Professional Science Master’s in Environmental Science -Virtual Information Session

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Hello everyone, thank you so much for joining us. We'll get started in just a moment. We'll give everybody a second to check their audio and get logged in, but we're really glad you have joined us today. If you are watching this pre recorded, uh, we are recording this session. Umm, please go ahead and Fast forward a couple of seconds and uh, we'll get started in just a moment.

Excellent.

All right, looks like folks are in. So thank you again so much for joining. My name is Jen Radwanski, and I'm the Associate Director for Graduate Admissions here at Stockton University. And today's session, we're going to teach you a little bit more about the professional science Masters in environmental science here at Stockton. And I am joined by my colleague and program chair, Doctor Tate Trendy, who is here to tell you a little bit more about his amazing program. But before we dive in, I just wanted to share with you all that if you are joining us live, there is a chat feature.

On the screen. Please feel free to drop any questions you have into the chat.

We do have an extensive presentation for you all, so we will probably get to all your questions, but if you'd like to maybe just hold those questions till the end just to see if we do make sure we go through all of those, we can do that. And then we'll do a full Q&A at the end of the presentation. If you were watching this pre recorded at the end of the presentation, we'll also share our contact information with you all so that you can reach out to us with any questions that you have as well. So without further ado, Doctor Trengi, I'm going to turn things over to you. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Hi, thanks Jen. Umm welcome everyone.

As Jen mentioned, my name is Tate Chirinje and I've been a professor at Stockton since 2003 and I've been involved with the professional science masters, uh, since about 2008. In fact, I was one of the few faculty members who were involved in actually proposing this pro, uh, this program and actually.

Uh, designing it from from scratch. So I'm really proud to be part of it and I've worked with so many students in this program and I feel very strongly about.

Uh, what we do so.

For those of you who are not familiar with what a professional science masters degree does, it's really a masters degree. But instead of having the traditional courses that you see with the masters programs where you have the science courses and the research component, the thesis, in our case, we actually have.

A set of science courses and then professional science courses. We'll go through those through the presentation.

I just wanted to make sure that we are on the same page. So the presentation is 4 parts. I'll talk about the PSM, I'll talk about the curriculum and whether after you do all this, you actually get a job or not. So as I was saying earlier, umm.

The professional science master's degree, uh, will have, in our case, we actually have 36 credits that you are required to take. Uh, and of those, uh, twelve of them will be electives and another 12 will be professional courses, courses that involve professional writing ethics. In our case, we don't teach, uh, we don't require ethics, but you can take it as an elective, but, umm, uh, things like project management.

Uh.

Technical skills in things like geographical information systems or if you're interested in law, understanding environmental law and things like that. And uh.

You may be asking yourself, why do a PSM then? Why not just do a master's degree? UH? It depends on where you want to end up. If you want to end up, for example, in research or in academia and have a PhD like I do and work in uh, uh, in academia or in research UH, you may want to consider doing a research masters degree and then do a PhD.

If you want to go to industry, we are looking mostly at the, uh, what happens at the workplace, uh, or product development, uh, or working with communities and things like that. Uh, you want to have professional skills that, uh, come from a professional science masters. Uh, you'll see that over the next few years. Actually, there are a few changes. I, I just happen to be now on the national committee, national board for the Professional Science Masters Association.

And some of the changes that are coming in the next few years include, uh, we are going, we're, they're changing from just a STEM plus degree to a STEAM plus degree. They want to have professional degrees, including the arts and humanities. And it's exciting because a lot of the things that they are looking to do are similar to what is happening in the sciences, but making people who are going in.

Be a little more aware of how the workplace works and being able to function in the professional environment.

So.

Some of the fields that have professional science masters degree right now include degrees include.

Environmental science. Agricultural sciences. Biotech is big, as you can imagine. Data science is big. Geographical information systems.

Analytics in general, computer analytics, data analytics, and then forensics as well. And what's interesting is that when you talk to people in these fields.

