Menu

Add or Change your major to ENSP

TO DECLARE THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLICY MAJOR (ENSP):

1.  ATTEND A (VIRTUAL) ENSP MAJOR CHANGE WORKSHOP (required)

  1. VIEW the ENSP Major Change Presentation, which includes information about the major, and how to proceed with the major change process.  This also applies for those who are interested in adding ENSP as a double major.

2.  PLAN OUT YOUR COURSEWORK

  • If you have 40+ credits completed: Please prepare a graduation plan.  Prospective ENSP students with more than 40 credits completed will not be declared into ENSP without a draft graduation plan (for their intended concentration).
  • If you have less than 40 credits completed:  Please prepare a two-semester plan.  Identify concentrations that interest you and assess in general terms the number of requirements and/or electives you'll have.  Use the ENSP lower-level course requirements sheet for Undeclared students.
  • It's highly recommended that you plan our your coursework with a Peer Advisor from the ENSP Student Advisory Board.  Email them at enspireatumd@gmail.com.

3.  SUBMIT DOCUMENTS TO ENSP

  1. COMPLETE the ENSP New Student Survey 
  2. CREATE your Courseplan aka Graduation Plan (see #2 above).  Please send as a Word Document or Google Doc.
  3. SIGN the ENSP benchmark contract
  4. SEND all 3 documents to Ms. Angela Mazur-Gray, Assistant Director (abm13@umd.edu)

Many thanks -- We look forward to meeting you!

JUST WANT TO EXPLORE ENSP FOR NOW?

  • View the Exploring Environmental Science and Policy presentation
  • Try ENSP Core courses: ENSP101 and 102; BSCI160/161, GEOG201/211; ECON200; etc.  Many of them fill University requirements.
  • Begin work on ENSP Benchmarks.
  • Identify concentrations that interest you and assess in general terms the number of requirements and/or electives you'll have.
  • Enroll in Math every semester until you have completed your (potential) Concentration requirements. Success in Math and ENSP science courses predicts your long-term happiness and success in this major.
  • Finally, plan to complement your coursework with practical experience, participation in undergraduate research, and off-campus study programs -- especially those that take place outside the mid-Atlantic ecosystem. You cannot learn everything you need to learn in ENSP by books alone!

ADDING ENSP AS A DOUBLE MAJOR/DEGREE:

We welcome students with multiple academic interests!

Before deciding to declare ENSP as a second major, please confirm the depth of your interest by completing the following courses: ENSP101 or ENSP102; MATH 120, 140, or 130; and one of the ENSP Core Lab Sciences. BSCI160/161 and GEOG201/211 have the widest application; however, you can check your intended concentration(s) to see if you would rather choose CHEM131/132 or one of the other Earth Sciences, e.g., AOSC200/201; GEOL120/110; or ENST200, instead.

If you are still interested in declaring ENSP, please proceed with the major change instructions listed above.  When creating your graduation plan, include requirements for both of your majors.

Remember: You can always take required ENSP courses without having to actually declare the major (most courses in our curriculum are open to all students).  It takes many approaches from all subject areas to solve environmental problems; the ENSP major is only one of them!