A new, cutting-edge energy management degree program is open for fall 2015 enrollment at Central Washington University. Developed by the Institute for Integrated Energy Studies (I2ES) the program will prepare students to work in the public and private energy sectors, and to manage both sustainable and traditional energy resources. CWU’s Board of Trustees approved the bachelor of sciences degree in integrated energy management on April 20.
No other university in Washington State offers this type of interdisciplinary education, which addresses current and future energy industry manpower needs. Two of the largest energy organizations in the Pacific Northwest, Puget Sound Energy and Bonneville Power Administration, face great challenges posed by their employees’ impending retirement—a total of 1,070 employees will retire from Bonneville Power Administration alone by 2017.
“Graduates of this program will find themselves in high demand as a significant percentage of the energy sector employees will retire in the next few years, a gap in the workforce that our graduates can fill,” said Elvin Delgado, CWU professor of geography, and co-creator and founding director of I2ES. “But our graduates will do more than just fill the shoes of past employees—they will have a role in determining energy policy for the next century.”
The degree program has three specializations: integrated energy policy, integrated energy business, and integrated power systems. The academic curriculum spans coursework in geography, mathematics, English, physics, supply chain management, geology, communications, information technology and administrative management, engineering technologies and economics, to name a few.
Junior and senior students will be able to engage in five-to-six-month professional apprenticeships with energy industry leaders that will provide critical hands-on training for their future careers.
Delgado is the chair of the Energy and Environment Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers and in 2013 was among 28 scholars globally selected to participate in the energy-water nexus training funded by the National Science Foundation Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute. A Fulbright scholar, Delgado’s regional specialization is Latin America, in particular, Venezuela. Delgado holds a doctorate in geography from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in New York.
I2ES develops the nation’s future professionals via a three-track degree program, shares knowledge through regional, national and international collaborations, and serves businesses and academia as the source for relevant research in integrated energy issues. For more information about I2ES, go to http://www.cwu.edu/energy/home
Media Contact: Valerie Chapman-Stockwell, Public Affairs, 509-963-1518,valeriec@cwu.edu
April 22, 2015