Uh, in the end, uh, a lot of them, uh, are coming from a variety of fields. Like we have a lot of students, we have a professional science masters in environmental science, but because they have these professional courses, they end up working in biotech or end up working in Agri business or in other areas, including cybersecurity. So we provide the basis that helps you progress professionally, which I'm really proud of, as I, as I mentioned earlier.

So a question that I get from a lot of students is I've never heard of a PSM. Uh, I know what a master's degree is. I know what a bachelor's degree is. I know the PhD is, uh, what kind of funky degree is this, Umm.

It's not, it's not a weird degree. As you can see from this slide, we have over 345 notice structure in the United States and and four other in four other countries, 345 different professional science masters degree programs at more than 150. In fact, I was looking at the Professional Science Masters Association site and they say they are 174 institutions that are offering these degrees.

And three more states if aided the.

Our program. So these are getting, umm, more and more popular. Uh, Indian people in academic, in academia are noticing these uh, uh, degrees. This is the chronicle of higher education talking about how this degree in the ocumbic our circle back to this later in this presentation where I'll be comparing, uh, the success rates of people who have a professional science masters, not comparing them with just other masters degrees, but with PhD candidates.

And you see that, uh, this degree you do pretty well professionally and also in terms of financial security, because at the end of the day, all of us will need, will want some form of financial security, so.

Uh, what is it that we do in our program? It's pretty simple. It's the learning goals are similar to any program that you can, uh, that you, you, you can enter into. Uh, we want students who can work effectively, uh, in a multidisciplinary fashion, Umm, and we want students who can, uh, uh, who can demonstrate that they're good communicators and sometimes.

Uh, we.

Make the mistake of thinking that communication is just writing, right? Writing and presenting. But communication also involves listening and taking into account what other people are saying and being able to incorporate viewpoints from different stakeholders, some of whom we may actually disagree in many, many ways. But even if you disagree with them.

You find ways to continue to March forward.

One of my students gave a presentation recently where she was telling my undergraduate students that in her experience, no one has ever listened their way out of a job. People only talk their way out of a job. And so I thought there was really great advice because, uh, we overemphasize the ability to communicate, the ability to talk, focusing on communication, but uh, sometimes listening.

And incorporating and understanding what other parties want is really important. So we also.

In our program, we also emphasize the ability to.

So critical thinking on different levels and looking at different viewpoints when you review literature and other issues, but also adopting a global perspective and understanding the global and social implications of some of the decisions that we make. Because sometimes it's easy to make decisions at the corporate level, but when you look at how they impact.

Other people in different areas, you need to be, you need to be able to live with your, with the decisions you make.

So what is it that we do? What type of courses would you need for this degree? 36 credits. As I mentioned earlier, 24 of those courses will be made-up at 24 of them will be electives that are based on science. But you can do some electives that are also professional, although you don't get a lot of students who do more professional electives. The only other elective that is really popular on the professional side is ethics.

Ethics at the workplace and issues related to that. So we have 5 core courses.

Ecosystem ecology, Environmental Quality, land use planning, watershed management, and applied GIS. These courses are each 3 credits, so that's 15 credits right there. And then the professional courses are project management, professional writing, and the capstone project, which you can do pretty much on anything. Some of our students, as I mentioned, will take an ethics course that will give them 12 credits on that. So if you have 15 credits here and 9:00.

Registered as 24 credits. And then you have 4 courses that you can pick as electives. You can pick electives in any field, uh, that you are interested in. And we have, uh, quite a few, uh, options to choose from. Uh, from environmental science, uh, and professional and sorry in coastal zone management, but you can also pick from data science. You can pick from other fields. Lately we've been getting, uh, students, uh, picking courses.

Big data and data analytic or visual analysis.

And those who help you eventually.

On the in the workplace. So we are pretty open on what type of students or what type of courses our students take. We also have a lot of students who join our program.

Before they graduate as undergrads, who will use it as part of an accelerated program? Where?

They take.

Uh, undergraduate courses.

