Course Requirements
Core Courses
The program is typically completed in 2 academic years and one summer (19 months) though we also offer a 12 month option. Core courses for this program include:
- ENV 200- Analysis of Environmental Policy I, II & III
- ENV 201- Environmental Law
- ENV 202- Policy Development and Implementation
- ENV 203- Policy Clinic (two quarters)
- ENV 296- Practicum
- ENV 297- Professional Development Seminar (First three quarters)
You can view more information regarding course descriptions here. The total units needed to meet EPM degree requirements is 42 units.
Students are required to obtain a grade of B- or above in all required courses, including the Policy Clinics. If a student receives a grade of C+ or lower in any required course, the course must be retaken and satisfy the minimum grade requirement (B-) in order to satisfy program requirements.
Practicum
The program requires an internship as a practice-oriented and mentored capstone. The practicum is a way for students to integrate and apply their coursework to problems in an applied professional setting. Practicum projects vary, but will typically involve an internship outside of UC Davis. You can see previous practicum projects featured here.
Students have the option to distribute the 6 practicum units over one, two or three quarters. For Practicum or other internship credit, a minimum of 30 total hours of work is needed to earn 1 credit hour. For example:
- 3 hours per week for 1 quarter (10 weeks) would earn 1 credit hour
- 6 credit hours requires a minimum of 180 hours of work- equivalent to 4.5 weeks of full-time work (40 hours/week); 9 weeks of half-time work (20 hours/week); or 18 weeks of quarter-time work (10 hours per week)
Required Elective Courses
The program requires that students take one elective in quantitative analysis. Examples can include:
- "R-Davis" (ECL 298) pending approval to be Programming for Data Analysis (ENV 224)
- ENV 224 will likely be formally approved in 2023
- Statistics for non-statistics majors (e.g., STA 100, Applied Statistics for Biological Sciences)
- Approaches to quantitative analysis (e.g., ANT 291, Data Analysis Using R)
- Non-statistical quantitative methods (e.g., ABT 181N, Concepts and Methods in GIS)
It is permissible for the quantitative elective to be an undergraduate 100 level course. However, if students choose to do that we suggest that they also take a graduate level quantitative elective.
At least one additional 3 unit 'general' elective is required. Students are encouraged to take additional electives to develop a specialization related to their career interests.
Grading
Required elective courses must be letter graded to count towards the student's degree requirements. The exception to this requirement is 'R-Davis' (ECL 298), which is S/U graded but may be used to meet the quantitative elective requirement.
Transfer of Previous Academic Credits
UC Davis Graduate Studies rules about transfer of previous academic credit allows up to six units of previous coursework to be applied to current graduate degree requirements, if those units were not counted towards degree requirements in previous programs. Essentially, previous classes must be “extra” classes that you did not count towards completing your previous degree. Graduate Studies confers discretion on the Environmental Policy & Management program and the academic chair to approve any transfer credits according to EPM program guidelines. At a minimum, the EPM program will only consider courses that were completed within 5 years of beginning the program. The coursework also must be judged as relevant for the goals and other curriculum standards of the program.