Alderson Broaddus University announces new field of study
PHILIPPI — With the aim of appealing to current and prospective students, Alderson Broaddus University announced a new undergraduate major Thursday that will provide students with skills to land a job in the natural resource field.
AB University announced natural resource management as the institution’s newest undergraduate major at a press conference Thursday.
Dr. Ross Brittain, dean of the College of Science, Technology and Mathematics, said, “We think that we have a great opportunity here. We know that when our admissions recruiters are out in the field trying to recruit new students, they hear, very frequently, about students who want to have something to do with resource management, particularly wildlife, and that’s really what we are focusing this in on is wildlife and water resources.”
The university’s newest major is designed as a multidisciplinary program that will offer students with both ecological and managerial knowledge to help maintain profitable production of a variety of natural resources, Brittain said.
“The main thing for the students is that it gives us an opportunity to take advantage of programs in terms of biological and environmental sciences in conjunction with growing business and management programs that we have,” he said.
“What it does is it combines natural sciences with business and management so that the students are prepared to go out and not only manage the resources but also the people and the business that are involved in resource extraction,” Brittain said.
The dean said the college identified a demand for this area of study by examining information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a job growth of at least around 7 percent for this industry, said Brittain.
Earning a degree in natural resource management will provide students with the opportunity to gain employment with private lumber or energy companies, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Division of Natural Resources, the Department of Environmental Protection or other state or non-profit organizations, officials said.
Nathan Macek, a third-year environmental science student from Ohio, said, “Out west with their agriculture and other resources, many of the national parks are always looking to hire new people in that field.”
Macek explained that he formerly spent time working in Oregon as a wildland firefighter and a biological science technician, and in the future, Macek hopes to find employment in a similar field in the western part of the United States.
“You can use this in all states, it’s not just limited to certain states or areas, and that’s what I like,” Macek said.
“We have a proud history here in West Virginia of not only coal but also natural gas, timber and wildlife, those are the big ones, so that’s what we wanted to do was to include all of the natural resources that are part of the region,” Brittain said.
The program being offered by AB University will also include a focus on forestry and energy resources.
“We are already drawing students in from not only West Virginia but Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland. A lot of our surrounding states are in very similar positions, particularly southeastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania and western Maryland. They have the same types of resources, so we anticipate getting a lot of students from those regions,” Brittain said.
The university is prepared to get the ball rolling with staff members who are already currently employed by the institution.
“One of our instructors, Dr. (Kelly) Flaherty, her Ph.D. is in wildlife management, so she is already in position to take over that and develop the classes that we need,” Brittain said.
Joan Propst, AB’s provost/executive vice president for Academic Affairs, said, “Given our location in Appalachia and our surroundings, this program will give students an opportunity to stay in the Mountain State and contribute to the preservation of our natural resources with a keen eye toward policy and regulation considerations. I am pleased that Alderson Broaddus University is able to bring this program to fruition on our campus with our environment as our classroom.”