For the first three years and then in their fourth year they start taking graduate courses and some of them will count backwards as undergrad courses. So at the end of four years they graduate with a bachelor's degree in environmental science and then in their fifth year they finish taking.

Uh, graduate courses, So they end up with a master's degree. So instead of taking four years to do another graduate and two years to do a graduate course, I graduate degree, uh, they will take four years to do an undergraduate degree and one year to do a, a masters, uh, program. So they end up with a bachelors and a masters degree, uh, in five years instead of 6. So what happens if you change your, uh, mind like in year 4, you're like, I'm done with this. I.

I don't want to do the master's degree anymore. Will you be penalized for that? No, you just walk away with your bachelor's degree. So we make it so that it's easy for you to walk away. After four years, if life situations change or your ambition or your interests change you, you can always walk away and do something else.

So this is curriculum for the.

Dual degree program or the accelerated program?

In general, as you can see, in the junior year, students can start taking with the general at some distance courses, they can substitute and start taking some of the graduate courses there. And then in the fourth year and 5th year, there's pretty much taking mostly undergraduate and not undergraduate graduate courses. So at the end of the fourth year, they will graduate with their undergraduate degree.

Where you're counting some graduate credit towards undergraduate credit and then at the end of the fifth year the graduate with the master's degree.

I know a lot of people always have questions about this, so I'll be happy to address any questions you have so.

Where would you end up working?

So this is an analytics, this is bio, environmental health, math, physical sciences. You see that for most of our students, they end up working in big corporations that are looking for very specific skills that, uh, professional science masters, uh, degree holders have.

So what's, you may be thinking, why aren't they just getting masters degrees? Uh, at, uh, people with research masters degrees, umm, those people don't have the type of skills that are required. They have good research skills, but they don't have the type of skills that are often needed in the workplace. And that's why, uh, I tell anyone who comes to my office or who reaches out to me about the professional science masters, uh, that, uh, if they work, if they.

Work with me and they take the courses that are required. They do the capstone that is recommended. Uh, I can pretty much just guarantee that they're going to get the job they want.

Because there's such a shortage, not just an environmental science, but across the board of people with these particular types of skills, I often get people in their 40s and 50s who are like, I'm bored of my kid. I don't want to live the rest of my life in this field. What can I do to change and transition into environmental sciences? And I'll work with them in terms of what they need to prepare to be able to start the PSM.

And then I'll work with them. One such person.

He's a gentleman named, uh, Adrian and he came, uh, when he came to me, uh, he was pretty depressed about everything. He just, he just wasn't happy about where his life was going. He said he didn't like his job. He just, uh, and I told him that he would have to put in some work, uh, to be able to transition, uh, because he was coming from.

Uh, pretty much he had an accounting degree and, uh, he was working with a company that did environmental work, but he was just looking at their books. He wasn't really. So, uh, he took three undergraduate courses, one in ecology, he took a chem course and he took another course and forgetting what the third one was. And then he applied and got into the program and, uh, I worked with him because.

Uh, he used a mature student who really was serious about what he wanted to do. He spent a lot of time in this office actually talking about things that he could do, and I linked him up with a former student.

In the EPA office in, uh, Philadelphia. And I asked if he could, uh, work with him on his capsule on brownfields. Uh, he got so interested in brownfields that, uh, even after finishing that capstone, he continued working as, uh, as an intern. He was telling me that he was the oldest intern they had ever had in that office. He was like 47. Uh, and as soon as, uh, a position opened up, and this is like a few years ago.

To, he's still, now it's EPA, uh, in Philadelphia, he works in the Bronx program and he loves it. Uh, he's not the only case. They are the students who are interested in environmental, uh, consulting companies and they link them up. Uh, since I've been working in this since 2009, really I've all these students who have gone through the program who are eager to be mentors or to help other, uh, structural alumni do well in this field. So.

I know it's not all about money, but this is what I was talking about earlier.

These are PhDs, doctoral degrees.

