Overview
Few people disagree that water and quality of life go hand in hand. This condition is especially true in drought-prone Southern California, where the combined engines of population growth and development increasingly stress our ability to provide high-quality water. To meet these challenges, there is an urgent need to train competent and informed leaders and managers to guide the water industry into the future.
This is no easy task as water issues are becoming increasingly complex as we move forward. Today’s leadership must deal with new challenges emerging from financial, legal, climatological, environmental, technical and even cultural domains. It is often said there is a “tsunami” approaching with respect to losing water industry professionals through retirement, taking with them their insights, skills and experience needed to guide water organizations through the 21st century.
To address this challenge, CSUSM and the regional water industry have joined to develop a unique Water Resources Management and Leadership certificate program. The sole objective of this partnership is to prepare present, and future, water personnel with the requisite knowledge and multidisciplinary skills to do the job and do it well.
The university is launching this program jointly through its College of Business Administration and Extended Learning by offering an intermediate-level certificate designed specifically for individuals either currently employed, or interested in, middle-level water management. Speakers and experts are assembled to address issues with respect to water quality and supply, law and regulation, human resources, shortages and floods, finance and economics, alternative technologies, planning, employee relations, and fundamentals of surface and groundwater hydrology. Courses meet on weekday evenings—along with some weekend facility tours—to accommodate the needs of working professionals.
Curriculum
- Survey of Water Management Fundamentals & Practices in California (8 weeks; 2 units)
- Leadership & Team Building for Water Managers (10 weeks; 2 units)
- Environmental Issues, Policies & Regulations for Water Managers (15 weeks; 3 units)
- Finance & Professional Relations for Water Managers (15 weeks; 3 units)
- Core Concepts of Water Science, Engineering & Technology for Water Managers (10 weeks; 2 units)
- Optional: Practicum
Course Schedule
Courses offered: weekday evenings and some facility field trips on Saturdays
Tuition
$4,588 for certificate package
$399 per unit, plus $65 campus fees
csusm.edu/el/water
