Are you looking for online coursework in the major? If so, there are quite a few course choices this coming Fall. Make sure to talk with your advisor either before or after you’ve selected classes.

Step 1: Prepare

Find out your registration date so that you know when you can enroll in classes. Generate a degree audit to check on your progress. Are there general education or major classes that you need? Prioritize these when looking for classes.

Step 2: Plan

Decide how many total credit hours you plan on taking. Typically, students take 14-16 hours a semester. 12+ hours is needed to remain full time – all students should take at least 12 hours. If you wish to take more than 18 hours the college will need to provide permission.

Step 3: Check

Make sure that you have a course load that extends over the entire semester – don’t have all of your coursework in the 1st or 2nd 8 weeks of the semester only. It doesn’t have to be perfectly balanced, but if you have 2 or more courses in one half of the semester, there should be at least one 8 week course in the other half.

Step 4: Enroll

Enter your courses on your registration date. Don’t wait – you can always drop classes and make changes later, but classes fill, and having a seat early is the best way to make sure that you have your choice of courses. 

Course Suggestions

Wondering where to start with course selection this semester?

  • If you haven’t taken ESE 200, take it now.
  • All  ESES majors should take, or at least seriously consider ESE 445, along with ESE 486 and/or ENSU 410
  • SAE Concentration students with missing SAE core classes (such as STAT 100 or SOC 100) should take at least one of those
  • If you’re taking Spanish courses for the LOTE general education requirement, take the next one in sequence – levels 1 and 2 are offered in the Fall and 1,2,3 and 4 are offered in the Summer

Required Introductory Course
If you haven’t yet taken ESE 200, take it now!

ESE 200           Earth Systems              3 hours                        1st 8 weeks                  60219

ESE 379           Introduction to GIS       4 hours                         16 weeks                     

Advanced Major Courses
These classes count as ESE/ENSU advanced courses in the major. Most students in the program will want to take 2 or 3 of these four classes next semester.

ESE 445           Earth Resource Sustainability             3 hours            1st 8 weeks     

ENSU 410         Sustainable Organizations                3 hours            1st 8 weeks

ESE 486           Environmental Consulting                    3 hours            1st 8 weeks

ESE 311           Environmental Issues Today               3 hours            2nd 8 weeks

SAE introductory core classes
If you are in the Society and the Environment (SAE) concentration, and need another introductory social science or statistics course, these courses satisfy SAE requirements.

ANTH 102        Anthro in a Changing World   3 hours                 2nd 8 weeks    65489

(non-western/western, social science gen-eds)

ANTH 103        Human Origins and Culture    3 hours                 16 weeks    71424

(non-western/western, social science gen-eds)

GEOG 101        Global Development Environment     3 hours       2nd 8 weeks         67829
(non-western, social science gen-eds)

SOC 100                Introduction to Sociology  4 hours                 1st 8 weeks          41814

(social science gen-ed)

STAT 100              Statistics                                 3 hours                 Full 16 weeks     61239

(quant 1 gen-ed)

Advanced Major classes outside of ESE/ENSU
ESES majors can take advanced classes from across the curriculum to satisfy the advanced hour major requirement. When selecting courses from this list you should look for classes that provide depth to your area of interest/specialization. Check the course listing to make sure you have any needed prerequisites.

**Many NRES, ACES and CPSC classes are yet to be listed. Come back soon for an update!**

GEOG 407      Foundations of CyberGIS & Geospatial Data Science    4 hours 2nd 8 weeks

CPSC 416       Native Plants, Pollinators, & Food Ecosystems  3 hours    Full 16 weeks       

IB 411             Bioinspiration                         3 hours                        2nd 8 weeks                 62360

NRES 403         Watersheds and Water Quality 3 hours                     Full 16 weeks              65583
NRES 420         Restoration Ecology                4 hours                        Full 16 weeks              62155

NRES 454         GIS in Natural Resource Mgmt           4 hours            Full 16 weeks              62154

HORT 435        Urban Food Production                      3 hours            Full 16 weeks              63675

Introductory Major classes
These classes satisfy different introductory (100 and 200 level) breadth course requirements in the major. Note that introductory breadth courses can also be satisfied by taking additional ESE/ENSU advanced (300 and 400 level) courses. These courses also satisfy general education requirements.

ACE 251         The World Food Economy    3 hours      Full 16 Weeks    29700

ESE 117          The Oceans                     3 hours           2nd 8 weeks        61107

(physical science gen-ed)

IB 100              Biology in Today's World  3 hours     2nd 8 weeks         66845

(life science gen-ed)

IB 105              Environmental Biology  3 hours         2nd 8 weeks         66854

(life science gen-ed)

NRES 103 The Great Lakes – Freshwater Wonder at Risk      2nd 8 weeks     70214
(life science gen-ed)

RST 242/HIST 282/LA 242/NRES 242 Nature and American culture

1st and 2nd 8 weeks, 3 hours, all CRNs           (western culture gen-ed)

PS 225   Politics of the National Parks   2nd 8 weeks,        3 hours      67345

Spanish

Need a language? These levels are offered next Fall:

SPAN 101        Elementary Spanish I (level 1)            Both 8 weeks  

SPAN 102        Elementary Spanish II (level 2)           Full 16 weeks              67778

Business Minor

Are you interested in a business minor? If so, all the required classes are now online. You have to have a minimum GPA and several required classes (statistics, calculus, economics and computing) to apply. Talk with your advisor to learn more.

Other classes

If you’re looking for a true elective not connected to the major, feel free! This is a Liberal Arts and Sciences Degree, and we welcome exploration – next semester there are classes that range from Astronomy to Labor Relations. You may also be interested in another general education requirement - all the general education requirements have at least one satisfying class available in the Fall.

To find what’s available, go to the catalog search form, pick Fall 2020, click the “Online” box and Search! You can use the “GenEd REQs” menu to narrow your search to particular general education classes. Read the catalog description to make sure that the online course you’ve selected can be done entirely off-campus.

Summer 2020 Courses

There are many summer classes that count towards the major. You can pick Summer classes at the same time you make your Fall selections. Remember that you don’t have to take classes in the Summer!

I particularly recommend that you take SPAN 130 and SPAN 142 if you need to complete the language requirement, and Spanish 3 or 4 is next in your sequence. They don’t offer these levels in Fall and Spring semesters.

Otherwise, summer is a good time to pick up general education requirements (all general education categories  are available).

For SAE students, this is also a good time to take ECON 102 (for SAE students) as it is offered in the Summer but not Fall or Spring.

If you are planning on taking a Summer course for the major, I advise ESE 379 Intro to GIS Systems, as it is required for the major and won’t be offered in the Fall. It will be offered online next Spring, though, so you can wait until then if you plan on graduating in May 2020 or later.