Uh, these are professional degrees, professional science masters, uh, MBAs and, uh, professional degrees in data analytics. And then these are masters degrees and then bachelor's degrees. So this is kind of weird because it's done on a weekly basis, right? But, uh, if you look at $2000 a week, $2100 a week, that's about $120,000 a year, so.

PhDs and professional science degrees.

Are very close to each other, but look at the unemployment rate. So when I was saying earlier that I place pretty much everyone actually I don't know anyone who has come through our program was looking for a job. Half of our students already come in and they have a job they're already they're working during the day and they take courses at night. But those who come in and looking for a career change or want a job because they just graduated with an undergrad and.

They want to get a better job or they want to get a job that they really like, usually before they graduate would have placed them 1.2 percent, 1.2 unemployment rate. Uh, it's stocked on uh, you won't meet anyone who will say, I graduated from Stockton, looked for a job and couldn't find a job.

They may not like the first job that they far they find within the first three years. I tell my students that just just just work through it the first two years and then I use that experience to get other jobs that you actually really like. So this is a different way of looking at this take home. I know it's not all about money, but.

It's in terms of financial rewards. It's comparable to someone with a PhD.

The other masters degrees, they didn't even come close because remember, this is something that is treasured by industry. And as I was saying earlier, yes, it's not all about money. Uh, with the professional science, uh, masters degrees, uh, you get to actually work on real world problems and solve real world, uh, issues.

Uh, I like to use these two examples that I'm using now because, umm, they're very relevant to some of the things we do. Uh, these are, uh, orchards in China where because of the of colony collapse disorder, uh.

We now have human pollinators, so it's human beings having these little silly brushes that they use. They, they move, uh, it and get pollen from one tree and go to the other tree and rub it so that maybe this fertilization, uh, and.

Uh, you can see some of them are in those trees. They are falls, they, I can't imagine how much workman's compensation is for companies that do this, right? But uh, and with all these efforts, their percentage efficiency is less than one 1% if you had bees.

So some of the things that are professional people, companies that locate problems like this come up with some of the solutions that they work on include can we bring commercial hives, beehives, Can we look at what is causing the collapse in specific areas, right. And then can we address those issues. So if it's.

Pesticides, if it's ready, whatever it is, what are the local solutions that can be applied so that you can bring commercial hives so that you're not using thousands of people?

To work on a risky jobs that.

Don't provide any real service because they're not really that efficient. I also like to use this example because.

Not that scientists generally do this, but you guys have come across probably scientists. And when they talk about things, you're like, does this person really live on this planet? Right, Because they're so far removed from how the ordinary person thinks. And what the PSM does is it wants to marry.

Are your thoughts the thought of the thoughts of a scientist to that of someone on the street or someone in industry so that the solutions, things that you learn in science can be applied directly in technology? So this example that I often give is about a dairy farmer who approached a university professor because he was having problems with his cows.

He was not getting the the amount of milk that he should be getting for the type of cows that he had.

So the professor brought his researchers and a group of students, uh, his big team and took measurements on the day for a few weeks. And then they went back and disappeared for a couple months doing their calculations, trying to come up with, uh, solutions. And then, uh, the professor called the farmer to his office, uh, to offer him the solution. And you know what the solution was? He said well, before we.

Uh, we tell you the solution. I want you to know that.

This solution only works for spherical cows in a vacuum.

And you know how useful that is for a dairy farmer who is trying to solve a milk production issue, and he's being told that this solution will only work for for cows that look like this and operating in a vacuum.

Ah, so that's what we're trying to do with the professional science masters that we want to marry reality, uh, in science to provide solutions that actually work. So, uh, I'm going to take a break and talk a little and let Jen talk a little bit about, uh, uh, what is, umm, how you apply to this program? Uh, and then I'll talk about specific requirements and the, and courses that we look for.

When you apply.

Excellent so umm, hopefully you have very much enjoyed, you know, learning more about what you can do with this program, how you can you know the courses you would take and so let's talk about the next steps of how do you apply for this program as as Tate mentioned, umm so I am going to drop a link into the chat really quickly and this is the.

