The UVM Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources is offering a new distance learning master’s program designed for emerging leaders who are committed to deepening their capacity to catalyze change and collaborate effectively across different fields and sectors.

This M.S. in Natural Resources with a concentration in Leadership for Sustainability offers a blend of residential and online learning experiences delivered in a two-year, 30-credit program. In addition, students choose one of two applied areas of specialization that provide specific skills and knowledge in either Ecological Economics or Ecological Leadership. The program includes a residential component and gives students the opportunity to be mentored by experienced practitioners.

“In the face of increasingly complex environmental challenges, we now recognize that traditional leadership skills are not enough to keep pace with a world that is changing faster than ever before,” said Nancy Mathews, dean of UVM’s Rubenstein School. “At this critical moment, we need to do things differently. We need to prepare innovative leaders who can competently and nimbly guide change.”

The program includes four residential short-courses that are between four and seven days long and will be held in Vermont and a variety of urban locations. These gatherings will provide an opportunity for intensive experiential learning opportunities as well as relationship-building among cohort members.

Students will collaborate with UVM faculty, professional affiliates, colleagues and peers during both the residential and online components of the program. Students will also complete a self-designed project with support from this collaborative learning community that addresses a key issue within their home community or sponsoring organization.

UVM faculty are partnering with a network of distinguished professional affiliates and leaders throughout the country to offer an applied curriculum that integrates academic inquiry with professional skills.

Students will cultivate advanced leadership practices inspired by the organizing principles of healthy and sustainable living systems. They will critically examine patterns of power and privilege underlying conventional leadership structures. They will develop skills to effectively facilitate change while working across established fields and boundaries.

“As we launch this new program, we look forward to attracting the next generation of emerging leaders who are on their way to becoming the pioneers, innovators, catalysts, and change-makers that will help create conditions for life to thrive over the long haul,” said Matt Kolan, Ph.D., the program’s co-director.

Visit learn.uvm.edu/msls for more information.

 

PUBLISHED

01-06-2015
Shari Halik