food and agriculture. Using rural and urban examples, we will investigate community economic development from an assets based approach considering the different roles of economic, environmental, social, cultural, physical, political and financial capital. Planning and stakeholder engagement tools and strategies for addressing these issues will be a focus of the course lectures, readings and projects. The course examines both the theory and practice of community and economic development. Guest speakers will provide us with their perspective on particular topic areas.

CDAE 6510/PA 6030 Research and Evaluation Methods (Fall, Summer)

Data analyses and communication of statistical information for management decision making. Methods of modeling relationships, comparing strategies, and assessing probabilities. Instruction in computer use.

In consultation with their advisor, students will select two electives from the list of domains of application and methods below. Students can draw from either list. Note that some courses are offered on alternate years.

• Economics of Sustainability
• Econ of Sustainable Food Systems
• Political Economy of Sustainable Development
• Sustainable Development Policy & Governance
• Organizational Theory & Behavior
• International NGO Management
• Urban Policy & Leadership
• Global Food Policy
• Ecological Economic Applications
• Design/Planning for Bikes/Peds
• Traffic Operations and Design
• Sustainability and Transportation
• The Trauma Lens
• Food Systems, Science & Policy
• Food Systems, Society & Policy
• Climatology and Natural Hazards
• Social Justice and The City
• Legal Aspects Envir Planning
• Environment & Human Behavior
• Ecological Landscape Design
• Ecol Design & Living Technology
• Leadership for Sustainability
• Power, Privlge & Catalyz Change
• Ecological Economic Theory
• Seminar:Envrmntl Policy & Mgmt
• Ecological Leadership Seminar
• Data Visualization and Communication
• Foundations of Public Administration
• Local Government Admin
• Administrative Ethics
• Social&Behavioral Public Health
• Mgmt in Hlth Services & Med Care
• Investigating Disease Outbreaks
• Ecological Landscape Design
• Participatory Action Research & Transdisciplinary Approaches
• Agroecol, Food Sov. & Soc. Mov.
• Risk/Behavior in Transportation

• Project Development & Planning
• Econometrics
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Applied Geostatistics
• Reliability of Eng.Systems
• Appl Data Analysis for Dec Mkg
• Adv Topic:GIS & Remote Sensing
• Spatial Analysis
• Public Health Informatics
• Integrating GIS & Statistics
• Envisioning a Sust Future
• Fndmtls of Geog Info Systems
• Digital Image Processing
• Decision Making Models
• Policy Analysis&Program Eval
• Statistical Methods II
• Qualitative Research I
• Adv Quant: Survey Research
• Applied Educational Research

• Undergraduate transcripts showing completion of bachelor's degree.
• Evidence of at least one college level course in statistics.
• Resume or Curriculum Vitae
• International students must meet UVM’s minimum English proficiency requirements.
• Matriculated students in existing masters or doctoral programs should email Graduate.Admissions@uvm.edu for specific application instructions.
• There are no GRE requirements for acceptance into this certificate program.

Contact Lindsey Bouzan, Graduate Coordinator, with questions about the CDEA graduate programs.

Learn more about tuition by visiting Student Financial Services. 

Prospective students should visit the UVM Graduate Catalogue to review enrollment requirements and curriculum details within your program of interest. Learn more about application requirements for the Graduate College.