2014-2015 University Catalog 
  
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2014-2015 University Catalog

Atmospheric Sciences, BS (pending SCHEV approval)

Banner Code: SC-BS-AOES

Note: As of catalog publication in April, the program described below has been approved by the Board of Visitors and sent to the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia for consideration as a new degree program. The university cannot accept applications or enroll students in this program until SCHEV approval has been granted. Check the college/school website for current program status.

The undergraduate program in atmospheric sciences gives students a strong quantitative undergraduate education in atmospheric, climate, and related sciences to understand the basic principles behind current and emerging issues in weather, climate variability, and climate change. Students completing the atmospheric sciences degree will be prepared for a full range of career paths including forecast and analysis, operations and research support in meteorology, atmospheric sciences, and climate. The curriculum meets the American Meteorological Society’s recommendations for a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric sciences.

Students must fulfill all requirements for bachelor’s degrees , including the Mason Core . In addition, a GPA of at least 2.00 is required for all core courses with an overall GPA of at least 2.50. Through the coursework below, atmospheric sciences majors will satisfy the requirements for information technology, natural science, and quantitative reasoning. The university’s writing intensive requirement for the major will be met by successful completion of CLIM 408 .

This program of study is offered by the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences  in the College of Science .

Degree Requirements

Atmospheric Sciences Core (24 credits)

Chemistry (4 credits)

Computer Science (4 credits)

Mathematics (11 credits)

Statistics (3 credits)

Physics (8 credits)

Completing this sequence will fulfill the Mason Core requirement for natural science.

Options (9 credits)

Students in the atmospheric sciences major will select one of the following options in addition to the required courses above. The options reflect expertise and areas of research emphasis of the faculty in the department and at the university. These options will help in creating educated professionals who have the requisite training to support future weather and climate research, which can potentially provide substantial societal benefits.

Meteorology Option

This option provides additional background in meteorology so that students have a widened perspective of the weather and weather system. In addition to the required courses above, students choosing this option will take the following 9 credits of meteorology courses:

Total: 9 credits

Computational Atmospheric Sciences Option

This option provides additional background in computational atmospheric sciences so that a student has a widened perspective of the computational atmospheric sciences. In addition to the required courses above, students choosing this option will take the following 9 credits:

Total: 9 credits

Required Electives (9 credits)

The 9 credits of required electives must be independent of courses taken in the selected option and can be chosen from this list:

Degree Total: Minimum 120 credits