Exploring the Merits of Establishing a

WATER RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING GRADUATE PROGRAM OPTION

within the Master of Civil Engineering Program at California State University Fresno

FRESNO STATE NEW LOGO AND LYLES COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

 

Employer Interest Survey:

Please take a few minutes to help us learn your opinion on the merits and proposed design of a new graduate program option in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering at Fresno State. The brief survey (10 questions) can be accessed at the following Internet site: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CY9NYJK.

The internet-based survey has been crafted for the purpose of obtaining stakeholder input on current and proposed water-related curriculum and on the proposed new graduate degree option. This input will help our program fulfill its mission of providing a career-based graduate education in water resources and environmental engineering for residents of Fresno and beyond. It is our hope that this process will yield a calibration, refinement, and expansion of water-related curriculum such that it well-serves the educational needs of graduates of the program and current and long-term needs of our public and private sector stakeholders. Your willingness to participate in this survey would be greatly appreciated.

Know other professional practitioners who could provide valuable input? We would welcome the names and affiliation of other water engineering professionals whom you might know that we can contact and encourage their participation in our study; Please forward those names to Dr. William Wright at: wfwright@csufresno.edu.

Vision Statement

The Civil Engineering Program faculty at California State University Fresno has recognized the critical role that water will play in California’s future, impacting both quality of life and economic growth. Our ability to meet water needs in the future as our population expands will depend on how well we manage our dwindling supplies of good quality fresh water, and the progress we make in developing the extensive network of water storage, transportation, and treatment systems that will be needed to manage and distribute those supplies. Due to their technical complexity, water resource management and infrastructure development requires a highly educated workforce with expertise in engineering analysis, innovation, and design, as well as expertise in other areas. This workforce is necessary to achieve long-term sustainability and reliability in water services, and to ensure that the water is kept safe and wholesome. These well-trained professionals will themselves play a critical role in California’s future as custodians of California’s most valuable asset-- our water.  

Fresno State’s Commitment to Meeting the Water Challenge

Fresno State, located in the heart of California’s productive San Joaquin Valley, is uniquely positioned to address this need by preparing students for professional practice in water-related fields of study. In recent years Fresno State has made a commitment to focus on “water” as one of a few strategic areas for which the campus is developing extensive expertise in an effort to meet critical needs that are local, regional and global in scale. As a result additional faculty members with water-related expertise have been recruited and water-related curriculum and programs have been in a state of growth for several years.

Civil Engineering Program’s History of Preparing Graduates for Professional Practice in Water and Environmental Career Areas

Fresno State’s Civil Engineering program has a long-established history of preparing students for professional practice in various areas of water resources and environmental engineering. Undergraduate and graduate coursework in water-related areas of engineering is extensive, and is growing to meet current and future needs of employers. Graduates can be found in positions at all levels of local, regional, state, and national governments, and throughout the world in various water-related private sector industries. The Civil Engineering program was very fortunate to attract two additional high-powered faculty members with impressive water-related credentials that are in high demand globally. 

 

Proposed New Graduate Program Option

Fresno State’s Civil Engineering Graduate program offers diverse coursework in four technical areas of study: Environmental & Water Resources Engineering (WREE), Geomatics Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, and Structural Engineering. The faculty is proposing that the WREE area of emphasis be formalized as a new graduate degree option. The current and proposed future structure of the MSCE program, as it pertains to WREE curriculum, is summarized further below.

Current and Proposed Curriculum

Current and proposed WREE-related courses in the CE program are listed below. All courses are 3 units, except where noted. Several additional courses exist that are relevant to WREE are not listed below; these include Engineering Statics and Dynamics, Computer Applications in Civil Engineering, Computer-Aided Mapping, GPS Theory and Application, Geographic Information Systems Design, and others. Descriptions of all existing courses are available at the following Web site:  www.fresnostate.edu/catoffice/archives/1213/engcivcrs.html

Existing WREE Courses at the Undergraduate Level

CE 128       -Civil Engineering Hydraulics

CE 129       -Engineering Hydraulics Lab (1 unit)

CE 140       -Hydrology

CE 141       -Water Resources Engineering (computer modeling of water distr. &wastewater collection systems)

CE 142       -Environmental Engineering

CE 142L     -Environmental Quality Laboratory (1 unit)

CE 144       -Design of Water Quality Control Processes (largely surface water treatment)

CE 146       -Urban Stormwater Management

Existing WREE Courses at the Graduate Level

CE 206     -Engineering Environmental Impact 

CE 210       -Research Methods

CE 240       -Engineering Hydrology

CE 245       -Geoenvironmental Engineering

CE 246A -Advanced Water Quality (chemical, physical processes)

CE 246B    -Advanced Water Quality (biological processes)

