Summary: Antioch University New England's new Sustainable Development and Climate Change program has been approved for affiliation as a Professional Science Master's (PSM) degree program by the Council of Graduate Schools. Students can now choose to follow the PSM or non-PSM policy track of studies. AUNE's PSM program is the only one in New Hampshire and one of only 212 in the U.S.

Just in time for the fall semester, Antioch University New England's new Sustainable Development and Climate Change program has been approved for affiliation as a Professional Science Master's (PSM) degree program by the Council of Graduate Schools. With the approval, Antioch University New England (AUNE) now offers its first PSM program, which is also the first in New Hampshire and one of only 212 in the U.S.

The PSM is an innovative graduate degree that enables students to pursue advanced training in science or mathematics without a PhD, while also developing sought-after workplace skills often learned in an MBA program. Federal support for the PSM degree has been growing over the past several years. The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded $15 million in grants to develop or expand PSMs, an initiative authorized by the America COMPETES Act and funded by the 2009 stimulus bill.

"We're thrilled that our Sustainable Development and Climate Change concentration has been designated as a PSM degree program," said Jim Gruber, director of the concentration and of AUNE's Resource Management and Conservation program. "AUNE has always been a leader in practice-based learning. We're preparing students to meet the future challenges and workforce needs of public, private and nonprofit sectors, and our graduates will be in high demand because they possess the skills that the environmental community needs."

Students in AUNE's Sustainable Development and Climate Change program can choose to follow the PSM or non-PSM policy track of studies. Students who wish to graduate with the PSM designation must take at least eighteen of their required credits in science and math.

Background on the PSM degree program
Launched in 1997 with support of the Alfred B. Sloan Foundation, PSM programs meet a demand in the workplace for leaders in emerging and science-related fields. Designed in collaboration with industry, the interdisciplinary programs can be completed in two years and combine intensive education in advanced sciences and mathematics with training in professional business skills, such as marketing, communications and regulatory affairs. Much emphasis is placed on leadership and team-building, as well as on communication skills. Instead of a thesis, students focus on collaborative research projects and internships in businesses and the public sector. The goal is to equip students not only with strong technical skills, but also with the business acumen necessary for successful careers. To date, graduates successfully work in industry, government and nonprofit organizations.

Currently, there are more than two hundred PSM programs in approximately one hundred graduate schools around the country. According to the Professional Science Master's website, "the number and diversity of PSM programs being developed are growing rapidly as a result of the work of the Council of Graduate Schools, National Professional Science Master's Association, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the endorsement of the National Research Council, and the support of Congress through the America COMPETES Act and funding in the 2009 ARRA stimulus bill." More information is available at www.sciencemasters.com.

More about AUNE's Sustainable Development and Climate Change concentration
AUNE's master's program in environmental studies with concentration in Sustainable Development and Climate Change incorporates environmental and social sciences with organizational leadership, and integrates theory with practice. The twenty-month, multidisciplinary program, which is suitable for working professionals, prepares students for a variety of environmental careers in the public, nonprofit and private sectors, including environmental regulation, local and regional planning, and environmental nonprofit leadership and consulting. With its new affiliation, the program now bears the official PSM logo, and is included on the Professional Science Master's website: www.sciencemasters.com.

About Antioch University New England's Department of Environmental Studies
The Department of Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England is one of the largest graduate environmental studies programs in the country. The department has a thirty-nine-year history of delivering visionary, progressive, and interdisciplinary programs. AUNE has conferred the environmental studies degree on more students than any other graduate school in the nation and produces some of the brightest scientists, managers, educators and activists in the field.

About Antioch University New England (AUNE)
This is Antioch University New England's forty-sixth year as an institution of higher education. Located in Keene, New Hampshire, AUNE offers rigorous, practice-oriented, values-based master's, doctoral and certificate programs to more than one thousand students. Degrees in education, leadership and management, environmental studies and psychology reflect a dedication to activism, social justice, community service and sustainability. Antioch University New England is the oldest and largest of Antioch University's graduate campuses. For more information about Antioch University New England, visit our website at: www.antiochne.edu.

About Antioch University
Antioch University is a bold and enduring source of innovation in higher education. Spanning the United States, our campuses, the university-wide Antioch Education Abroad and the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change programs nurture in their students the knowledge, skills and critical thinking to excel as lifelong learners, democratic leaders and global citizens who live lives of meaning and purpose. For more information, visit www.antioch.edu.

Antioch University New England

Antioch University New England

Antioch University New England (AUNE) provides dynamic graduate education through scholarship and community action for a just and sustainable society. Committed to innovative academic excellence, AUNE helps students integrate practice with theory in a collaborative learning environment that is attentive to multiple learning styles. AUNE believes in ecological stewardship and social justice, cultivating local as well as global perspectives to educate students with diverse backgrounds and opinions to become leaders of change. Community engagement is a core value at AUNE, using place-based practices to foster scholarship, activism, and service learning while creating organizational integrity through shared governance. Serving more than 1,000 students, AUNE is closely linked to the region, with national and global connections through its students, alumni, and institutional concerns. Our alumni, over 9,000 in number, constitute a strong network in leadership positions throughout New England, the United States, and the world.

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