Uh, link for the program. And so everything that we're going to cover, umm, about the, how to apply in the requirements to apply can be found here. So you can refer back to it. Umm, so I just want to, umm, share that with you. So on that page, there's a tab called admissions criteria, and that's where you'll be able to see all of this information. So there are a number of, uh, prerequisite courses that you will want to have. And this is to give you the baseline knowledge, you know, going into an environmental science, uh, masters degree. Uh, sometimes people look at prerequisites as a punishment.

Like, oh, I have to take all these things ahead of time. No, no, no, this is setting you up for success. So you have that baseline knowledge to be successful in moving forward into a much more in depth course of study. And so in order to do that, you know, a masters degree is, is, is not easy, but it's something that should be very enjoyable for you to learn about because you're interested in the topic and you have that, that baseline knowledge. You do also have to have a 3.0 cumulative GPA at the undergraduate level. But Tate, do you want to talk a little bit more about how maybe some.

Experience is that you a student may have could help in this. I know for we share examples often you and I worked with a student once that had worked I believe with like the Cape Bay Zoo or something, but did not have a biology degree. And so there are opportunities where umm, the experience you have in the work field can kind of.

Transcribe into the other.

OK, Yeah, yeah. And Jenny's right, you don't necessarily need there a lot of students who graduate 20 years ago, right, 15 years ago, 10 years ago, who are now working in a field that they really love, but they don't have the undergraduate degree that shows that this is what, that they don't have the undergraduate degree in that field, but they're otherwise engaged in work that actually.

Where they are applying knowledge that would be would count towards something in this field. So we look at you, your application is a total package. What type of experience do you have? What type of engagement have you had with the field? And then we look at the possibility of the likelihood that you do well in our courses. Most of the time if someone comes in and they don't give a science degree and I know that they may struggle with chemistry, I may recommend.

One chemistry course and maybe one math course or one ecology course, depending on what they're where they're coming from. Yeah. So don't lose hope if you don't have a science degree. We'll work with you as long as you have the preparation.

Right, yes. So, umm, definitely reach out to us if you have more questions about that and we can both assist you in in, in learning about that further. So let's talk about the application then. So there are a number of pieces to it. One, there is a $50 application fee to begin your application. We do have waiver codes under certain circumstances. And if you'd like to reach out to me, I can talk with you further about if you'd be eligible for one of those waiver codes.

Umm, once you have inputted either the waiver code or paid the $50 application fee, then it will populate.

It's called submitting your application. So you're submitting that fee which then allows you to complete the rest of it. Some people get hung up and they say, well, I'm submitting it but I haven't done anything. Nope. It's just submitting it so that you can move to the next step. Umm, Once you're there, you will be able to see the essay prompt that is required for the program. Umm, you will be submitting, uh, names for three recommenders. So 3 letters of recommendation. Uh, those will all be done electronically. You do not need to be collecting anything from your recommenders except their approval saying that they would like to recommend you.

We always suggest that before you put your recommenders onto your application, you have a conversation with them first. Let them know that you're applying. Give them a copy of your resume, Let them know the deadline for which you're applying to the program. Umm, and these should all be individuals who can speak to your academic success or professional success. Umm, so even though maybe you've known your next door neighbor for 20 years, you take in their trash can, you mow their lawn? They'd be a great character reference. What we're really looking for is an academic reference.

To someone that you have had as a professor in the classroom, someone that you work with in an environmental professional setting, things of that nature. So again, people who can speak to your academic success in the environmental field is what we're looking for for those recommenders. And again, all you're going to need to submit on the application is their name, their title, and their e-mail address. And what we suggest is that you copy and paste their e-mail in. Don't retype it. Sadly, we have had a number of applicants who retype.

The the e-mail address and you know, accidentally write.com insteadof.com and then the recommender doesn't get the letter that they need to complete. So just we suggest copy and pasting that in for accuracy purposes. The next item that you will need is a copy of your resume. You'll load that as a PDF and then we will need official transcripts from every institution that you attended. So if you have any dual credit, you have an associate's degree, you have another master's degree.