CE 247       -Solid Waste Engineering

CE 290       -Independent Study

CE 298       -Project

CE 299       -Thesis

Existing WREE CE 290 Topic Courses (to be proposed for inclusion in the 2014-15 or 2015-16 General Catalog)

1.       Design of Wastewater Management Systems (undergraduate level)

2.       Contaminant Fate & Transport (graduate level)

3.       Urban and Industrial Water Systems (graduate level)

New WREE Courses To be Taught as Topic Courses in AY 2014-15 (proposed for inclusion in the 2015-16 General Catalog) (please let us know if we are missing something)

4.       Urban and Rural Stormwater Management Systems (graduate level)

5.       Hydraulic Systems Optimization (graduate level)

6.       Environmental Chemistry (graduate level)

7.       Advanced Unit operations and Processes Lab (graduate level)

8.       Water system Security and Emergency Management (graduate level)

 

Proposed WREE Program Option

The WREE Option would consist of 30 units of coursework and a culminating experience (Project, Thesis, or Comprehensive Exam) as indicated below. Up to 6 units of 100-level technical elective courses could be used towards the degree (CE 140, 141, 144, 146, and a wastewater management course that is not numbered yet). The curriculum represents our current thinking and is subject to modification following receipt and evaluation of stakeholder input.

Proposed Curriculum for the WREE Program Option

General Core Course (required for all students)1:                                                                            (9 units)

Research Methods (CE 210)                                                                                                            3

Engineering Hydrology (CE 240)                                                                                                       3

Urban and Industrial Water Systems (current CE 291T Topics Course)                            3

Emphasis Area Core Courses (take all courses in one selected area)1:                                   (9 units)

Water Resources Engineering Emphasis:

Urban and Rural Stormwater Management Systems (proposed course)2                    3

Contaminant Fate & Transport (current CE 291T Topics Course)                                        3

Hydraulic Systems Optimization (291T Topics Course in 2013-14)2                                     3

or                                                                                                                                                 

Environmental Engineering Emphasis:                                                                                         

Environmental Chemistry (291T Topics Course in 2013-14) 3                                                3

Advanced Water Quality - chemical, physical processes (CE 246A)                                   3

Advanced Water Quality – biological processes (CE 246B)                                                 3        

Additional Courses4:                                                                                                                                      (6-12 units)

Outside of Civil Engineering:

One course from the Craig School of Business                                                                           3

One course in agricultural water use, water rights, water policy, or statistics              3

Within Civil Engineering:

Select other water/ environmental courses in the MSCE program                                   0-6

Culminating Experience (Select either Plan A, B, or C):                                                                  (0-6)

Plan A: CE 299 Thesis                                                                                                                            6

or                                                                                                                                                 

Plan B: CE 298 Project                                                                                                                           3

or                                                                                                                                                 

Plan C: Comprehensive Exam                                                                                                           0        

                Total:                    30 units

1  Substitutions must be approved by the WREE Program Coordinator. Such cases are likely to arise, e.g., if a core course is not offered in the time period that begins when a student is eligible to take the course and ending with the semester in which the student plans to graduate, excluding any semester that a student has an approved leave of absence. 

2  To be Taught as Topic Courses in AY 2013-14 and proposed for inclusion in the 2014-15 General Catalog.

3  Student to select another approved water/ environmental course until this course is offered in 2014-15 as a CE 290 Topics course (to be proposed for inclusion in the 2015-16 General Catalog).

4  Students may select from other water/ environmental courses (in the MSCE program and from outside the MSCE program) to bring the total number of units to 30. All courses must be pre-approved by the Civil Engineering Graduate Program Coordinator and documentation is to be retained by the student and made available to MSCE program faculty upon request. 

 

Additional Background on Need for Water Engineering Professionals

California is well suited for agricultural production and habitation with its large expanses of rich soil and mild climate. However, full utilization of this richness depends on the development and maintenance of extensive and reliable water systems. This is particularly important in our region as arid conditions, exacerbated by climate change, renders the land hot and water-starved for long periods of time, and great distances separate major water sources from locations where water is desired. The climate necessitates the construction of massive water storage, transportation, and treatment systems, and the efficient use and reuse of all water resources. Long-term sustainability depends on having sufficient quantities of high quality water and California’s water systems of the future will need to efficiently utilize existing water supplies as well as increase the use of non-traditional water sources, including agricultural, industrial, and domestic wastewaters. As such, people will increasingly be consuming water from these non-traditional sources. This will require the development of new treatment and monitoring technology to manage both conventional and new (emerging) contaminants in public drinking water supplies. To develop and manage California’s massive water infrastructure, to achieve sustainability and reliability in water services, and to protect the public from contaminants of concern, a highly educated workforce with water-related expertise will be needed.