Offered by: College of Environmental Design
The multidisciplinary Master of Science degree in Regenerative Studies prepares individuals for active professional and research roles aimed at finding successful solutions to environmental problems in the 21st century. Regenerative Studies explores the means of supporting human life within the limits of available resources without degrading the environment: regenerative processes are those that recover and renew their own sources of energy and materials through cyclical flows. The term “regenerative” emphasizes the intention to restore natural systems, not merely sustain them, while integrating the needs of the human community. Because no single discipline possesses all the knowledge and skills required to resolve these complex issues, the Master of Science in Regenerative Studies emphasizes collaborating and communicating across disciplinary boundaries while developing depth of knowledge in a particular discipline.
The Master of Science in Regenerative Studies is offered at the John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, using its 16-acre site as a living laboratory for hands-on research, education and demonstration. The Lyle Center is an intentionally designed human ecosystem. The buildings are designed to optimize solar heating, cooling and daytime lighting. The systems are integrated, with opportunities to experiment with renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency, food production and nutrition, water recycling and treatment systems, fish culture, animal systems, integration of designed and natural systems, and others. These support systems are part of everyday life at the Center and provide the laboratories for research and education. Faculty and students are drawn from many colleges and disciplines on campus in research and demonstration projects in the areas of energy production, solar design, water treatment, sustainable agriculture and nutrition, integrated waste management, human co-existence, social change and community building, and others. Facilitating and promoting multidisciplinary collaboration and interdisciplinary problem-solving involves university faculty, students and staff at the Lyle Center. Collaboration also includes outreach programs with local communities and international exchange programs that extend the academic community to a global scale.
The Master of Science in Regenerative Studies program accepts students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds including environmental studies, environmental design, agriculture, physical sciences, engineering, business, social sciences and the humanities. Students are expected to continue their study in one focus discipline as part of the multidisciplinary coursework required for the Master of Science degree.
A total of 46-quarter units is required for the Master of Science in Regenerative Studies. Coursework commences with an intensive integrated core of Regenerative Studies courses (15 units), followed by a research methods course (4 units), discipline-focus elective courses (12 units) and synthesis seminars (7 units), and culminates in a thesis or project (8 units) to complete the program. The student’s proposed course of study, including coursework to be taken in another discipline as well as any necessary prerequisites and the selection of the topic of the thesis/project, will be determined in consultation with the multidisciplinary Regenerative Studies Graduate Studies Committee. Prior to graduation, all students are required to fulfill 200 hours of internship of which a minimum of 100 hours must be completed at the Lyle Center and the remainder approved by the Graduate Studies Committee.
Students are expected to actively participate in the operations of the Lyle Center through coursework, research, demonstration and governance. A residential experience is considered optimum for graduate students to fully participate in “learning activities” at the Lyle Center. Alternative options can be arranged for those constrained by other commitments. The goal of the program is to transcend the traditional idea of environmental education by more fully integrating life support systems in an experiential context in order to better predict the consequences of our actions. The physical setting of the Lyle Center provides a unique laboratory in which to understand the interdependence and explore the integration of natural, human and technological systems as we propose and test solutions to our most pressing human-environment problems.
All students entering the Master of Science program in Regerative Studies are required to purchase a computer that meets the graduate program’s specifications. Applicants should check with the Lyle Center office to obtain these specifications. Financial aid for this computer purchase is available to students qualifying for Federal Student Aid (requested via the FAFSA application). Please contact the University’s Office of Financial Aid (909-869-3700) for additional information.
Graduate Faculty
Juan Araya, Lyle Center
Ed Bobich, Biological Sciences
Pablo La Roche, Architecture
Yam Lee, Chemical Engineering
Lisa Nelson, Political Science
Jerry Mitchell, Urban and Regional Planning
Lin Wu, Geography and Anthropology
Terry Young, Geography and Anthropology
Kyle D. Brown, Director
Denise Lawrence, Graduate Coordinator
www.csupomona.edu/~crs
Admission to the Program
Admission to the Master of Science in Regenerative Studies requires the applicant to have received a baccalaureate degree with an overall undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 (B) or better. Applicants whose GPA falls between 2.5 and 3.0 will be considered for admission on a conditional basis if evidence of compensating qualifications is demonstrated.