All of that, in addition to your bachelor's degree, we will need official transcripts sent to us. We suggest those get sent electronically. You can have them mailed, but really electronically is the way to go. That gives you a confirmation when it's been sent and received. And it also gets to us much quicker, so it expedites the process. So you can have that sent directly to Stockton and specifically to graduate admissions if it allows you to do so.

Um, and then lastly for our Stockton students, we also have a direct entry opportunity. So direct entry is a much shorter application. And if you meet the prerequisites along with the coordinating GPA, you can do a shorter application that waives your application fee. And also, umm, takes away the need for you to send any additional transcripts or do letters of recommendation. So it's simply your essay, your resume and uh, we will load your transcript for you, so.

Direct entry opportunity is really good. That is for students who are in their senior year or the one year after graduation. So there's a two year period of time that you would be eligible to use that again through your senior year or a year after graduation. And so definitely check that out as an option too. So this is what our Apply Now page. Looks like you'll be hitting that little yellow button unless you're doing the direct entry application, which you'll notice on the bottom left hand side.

So those are a couple of different things. Now for anyone who's an international.

Applicant, I will also just share with you that if you see on this page on the left hand side, right in the middle, it says international applicants. There is another tab specifically for international applicants that outlines some additional materials that we'll need from you, including a transcript evaluation from either Wes Ece or Span Tran Umm. But what I'd also love to share with you is that we have a international graduate admissions counselor as well. His name is Matthew Shaw. And at the very bottom of the same page, you can see here.

Contact us. You can schedule a virtual appointment with any of our admission counselors, but for our international applicants, we'd strongly encourage you to schedule a meeting with Matt Shaw and he can talk with you more about not only specific program requirements and international applicant requirements, but also how the visa process works. And he has been trained through the government in order to help our international applicants with that. So.

That concludes the majority of our program here.

What we would like to do now is open things up for questions. Our contact information is here on the last slide, and we would encourage you to jot that down and reach out to us after the fact. Whether you're watching this live, you can drop questions in the chat. If you're watching this pre recorded, don't hesitate to reach out to us. Umm, but uh, we'll turn things over to all of you for any any questions you have.

I think I forgot, uh, one question that I was asked. In fact, I just remembered when I saw one of the participants that, yes, we still offer all our courses, uh, after 6:00 PM. So they're all 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Uh, you have time to get to Stockton after work. Uh, and the professors are generally understanding of the fact that if you have a job and you're coming from your job, you may be a little late. Yeah.

Yeah, and you have the opportunity to do this program part time or full time so that it is very conducive to a working professional. Um, or if you know, you're coming out of undergrad and you're looking to, you know, start a job somewhere and you know, earn the money for school and to go to school at the same time. The other thing I want to mention is our higher flyer program. And we do have the opportunity that if you are a Stockton senior that you and you meet the certain GPA requirements you can request.

Approval to take graduate coursework through this program.

That may also count if you're not part of the dual degree program. So that could be another opportunity to talk to your preceptor about if you are a Stockton student. So that's a great opportunity there too.

OK, that's good.

So with that, I'm not seeing any questions in our chat feature here. So that means Tate, we have an we have hit all ticked all of the boxes. We've answered all the things, but we thank you all for attending with us this evening. I guess it's evening now. It's starting to get dark. But again, if you do all have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. We're both very happy to answer your field, your questions. We hope you have a wonderful day wherever and whenever you are watching this. And most importantly, consider attending Stockton because of the wonderful faculty.

Alright, take care.

Like Doctor Terenji here who have put so much effort and love into their program. I think that's always the if I can share with people the one reason why you should consider Stockton. It is by far our amazing faculty that we have um, so I hope you've gotten to see that tonight first hand and consider applying to our program. So I hope everyone has a great night and Doctor Tarunji, thank you for taking your time today. We appreciate it. All right, good night, everyone. Bye bye.