The 18-credit Certificate of Graduate Studies in Community Resilience and Planning (CRP) provides masters, doctoral and certificate of graduate study-only students with the skills and knowledge needed to lead and guide communities through periods of change brought on by natural, economic, social and political shocks and disruptions. Students completing this certificate will develop a deep understanding of the current threats and opportunities facing communities within Vermont, the United States, and across the globe. With a core set of courses designed to provide students with a survey of the community resilience and sustainability field, a foundation in community economic development and research methods, and a capstone experience focusing on system dynamics and strategic management and planning, the CRP prepares students with the tools needed to lead and assist communities through times of crisis and transition.
Resilient communities of the future will be designed and governed through the awareness that no single public policy issue or concern can be addressed in isolation of one another.
Secure provision of food, energy and water to vulnerable communities in the face of natural and man-made hazards requires urgent attention of policy makers at all scales of governance.
Curriculum
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.
Domains of Application:
Economics of Sustainability
Econ of Sustainable Food Systems
Political Economy of Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development Policy & Governance
International NGO Management
Urban Policy & Leadership
Global Food Policy
Adv Sust Dev Small Island States
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
Methods:
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
Faculty
Director:
Affiliated Faculty:
Jane Kolodinsky, Professor and Chair, CDAE
Lisa Aultman-Hall, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Travis Reynolds, Associate Professor, CDAE
Thomas DeSisto, Senior Lecturer, CDAE
Joshua Farley, Professor, CDAE
Ned McMahon, Adjunct Professor, CDAE
Admissions Requirements
- 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.
For more information, contact Julie Starr.