Application procedures include a two-part process. Prospective applicants must submit to the University Admissions Office a completed application form, official transcripts from all universities and colleges attended, and TOEFL scores for non-native English speakers. Applicants must also submit to the Lyle Center a statement of purpose that identifies the discipline focus, and three letters of recommendation from individuals in a position to assess the applicant’s potential for success in master’s level academic performance (and participation in the Regenerative Studies program). Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores are required from those applicants whose overall GPA in undergraduate work falls below 3.0, or if the bachelor’s degree has been awarded from a non-accredited university of college (this includes foreign institutions), or if the applicant has not attended an accredited institution within the past seven years. These applicants are required to submit scores from the General GRE test, although they may also submit Subject Area GRE scores in their special area of study for consideration.
Applications are accepted and reviewed once a year. After meeting prerequisites, students may begin Regenerative Studies graduate coursework only in fall quarter with the intensive core curriculum. Admission decisions and entry point competency will be determined by the Graduate Studies Committee. Applicants must also meet prerequisite requirements for discipline focus coursework. Applicants who are required to complete prerequisites in Regenerative Studies will be admitted with conditional standing, and all Regenerative Studies prerequisites must be satisfied before unconditional standing is granted and work on core courses of the graduate program can begin.
Prerequisites
Applicants who meet entry point competency will have completed the 30-unit undergraduate minor in Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona with a grade point average of 3.0 (B) or better; or will have had equivalent upper division coursework or experience in environmental studies or a combination of related work in the physical sciences, social sciences, engineering, environmental design, and/or humanities. Students without adequate prior preparation may be required to take up to 48 units of prerequisite coursework, and/or complete RS 501 , to be determined in consultation with the Graduate Studies Committee. Applicants who lack the necessary prerequisites to enroll in discipline focus courses may enroll in Regenerative Studies courses, but will be required to meet prerequisites before taking courses in their focus discipline.
Program Requirements
Admission to the program does not guarantee the student will be able to attempt a thesis or project. Permission to undertake the thesis/project is granted to a student upon the recommendation of the Graduate Studies Committee and implies a readiness to attempt the project or thesis based on grades, performance in coursework and internship. Students who have not received this permission are not eligible to register for RS 695 or RS 696 .
In order to complete a degree and receive a Master of Science in Regenerative Studies the student must, in addition: (1) satisfy the Graduate Writing Test; (2) satisfy all prerequisites required for admission to the program; and (3) with the Graduate Studies Committee, develop and file a program of study, including a specific discipline focus, and have it approved by the Graduate Studies Analyst, and by the Graduate Coordinator for Regenerative Studies. The curriculum specified in the program may be altered only by written petition which shall be submitted in accordance with university regulations.
Thesis or project approval will be granted by the Graduate Studies Committee based on criteria developed and approved by the candidate’s thesis or project advisory committee, one member of which must be a current member of the Graduate Studies Committee.
Prior to graduation, all students are required to fulfill 200 hours of internship activity of which a minimum of 100 hours must be completed at the Lyle Center, and the remainder approved by the Graduate Studies Committee. This work must be verified with the Lyle Center Internship Coordinator.
Curricular Requirements
A minimum of 46-quarter units of graduate work and 200 hours of approved internship hours must be completed in the graduate program. Prerequisite courses for admission and for discipline-focus courses are in addition to this minimum. Discipline-focus courses must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee. A minimum grade point average of 3.0 must be maintained in all courses taken to satisfy degree requirements as well as in all graded course work attempted while in graduate standing at the university.
No more than 13 units of acceptable graduate credit may be transferred from another graduate institution or petitioned by an undergraduate student. A total limit of 13 transfer, Extended University, or other units petitioned for graduate credit may be included on a master’s program contract. The stipulated time limit of 7 years applies to all of the above.
The following courses are required for all graduate students in Regenerative Studies: RS 510/510L , RS 520/520L , RS 530/530L , RS 540/540L , RS 550 , RS 640 , RS 650 (26 units), RS 694 and RS 695 or RS 696 (8 units).
Each student must identify a discipline focus and complete a minimum of 12 graduate or upper division units in the designated discipline.
The candidate must be enrolled in the university during the quarter when qualification to graduate is attained.
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