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SOU begins new certification programs By TONY BOOM ASHLAND - New certificates in botany and American Indian studies at Southern Oregon University will attract undergraduates as well as students with bachelor's degrees who seek further professional development. Both programs begin this fall. Oregon's Board of Higher Education approved them in June. "Certificates have become a growing field in the last five to 10 years," said Steven Jessup, the biology professor who heads the botany certificate program. "It suits a market (that) regional universities like Southern are really cut out for. ... (It) fills a need for students who aren't interested in a doctorate." The certificates offer greater concentration than a minor, but less study than a degree in the discipline. The U.S. Forest Service, other natural resource agencies and private environmental firms need botanists for work related to the Northwest Forest Plan. Botany is a defined career path in the Forest Service; those pursuing it must show 36 units of work in the discipline, Jessup said. Half the students enrolled in a course on lichens and mosses that Jessup offered a couple years ago were employees of either the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management. The forest plan requires survey of a number of organisms in those groups. "There will be no question about whether they are qualified (with the certificate)," said Roger Christianson, chair of SOU's biology department. Six required classes with extensive field and lab work form the basis of the certificate. Each student will also take several courses with a specialized focus and do either a senior capstone project or post-baccalaureate project. Students must maintain a 3.0 grade-point average for the certificate courses. They will complete 37 upper-division units. Students don't need formal admission to a major, but are expected to have met general education requirements in biology and chemistry, said Jessup. Up to 20 students are expected to enroll each year in the program. It will use existing facilities and be taught by current faculty. The American Indian studies certificate will be the only program of its type in the Oregon university system. SOU has offered the only minor in the subject since 1992. "The minor is like an overview," said Brent Florendo, a special assistant to the president and an instructor in the program. "The certificate ... prepares both native and nonnative students to work in a multicultural society." An estimated 24 students per year will be in the program. Four new courses will be developed for the certificate, but courses with American Indian content from other departments are also included. Participating departments will include art, English, sociology, anthropology, education and physical education. "We will be joined hopefully by other departments," said Florendo. "The aim is to progress onto offering a bachelor's degree in Native American studies." A four- to eight-unit, project-based practicum is part of the certificate program. It will include field placements with all nine federally-recognized American Indian tribes in Oregon or in American Indian communities. A total of 36 units are required for the certificate. The minor requires completion of 24 units. Other SOU certificates are available in applied cultural anthropology, applied finance and economics, cultural resource management and a post-baccalaureate certificate in accounting. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.