The University of Northern Colorado and the Colorado Geographic Alliance (with funding and logistical support from the Colorado Geography Education Fund and The National Geographic Society) have teamed up and launched the nation's first Graduate Certificate in Geography Education, offered to K-12 teachers over two weeks this summer and online this fall. The 12-credit graduate program is directed by UNC geography professors Phil Klein and James Dunn. The Geography program is in the School of Social Sciences and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at UNC. On June 15, teachers and faculty will meet in Grand Junction and explore the Colorado River for three days. That physical geography trip is followed by 2 days studying urban geography in Grand Junction and 9 days in residence in Marble, Colorado. During that time, teachers take a total of 9 graduate credits (Field Geography, Urban Geography, Political Geography), followed by an online course in the fall that brings the coursework together and has the teachers developing publishable instructional units in geography. The University will then issue a certificate on teacher transcripts. Tuition is being partially underwritten by a special grant from the Colorado Geography Education Fund. In addition to cost for lodging and field trips, teachers pay between $130 and $150 for each 3-credit class in the program. In Colorado, teachers need to be "Highly Qualified" to teach geography. Federal No Child Left Behind legislation requires 24 credits of coursework in geography to be deemed Highly Qualified. Teachers can address this requirement without interrupting their careers. The program initially will give preference to Colorado teachers, but will open it up to national attention in the near future. Dunn and Klein also plan to develop a master's degree in geography education.
There are still spaces available for this program. Please contact James Dunn, Ph.D., Asst. Professor of Geography at the University of Northern Colorado and Co-coordinator of the Colorado Geographic Alliance (COGA) at 970-351-2834.
Course Web Pages:
http://geography.unco.edu/department/faculty/DUNN/index.htm
