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Application & Forms: Registration Form
Scholarship Application

Contact Information:

Director:
Layne Nelson
Taylor Hall 303
(970) 943-2885
800-876-5309, ext. 7
lnelson@western.edu

Assistant Director:
Greg White
Taylor Hall 303
(970) 943-2885
gwhite@western.edu

Mailing Address:

Western State Colorado University
Extended Studies
Taylor Hall 303
600 N. Adams St.
Gunnison, CO 81231
800-876-5309, ext. 7
(970)-943-2885
FAX (970) 943-7068

Small Classes, Vast Classroom

Enjoy the Master in Environmental Management's 10-to-1 student-faculty ratio in our diverse Rocky Mountain environment.

MEM in Integrative Land Management

Careers for public lands management, private land conservation, climate-adaptive solutions.

MEM in Sustainable and Resilient Communities

Resilient food, energy, social, and ecological systems. Sustainable solutions for communities, nonprofits, and businesses.

Residential and Distance Options

Immerse yourself in the learning laboratories of the Gunnison Country, or apply environmental leadership opportunities from home.

Residential and Distance Options

Globalizing a sense of place...

The MEM program at WSCU offers a globally-informed, place-based, environmental leadership education to its graduates. The MEM offers a ‘hybrid’ learning environment for full-residency students rooted in the learning laboratories of the Gunnison Country, combined with a low-residency option for select environmental professionals from all over the world. This unique ‘blended’ learning environment brings together diverse regional and professional perspectives to challenge and compliment the learning experience for all students.

Western offers a low-residency option for any student accepted to the program who can: a) illustrate that he/she has a leadership commitment requiring him/her to stay in his/her local community, and b) can demonstrate that her/his continued work in another region would diversify the place-based education of our full-residency students focused on the learning laboratories of Gunnison. Unlike other MEM programs with distance options, WSCU’s MEM engages full-residency and low-residency students with each other frequently throughout the year. This enhances the low-residency education with perspectives from students immersed in small seminar and experiential activities in Gunnison. In turn, this distance option improves the full-residency experience with weekly perspectives (on the same material) from students with extensive professional and diverse regional perspectives. For two weeks of each summer, all MEM students and faculty will gather in WSCU’s Rocky Mountain location for an intensive semester of field-based, solutions-driven, professionally-focused collaboration.

Possible distance exception opportunities include (could be from anywhere in the world):

Professional commitments with relevant organization (relevant enough for the commitment to serve as the basis of a Masters Project)
Peace Corps or AmeriCorps term, with relevant focus (relevant enough for the commitment to serve as the basis of a Masters Project)
Internship with relevant organization (relevant enough for the commitment to serve as the basis of a Masters Project)
Connection with a landowner or business seeking environmental management assistance

Please feel free to contact Dr. John Hausdoerffer to brainstorm other potential distance exceptions at jhausdoerffer@western.edu